Just cleared into FRANCE…  computer keyboard was interesting!!!

What an awesome Island!!! We are LOVING St. Martin… Sant Maarten, Saint Maartin.. not sure how to spell it.. every sign we see if different!!
Anchored in a very cool spot.. I was sure we MUST be on a sand bar… Boat didn’t MOVE last night.. AMAZING!!
Cruisers NET on the VHF is on channel 10 at 7:30 each day… This is fun,.. they go through security, weather, then local events.. Its just cruisers (like us?) that chit chat each morning and setup daily events..
We asked last night… Hey wheres a cheap place for dinner? Set us up with a Fish and Chip place with $1.00 beers and apparently the BEST fish and Chips ever… Im not a good judge of this but the Tarter sauce was AMAZING!!! ha!!
Breakfest… Allie and Brendan launched the SUP’s.. went to beach and asked for a Bakery… Fresh Chocolate Cressents and a loaf Baguette all ordered in French with a cost under $5.00 to feed the entire crew. Still warm after the SUP ride back to Island Dancer!
Over to Phillipsburg today… local bus (van) is $1.50 to take you anywhere… what a great system!!
For those that like to SHOP… there is no where better. Electronics shopping is about to start this week for the boat.. Looking at AIS system to see other boats and show them where you are.. cool stuff.
One street vender tried to impress us with a head stand… Allie showed him up with loud cheers from the restaurant watching!
LOVING it HERE…

Have a Great Day!
Timbo

Getting everything figured out here in St. Maaten..  Very amazing the people here to help you..  Listening to SwapShop on the radio VHF 10 this morning, we were greeted to the lagoon!
Had a few … To Do’s today….

First up:
Dingy to shore found internet connections for the boat for the time we are here..   CHECK!

Second up:
Over to Shrimpie’s laundry.. this is the HEADQUARTERS of all cruisers St. Martin!!   Mike runs the daily radio show and sets you up with what you need to know in the area…
He just received 10 cases of beer from Germany and was selling them at $15.00 a 24..  Still cold from the underbelly of the airplane (not really, but sounds cool eh)
Lent us 2 pullers to work on the motor, with a wink, (I know where you live bring them back!)… ha
Grocery store is all FRANCE.. they fly in fresh produce 2 times a week..  walking the isles nothing is in english.. even the peanut butter is from France!…  and you pay in Euro’s!..  Where the hell are we!!!
Brendan bought up a fresh cooked chicken, Allie was all over the fruit…  We loaded up and headed back to Island Dancer!..  Cheeze and Meats are tomorrow!

Third Base:   Pulling front cover off the motor to weld and machine alternator bracket..  2 hours later Its ready to come off but pullers for main harmonic balancer are not correct.. we will make something tomorrow if needed.. but come hell or high water its on a plane tomorrow to Mr. Guy Parker (CANADA) to fix for his return to Island Dancer in a week or two when he steps on board!

Step 4:  High Speed ferry (dingy) run to Holland..  mission, SIM card for cell phone…. $10.00 later it’s working..  needs a $40 credit to take calls and data, but not too bad eh?   Walking back to the dingy it’s happy hour!!  Must partake..   Super large long bigass sailboats all moored here stern into the dock… There’s a wee race here in a couple weeks.. and they are arriving… Heineken Ragata!   Will Timbo make it on a boat???  Time will tell!!!  Place your bets now on the left…

Great day, with dinner back on Island Dancer..  We have friends arriving tonight from BOSTON..  who we took sailing lessons from a few years ago..  Katherine has a car and is taking us to Carnival (a celebration) tomorrow night..  should be FUN!!!

Oh ya… remember those megaships I cut off the other day and promised to buy them a beer….. DONE
Paul… Captain of (late) Steve Jobs boat..  was standing at the bar beside Timbo…  He was alone and not talking to anyone…. that changed when Timbo turned to him and Said Hey How ya doing Bro?
Not kidding..  he brought that mega ship in behind Island Dancer…. and Timbo immediately bought him a beer to keep his promise..   What a cool ship!… We told him how we floated by her in St. Thomas one night in a dingy and he suggested that he was informed of this earlier by his crew… ha….  Cool guy… great job… Lives in Seattle, flys to the boat when they need to move it..  Im pretty sure he wanted to hang out with us more… perhaps we will run into him again…. (you can grin here)…
Ron Howard is apparently in the bay in his super yacht… he hasn’t found us yet….   OK OK.. enough pulling your chains..  Its all true but the desire to hang with us!!! ha!!! (OR…. IS IT!!!)

Here’s a pic of Steve’s weeee boat

Boat projects well underway here on Island Dancer.. Port engine alternator bracket will be getting welded today and machined later this week. Starboard Turbo is confirmed dead, new cartridge replacement will be ordered today from Miami… That should fix up both motors.. Sails coming off today, we have sourced a couple places here to repair and have a good look at all the stitching..
One nice thing of this location is services.. Most anything boat related can be fixed on this island !
Arts and Crafts class started this morning, Allie discovered how to empty out an egg with the ol’ stick a needle in each end and blow.. Not sure if we will make it a musical instrument or go for a ‘real’ challenge… see if Allie can get all the yoke back in it!!!!
Friends Katherine and Patrick showed up last night… They are staying at a condo on a beach… we went to a celebration of Marti Gras/Harmony Night in the town of Grand Case last night…
The streets were filled with people, and Allie really enjoyed the SHOPPING!!!
Working on the boat this morning, then its beach time snorkelling this afternoon. We must check out the airport also, a 747 landed yesterday… would be neat to see it take off up close on the beach!
Have a Great Day!
Timbo

Well I never thought I’d say Jetski’s are AWESOME!!!…  but this is a very cool use for them!

Amazing Dinner prepared by Chef Brendan!.. Certainly the best dinner on the island of St. Martin last night!
On our Sunset Dingy ride we ran into some folks doing water jet pack riding… This is something new for me…
They use a jet ski, a firehose, and nozzles on a skateboard.. Rev the jet ski up and your airborne…
Likely a little harder than it looks but Timbo is convinced he can do it!!

Great dinner with Katherine and Patrick, sharing lots of laughs, good food and few drinks…
Today we are planning a trip to the beach!

Apparently it’s Friday, so have a GREAT ONE !!!!

Timbo

More friends and family from the north arrived today!
Timbo’s sister Kathy and Tyler,  and by chance our friend Eelco from Sarnia!Over in France Timbo and Brendan got a job for the day..  Fixing SnowWhite’s dingy motor..
In exchange for food and drinks at his restaurant, and some extra bedding for Island Dancer..
SnowWhite is not too white (see if you can find him in the pics)  ha…  very funny guy…  and very happy to have us working on his boat..Finding Eelco on the lagoon, by chance his boat was docked front row to a huge fireworks show. Weird to have so many people from the North here!

Weather continues to be steady…. Hot and Sunny…

Time to take Allie and Tyler to work… they found a small job in a boat yard doing some gelcoat repairs..
This is apparently all part of Allie’s plan to crew on one of the mega sailboats…   She is making connections with all the right people!  ha…

Have a Great Day!
Timbo

Busy day for the kids… They worked the morning in the boat yard repairing a rental boat that needed some gelcoat repairs…

Next stop was the beach, where Tyler took a jet ski for a ride.. he certainly got his money’s worth on that ride!
Dinner was ‘Curry in a Hurry’ with Katherine and Patrick, their last day on the island!

Boat wise, we get the sails back today, so will be hanging them…

More sun and fun the last few days with sister Kathy and Tyler visiting (and lets not forget Brenden!)
Huge dinner onboard including fresh homemade Lasagna, with hot brownie pudding for desert…
Rented a car today, headed across the island to the famous beach here..
Wind was fairly strong and many people were kite surfing.. well other than one guy… he setup his HUGE kite on the beach, very close to many people..
We were just commenting on it, when the kite took off the wrong direction and came down piercing an umbrella!.. He didn’t seem as amused as the rest of the crowd, as he deflated his kite and went home in a huff.

Walking down the beach we noticed the famous Fish Whisperer in the water.. He’s a local that has trained a rare species of white angle fish to follow him in the water along the beach…
Yes the bag of bread certainly has a lot to do with it.. but apparently these fish are normally impossible to get close to.. He talks to them, and it seems like they follow him.. kinda strange!..
Anyway, we all got to feed them, touch them, and even pick up a couple for a few seconds.. Pretty neat experience!

Carnival night in Grand Case is always interesting.. followed the parade for about an hour.. lots of music, people, and entertainment (and shopping!) for a Tuesday night!! (are you impressed I know which day it is??!!!)

Sails are back on board, should be hanging them in the morning when the wind is low..

Have a GREAT DAY!
Timbo