TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) SXM Trip Reports and Photos trip report- part three- moorings charter

Day five, Wednesday, 2/22
We set sail back to St.Kitts for more time to explore. Didn't have to clear customs, since Isabelle had taken care of the formalities on the previous stop. We docked in Port Zante and the girls took the short walk over to Ram's Supermarket for some supplies. Back to the boat to drop off the goods. By this time our tour guide had arrived. Isabelle arranged it for us through Moorings. G&M2 opted to rent a scooter instead, since they'd been to the island before. The rest of us piled into the minivan for a guided tour of the island just in time for heavy rainfall- poor G&M2. We learned that the monkey population exceeds the human population and monkeys are used for Parkinsons Disease research. There are guys that hang out at the port when excursions come in and it's one big circus act. You can have your picture taken with a monkey wearing diapers if you desire. As for the tour, first stop was to Caribelle Batik at Romney Manor. There were some great looking sun dresses, but the place was mobbed and I didn't bother trying anything on. P and I did pick up some hand made soaps and a bandana for me.


Our guide pointed out this tree to us. I can't remember its relevance, other than being a 300yr old tree. I think it was 300...

Next stop was to the Brimstone Hill Fortress. It had finally stopped raining and from the fortress we got to look DOWN at a gorgeous double rainbow.




It was fun exploring the fort, although we were all feeling unstable on land. I attempted the museum there, but being inside and trying to read made me nauseous. I was in there long enough to learn that a law was made back in the day that sex with animals was punishable by death. Interesting fact of the day. Lunch time rolled around and we headed over to Rawlins Plantation, where we sat on the porch under cover from the rain.



G&M2 met up with us. Fortunately for them they had taken raincoats from the boat. Lunch was a buffet, which I typically don't care for, but they were actually making it fresh for our group and one other table so all was good. The spread consisted of curry chicken, fish stew, bread, salad, rice, and possibly some other selections that I've forgotten. Food was ok. The grounds were beautiful, but I'd go elsewhere if there were a next time. After lunch, we continued our tour and stopped at Black Rocks, volcanic formation on coastal cliffs. It is much steeper than it appears in my photo.



At this point, our guide was ready to bring us back to port, but we negotiated an extra stop to Frigate Bay, where the guys took a dip and C bought lunch at Mr.X's Shiggidy Shack Bar&Grill. She didn't care for Rawlins Plantation either. Back to Port Zante, M1&C went back to the boat for a snooze while P and I went searching for sunglasses followed by happy hour at Paradise Oasis. For dinner, G&M2 stayed on the boat for some quiet time while the rest of us including Isabelle took a short taxi ride to Fisherman's Wharf, where our guide recommended for "the best catch in town". C was in desperate search of plantains to fulfill her craving and fortunately for her they had it! The rest of us had grilled snapper, grilled mahi mahi, and their renowned conch chowder. Dessert was cheesecake a la mode. All in all a nice dinner. Back to the boat for our nightcap and team effort to crack open the coconut that C had purchased from the Public Market. Fun times. There was also free wifi for a two hour trial period. Best sleep of the week.

Day six, Thursday, 2/23
I was hopeful that our next sail would be to Statia, but Isabelle deemed it too rolly and the group came to an agreement that we'd head back to St.Barths. Breakfast was toasted bagel with cream cheese and fruit. We set out at 7am and it was a VERY rough ride for nearly the entire 7hrs. Somehow I was able to fight the seasickness and managed to fry up some bacon for BLT sandwiches. I survived but wouldn't recommend others attempt it. Lunch choices consisted of BLT sandwiches, tuna salad, and egg salad. We eventually arrived at Gouverneurs, where we spent a couple of hours for play time in the water, before heading over to Saline where we anchored for the night. P and I snorkelled. Saw sea turtles, lots of sea urchin, starfish, and as we were getting back on the boat saw a decent size barracuda swimming our way. Got a good bruise from getting out of the water too fast. Snack time consisted of a cheese and meat platter, marinated artichokes, chips and salsa. We shared some with the fish also. The barracuda was hanging around, but we couldn't get him to come out from under the catamaran that often, even with the snack sharing. The fish loved our generosity though.



Wine and snacks held us over until dinner. For dinner, P grilled sirloins that M2 and I had marinated in the morning. P also grilled zucchini and potatoes. Isabelle surprised C with plantains that she had picked up in St.Kitts and fried up a generous batch for all of us. That was a very nice surprise! Dessert was pound cake compliments of Sara Lee. First attempt in the oven proved to be a failure. The oven pretty much sucked. I suggested P throw it on the grill, since there was still residual heat from the charcoal. Voila, it was delicious! Bedtime came around and it was exceptionally rolly, especially after the previous night's sleep in port.

Day seven, Friday, 2/24
9am departure to Simpson Bay. As we approached St.Martin, we passed by one of Abramovich's toys, Luna. Stunning yacht. Anchored at Kim Sha. M1, C, P, and I took the dinghy in and went to Topper's for lunch. P was craving the kalamari kamikaze and C was craving passion fruit juice. She was satisfied with just that. The rest of us ordered mahi mahi ruben sandwiches and the guys split the kalamari. C and I stayed at Topper's for a second round of drinks while the guys walked over to Sharon's office at Royal Palm to pick up a reloadable card and pay our I.O.U. for the Chippie top up that she did for us prior to coming down for our trip. She definitely offers a very convenient service. Highly recommend her services. When the guys got back, we walked over to White Flag, located on the rooftop of Market Garden. Nathalie was very welcoming. She gave me a menu to go, consisting of a variety of sandwiches, salads, and tapas. One round of drinks and then back to the boat. By now I am convinced that the earth was moving under my feet, but Nathalie confirmed that the floor was stable.


View of Simpson Bay as seen from White Flag.

G&M2 took the dinghy out for a ride to check out the yachts docked in the marina, M1&C kayaked, while P and I took an afternoon snooze. Woke up to activity over at Buccaneer Beach Bar. Looked out the window of our cabin and saw the fireball had started up early at 6pm (not 7pm as advertised on their posters). I couldn't make out what was being said over the loud speaker, but I think there was a crab race going on? I've been to BBB for the fireball, but didn't know they also have crab races.


View of Kim Sha taken pre-sunset.


Our last sunset of the sail. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" />

7ish we all piled into the dinghy to the Simpson Bay Yacht Club, where we secured it and headed over to Karakter for tapas and jazz Friday. We had planned on taking a taxi over, but there was some police activity on Welfare Road. Not sure what it was all about, but it appeared to involve one car stopped on the road creating lots of traffic. Ambulance was there as well. We decided to go by foot and arrived at Karakter about 15mins later. It was packed! And no reservation, oops. They did seat us anyway. In hindsight we probably should have went elsewhere. Two hours later and our tapas came out, but this was only after C went to the kitchen herself to see what was going on. Word of advice, don't mess with a pregnant, hungry woman. Isabelle suggested that we ask for a comp and the very apologetic waitress comped us a bottle of wine. It was a nice gesture for them to seat us without reservations and to comp the wine, but the excessive wait kind of killed it for us. Oh well. It was all in good company. For Karakter fans, the waitress informed me that there is now Tuesday salsa night, in addition to the Thursday female vocalist and Friday jazz/tapas nights. Not sure if salsa night is new, but it was news to us. Back to the dinghy and boat. Nightcap with the gang and last sleep on the boat. So sad.

Day eight, Saturday, 2/25
Set sail around 9am to Oyster Pond. Isabelle forewarned us that it'd be very rolly once we rounded Point Blanche, so I started packing up right away. Sure enough, after we rounded the island we hit 3.4m waves. Yikes!


Passing by Philipsburg and coming up to Point Blanche.

Arrived back to Oyster Pond around 11am. Fueled up and accidentally left M1 at the fuel station. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> He managed to find his way to the boat as we docked. My reusable bags that I carry with me everywhere came in handy. We packed up the leftover provisions, minus the little remaining food in the fridge and freezer. I forgot to mention that the fridge and freezer sucked also and by the end of the week food safety was a concern.

Well farewells are always bittersweet, but we reluctantly bid our farewells to Isabelle and Adonis. Isabelle was fantastic. We enjoyed our week with her as our captain and Adonis as our vessel to bring us on the amazing adventure. Overall, this trip was absolutely fantastic and my trip report doesn't do it justice. We went with a good group, who all had similar interests and everyone was very laid back and flexible with changes. Lot of good memories were made.

Next time:
There will definitely be a next time. Here is what we would do differently in no particular order:
• No more shared bathrooms. Nothing personal, but we definitely prefer our own space.
• No more manual plumbing to flush the toilet and drain the shower. What a PITA! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/hammer.gif" alt="" />
• Ideally, no more water holding tanks. We got accustomed to it, but it'd be nice not to have to worry about water consumption.
• More grilling!
• Maybe go during low season when we were told swells are more tolerable, perhaps during my favorite month of May.

Hope you enjoyed the read! I will be posting a separate trip report of St.Martin, pre and post sail. To be continued...