Welcome Aboard

After less than a week, Liberator already feels like home. We arrived Saturday, February 2, on the Dutch side of Sint Maarten, where we met Steve Doody, the owner of Liberator. He gave us the 30k foot overview then kindly offered to keep an eye on the boat while we provisioned at the nearby grocery store. The sticker shock was immediate and painful whether the prices were quoted in Guilder, Dollars, or Euro. A Costco- sized container of mixed greens runs $20. Say goodbye to fresh fruits and vegetables!

An hour and a chunk of cash later, we rolled our clattering grocery cart back to the marina and began tucking things away. The kids were great, but impatient to start their adventure. Hearing us say, “Not now, mom and dad are unpacking!” when they were dying to test drive the dingy, got old, pretty quick.  After an uneventful first night, we timed our departure to coincide with one of the thrice daily bridge openings. Enough stuff was settled to drive out at 11am, but as piles still lay strewn about, we anchored just outside the bride in Simpson Bay until everything was in its place.

In anticipation of rain in the forecast, the following day we set sail for Marigot, the capital of the French side. Sint Maarten/St. Martin has the distinction of being the smallest island controlled by 2 sovereign nations. Christopher Columbus, on follow-up journey to America “discovered” a number of islands in the Caribbean, including St. Martin (named after the patron saint on the day it was discovered) and St. Barts (named after his brother Bartholomew). At one point, the Spanish laid claim to St. Martin, defeating the Dutch, but later lost it to its European neighbors. The island changed hands 16 times over a 100 year period. Ironically, St. Barts was deemed worthless and Spain ignored it.

As we had entered a new country, we are required to check in again.  We’d been advised that there was a fantastic patisserie, thus we all headed to town for breakfast. The port authority pointed out 2 shops and we found one. We enjoyed some croissants and coffee with the intention of a final round of shopping before heading to the ritzy (read insanely expensive) St. Bart’s. Enroute we stumbled upon THE patisserie, Serafina, with unbelievably delicious baked goods offered at very reasonable prices. They were simply too tempting to pass up, so we indulged in a second round of breakfast.  Oddly, merchants set prices in euro, but some accept dollars at the same price. Given the exchange rate, that’s a bargain for us. Since it would be several weeks before we could do a proper provisioning we set off to fill the fridge. This time we found a warehouse-style market that we wished we known about before shopping on the Dutch side, as the prices were excellent and we happily filled all our available spaces.

The Caribbean is full of people living their dreams. And many of them, like us, drag their families along. So far we’ve met 2 cruising families. The first family was from Alaska and just embarking on their 3^rd season with 3 girls: 9, 11, and 13.  While in Simpson Bay, they saw Zoe and JT, so stopped by to introduce themselves. Later, they came back and all the kids swam, while their dad Peter shared information with us.  On the French side, we met a family who’d crossed the Atlantic in a catamaran. The hailed from L’Orient, near Brest, and were partway into a 10-month trip. The parents spoke English, but the kids, twin boys aged 9 and their daughter, 11 did not. Nonetheless, our children found common ground in jumping on the trampoline and making beaded bracelets, while we heard about their adventurous crossing. Unfortunately, neither of them is following our itinerary, but it was fun for Zoe and JT to play with other children nonetheless. Unlike the first weeks in Spain, the transition has been super smooth. We’ve not heard a single complaint about missing Tahoe, or a wish to go back home. Liberator has quickly taken that place in their minds.