Parents on board!

April 4, 2008


Kristen’s parents, Rod & Helen, are visiting us here in St. Martin. We’ve been having a great time exploring the island together and showing them boat life. They’re inspired to join the ranks of cruisers and buy a boat and hit the high seas! Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to leave the protected lagoon since it has been blowing about 25 knots every day with 10 foot seas. Not exactly a gentle introduction to sailing. We’re hoping for better weather in the next few days so we can at least go for a day sail before they leave on Tuesday. Meanwhile, we’ve been going to beaches via the bus system, hiking in the interior of the island, walking around Marigot and spending time with friends on Merengue, Phoenix III, Taima and La Bete.



Rod and Hans were a little bit worse for the wear the morning after a one night "mancation" ashore where copious amounts of rum was consumed away from the prying eyes of Kristen and Helen...



Rod and Helen enjoy fresh, warm croissants in Marigot.


The old fort overlooking Marigot Bay.


Dinner on board is served. This night a spanish tortilla. Yum!




Last night was Gil’s 50th birthday so we had a proper raucous bash on La Bete complete with lasagna, antipasti, wine, champagne, cake and amazing cheese.


Yvonne, Gil, and Manon fight over the yummy cheese.

Marie France and birthday boy Gil.

Kit Kat has not been enjoying life as much as we have. Her cyst that developed in the Virgin Islands came back so the vet here decided the best course of action was a mastectomy. The procedure was done yesterday morning and today she is still heavily sedated, groggy, dizzy and generally pooped out.






In boat-related news: we found a Beta dealer and mechanic here in St. Martin who will fix our leaky transmission. He’ll get started next week after Kristen’s parents leave. Finally, we can stop adding transmission fluid every 20 hours. He is a new Vega owner: he just bought Voila! from our friends Alan & Felicity. It’s a small Vega world!





Hiking around the interior of the island.

Helen holds up a tamarind bean pod which we found growing on a tree during the hike. There is a really tart and sweet pulp inside of the pod which was delicious.