Real Root Beer and Ranch Dressing :)

St. Martin is half and half. The northern half is French and the southern half is Dutch. But there is a large lagoon called Simpson's Bay which is also split down the middle. We came around to the northern side and entered the bay through the French side (because it's free) at the 5:30pm opening and then came to anchor in the big bay.

Since then we've had a busy few days. We had some boat projects we'd been putting off just because we couldn't find the parts or didn't have time. St. Martin's has several cheap marine shops and you can find anything you need here.

We also had a huge shopping day and stocked up on food. We found some American brands which we were excited about and haven't seen in years!! Real Jolly Ranchers, A&W Root Beer, Cheeze Its, and Ranch dressing! :)

We also got a new dingy! For people not living on boats, the dinghy is basically our car. Once you anchor the boat, (and we usually anchor, hardly ever go to marinas....too expensive) you use your dinghy for everything.....hauling water, groceries, fuel, people, run to the store, everything. The one we've been using is the one that came with the boat when we bought it 3 years ago. It's perfect for 3-4 people and has a soft bottom. In the Mediteranean, it worked fine becasue it seemed like we were usually anchored right next to towns and it was a short ride back and forth, even if we needed to make 2 trips. But we seen in the Caribbean, everything is really spread out and we usually have a LONG way to go to town. With all of us in the dinghy, half of us usually arrive have wet pants, the stuff we bring in the dinghy is wet (not good for laptops....see early post in Turkey!), and we all arrive frustrated and grumpy. Well, we were in the marina store and someone had just brought in a flyer for a dinghy he was selling. It was just the size we need and came with a much bigger motor than the one we have. So, to put it in land terms, we went from a VW bug to a Suburban, and with 8 of us you can imagine, it was a happy day on Mehari! Even though it's a bigger motor, it's a 2-stroke which means even Emma can start it and drive it. so now it's not a problem to find someone to run errands ;) It was a great deal and we will probably end up selling it when we're done with the boat.


We checked weather and it looks like we have to wait here for a few more days then planned. So for now I guess we get to enjoy more of St. Martin :) We'll update again in a few days when we head to the British Virgin Islands...

~ Maggie