Wednesday 14th April (Lini’s Journal)

Brindabella's Web Diary
Simon Williams
Thu 22 Apr 2010 20:23
WANTED - Competent Crew!
After receiving a horrendous mobile phone bill last month I’ve been
rather wary about using it so much. Tomorrow my Bob and Roz are off on
holiday to Japan however so I felt justified in ringing my youngest
for a chat; I haven’t spoken to him in ages. I think I was as excited
as they must be by the time I wished them bon voyage. Si and I then
got ready for some snorkelling. Turtles pop up for air all around the
boat so it was no surprise that straight away we saw some of these
adorable creatures. Swimming nearer to the rocky headland the sea bed
changed from sand and sea grass to huge rocks; very different from the
small rocks and coral I’ve seen up until today. There was no shortage
of wildlife though and we saw a few reef fish we haven’t seen before
and a couple of huge angle fish. When we eventually dragged ourselves
away and headed back to the boat there were several quite big
barracuda and just behind the boat more turtles including one with two
remora half tucked under its shell. I watched it for some time then
glided around with a really cute little turtle. It was just as we were
tying up the dinghy that we saw a huge shadow circling around and
quickly putting his mask on and sticking his head in the water Si
confirmed it was another barracuda over a metre long. I was glad I was
safely on the aft deck!
We let go the mooring buoy and motored the short distance to the
privately owned Isle de Fourchure. Rock tinged with red and blue
amongst the greenery made it a lovely sight as we headed into the bay
leaving the large orange buoy for commercial vessels free for the
tourist catamaran that was following us in. Just as we approached the
yellow buoy we’d earmarked however the cat overtook us, honked its
horn as it raced for our buoy and Si had to put us swiftly into
reverse to avoid a collision. Si ‘thanked’ the skipper and zillions of
tourists then stared at us as once again Lini had troubles picking up
the buoy. Doh! If ever you wanted something to go smoothly!! Si was
not happy. More snorkelling improved the atmosphere then after lunch
we set sail for St. Martin.
The sail was a little longer than the couple of hours I had
thought, with a swell that we had been sheltered from in the
anchorages. The island is interesting in that the northern half is
French and the southern half Dutch, but they are pretty easy going
regarding people flitting between the two. As we sailed along the
south coast the Dutch capital of Philipsburg was blotted out by not
one or two, but five cruise ships of varying sizes. ‘Oasis of the Sea’
was the size of a small city in itself and I wondered where all the
passengers go when ashore. I envisaged people having to breath in and
shuffle past each other with the town literally full. Of course this
is only a silly Lini thought as there are always rows of buses to
takes passengers on tours of the islands.
Unlike St. Barts, St. Martin /Sint Maarten is a popular holiday
destination for the hoards as was evident from the numerous huge
hotels along the beaches. Our destination was the massive lagoon, the
yachting centre of the island and accessible only by two lifting
bridges, one from each side. We dropped the anchor just outside while
waiting for the 5.30pm bridge opening, then joined the queue as the
bridge was raised and we followed an enormous stink boat through to
the lagoon. While the owner was busy on a treadmill on the top deck,
six crew were buzzing about making everything shipshape.
The lagoon is massive and despite the many boats moored here there
was plenty of space to anchor. Sheltered from the waves and wind it
was unbearably still and hot however and we erected the large sun
awning straight away. A pink, blue and grey riot of colour came from
confused skies as we sipped our G&Ts taking in the 360° entertainment.
Little marinas are dotted around the edge of the lagoon and through
the middle are anchored yachts. More than your average boy’s pocket
money was spent on the row of enormous motorboats with their uniformed
staff that sit towards the bridge with large hotels rising up the hill
behind. On the dead calm water lights from the shore cast long thin
reflections in a multitude of colours. It would be impossible though
to miss the airport as the runway ends at the lagoon and some VERY
large planes fly just overhead. I’m not saying they are close but the
pilot of the last 747 taking off was wearing gold rimmed glasses!
Fortunately flights ceased before bedtime.