Polluted in St Martin
Oriole
Sun 1 Feb 2004 12:49
|
There seem to be comparatively few cruising yachts
in Antigua this year and
Nonsuch Bay which is every bit as atttractive as the Tobago Cays was almost deserted this week and we had a few days in perfect isolation. The sunrises coming up out of the sea over the reef which protects this anchorage have been really beautiful.  Close by is the famous Mill Reef Club and Harmony
Hall which is an excellent
restaurant. We met Peter and Pat Taylor there
for lunch during their fortnight's
holiday.
We also had a lunch party with the crews of 6 Ocean Cruising Club yachts to meet a founder member who did his qualifying passage in 1948. Baxter Still is 87 and as lively as a cricket and still cruising his 47 foot yacht extensively having just sailed from Turkey!
We left Antigua on Friday evening and sailed overnight to St Martin attracted by the prospect of purchasing some diving tanks at duty free prices. Sadly, although the prices are good, the choice is very limited. St Martin is not an example of why we came to the Caribbean. Half Dutch and half French, it is the centre of mega-yachting and the giant motor yachts are parked wall to wall interspersed occasionally with a really beautiful sailing yacht. The anchorage in the Lagoon must be one of the most polluted in the area and we would not like to fall in. Aeroplanes from the largest airport in the region take off a few hundred yards away and fly right overhead.  The quays to which the rows of mega-yachts are
moored are
lined with bars and restaurants catering for the overpaid and underworked crews!! When they are not hanging around the bars they are zooming around the anchorage in their large and powerful tenders. This is the side of life Andrew does not tell us about!!!  Where these enormous yachts go and what they do is
a mystery as we rarely
see one away from their marine car parks.
So far we have only seen the Dutch side and today St Martin will have a chance to redeem itself as we explore the French side. Regardless of the pollution the anchorage is well sheltered from the large northerly swells which are being generated by vigorous storm systems way up in the north. We have probably now reached the most northerly point of our cruise and will now be pottering, gently we hope, south. |