
This guy knows how to stand out in the SXM traffic

We drive around Saint Martin before Allie leaves and eat at this fun restaurant near Orient Bay.

Pretty view from the restaurant

The cleaning crew consists of…peacocks?

Lizards love to look down on people.

Yes, darling, you are prettier than the lizard.

Mel looks hot. Waitress feels sorry for Mel and gives Mel free SXM rum punch!

Allie will miss this back in Connecticut!

Booby attack! On the way to Statia.

Here we see the artist coating the boat in celebratory white streaks, as if to say, “So long, and thanks for all the fish!”

More boobies! Be gone, boobies!

They alternate from port to starboard to optimize their kill, diving down for the fish Jerry brings to the surface.

Ahah! Caught in the act!

Sint Eustatius (Statia) welcomes all boats, even the ones covered in crap.

For the first time this trip, all crew has to check in to Customs & Immigration.

We tour Statia, which is apparently trying its darndest to crumble into the sea.

Man versus volcano.

Our walk includes some pretty murals.

“Town” is higher up the mountain on a hot day.

Dark brick, unusual for Caribbean architecture, fends off the elements.

Hello Jerry!

We find a very attractive rain diversion channel that has…no placard?!

This goat gives us a tour of his goat mansion.

We continue to admire the goat’s rain diversion channel.

We help Statia fend off the goat attack by keeping the door closed.

Cool museum.

View from the museum on Statia

Mel rates the air conditioning in the museum five stars.

We spy a fort!

Mel is glad the wall is there to stop this baby from hurtling down the hill.

Another overhead shot of Jerry from the fort. Boat people never can get enough pics of their boat!

More European-looking buildings.

For every step we go up, we must take a step down. Sea-level-troubles.

Reminds Mel of Greece

Even a fort needs some greenery

We find a church and graveyard. Museum, fort, church, graveyard — this island has everything!

Doctored to look like a green sea of graves

Plants will grow anywhere in the tropics

Another nice eating area

We go down a different way than we came up

Steep angle.

After some snorkling next to our boat, we had back to SXM, right past the biggest asphalt boat in the world…

Nice sail back!

Nooooo! Boobies are back!

This brown booby scans the boat for the one place that isn’t crapped on yet.

It finds two places without crap! Time to phone a friend!

Now this is a collective art piece

Back in SXM. Penelope smells fish in the bird crap and is confused, as she can’t find fish.

Simpson Bay lights up the night.

Allie takes her post

We say a sad goodbye to Allie

We are foiled in our parts shopping by one of the innumerable SXM car fires

Fun rum punches in a Sint Maarten grocery store

Our favorite provisioning place, right by our marina. It has EVERYTHING. You just have to find it!

We learn about Pacific weather in a webinar. So easy, hahaha.

Mel posted on Facebook a video of our taking down the sail for repair.

The sail had to be lifted into Tropical Sails with a crane!

We got smart and employed the help of security guard Derek to put the sail back up. Thanks, Derek!

Our clew is finally repaired!

Mel wonders if her former employer realized that she would be enjoying her doctor’s day gift only after she quit.

Greg replaces the port engine alternator.

Mel finds a weird bug

And so the random photos of food boxes to put into Google Translate begins…

Penelope supervises the electrical work

We learn who else is crossing the Pacific via the Pau Hana webinar series

Mel had to turn her cell service on for a day. Mistake.

Mel is so proud of herself. Cooking offshore is tricky in big seas, so here Mel makes 4 meatloafs to freeze AHEAD OF TIME.

We socialize with some fellow sailors at a bonfire organized by our friend Olivier

Even the baby helps find wood for the bonfire!

Sine Maarten has some beautiful sunsets!

We eat a fancy sausage called Merguez. It pays to have world travelers for friends!

The Merguez takes a while to cook.

We have had so many rainbows here in Sint Maarten!

Mel manages to start sewing her first courtesy flag after spending an hour prepping by figuring out what 6 different knobs do on this blasted machine.

Mission accomplished! Here’s your clue to our next stop!

More offshore prep! Protein balls!

Jackie at Sew Nauti replaces the tired foam in our saloon cushions. She is spectacular!

You can sit without sliding off!

Cool landscaping by the marina pool.

We install a new dinghy davit winch for our fat Brig.

As part of her prep catastrophizing, Mel imagines the electric windlass breaking and then orders another gadget

The generator shuts down randomly. Maybe its because of this massively corroded wire?

We commissioned an artist to make Jerry for us. We will mount him in the aft cockpit. More on Jerry’s story later!
Thanks for sharing your adventures