Whoa, it has been over two months since I did anything with the website! How time flies. Looking back it doesn’t seem like much new has happened, but at the same time many new places have been seen and explored, and there have been a fair amount of new developments.

 

Summary:

    17-Dec-2010 I returned to Minnesota to spend about a week and a half with family and friends. I wore an old Santa suit as much as possible and it had a very novel effect. Considering the season I was surprised that so many people responded to it with such excitement! Maybe it is unusual to see Santa wobbling our of a venue or walking on the side of the highway to get back to his ‘sleigh’. It was probably more novel for me as I hadn’t seen snow yet, and Minnesota had about 18” dumped on it just before I returned.

    Not being exposed to the pre-Thanksgiving Christmas marketing blitz that seems to move closer to summer every year, I was actually caught up in the Holiday spirit more than I had been since I was a kid! Thanks corporate America (and its faithful consumers) for sucking the soul out of Christmas. I digress.

    Spending time with family, the pets, and friends was a blast! However, when it came time to head to Missouri to visit Erin I was, in a sense, glad to be back ‘on the road’.

 

    Erin and I spent a relaxing week in CoMo taking occasional ‘fall walks’ and found a neat watering hole in which we spent New Years Eve with her friend Amelia and a bunch of grad students... MO doesn’t get much of a winter!

 

    Before I knew it, it was time to hop back on the plane and zip back to paradise. While the notion of fun in the sum appealed to me, a certain twang of remorse for, once again, leaving loved ones behind rang louder than it had since any previous departure down South. This feeling was more pronounced in the weeks after my return to St. Thomas and did not ease until I met a few other crew about my age to hang out with. I, once again, reevaluated the ‘things’ in my possession and sent a box of stuff I wasn’t using back to MN. If it doesn’t get used there it gets donated.

    On the morning of 23-Jan-2011 Pendana made the passage to Sint Maarten with another Nordhavn (it is a relatively tight knit owners community) to keep us company. Sint Maarten (Dutch)/St. Martin (French) is a really cool place! The French side is pretty European and, surprisingly, a bit run down with the exception of the really touristy areas. Boutiques and wonderful restaurants dot the area and it is really fun to stroll through. Sint Maarten, while on the same island, is very different; the Dutch side is very much set up for the tourist industry and caters with well planned and clean shopping and eating areas. A cruiser can find about anything they need here and there are a LOT of used boats sitting around waiting for a buyer...

    My mother and Rod came down to visit for a week at the end of January during which time we explored a bit more of the island. Slums in the middle, awesome beaches around the periphery... I am more impressed by availability and culture here than the scenery; which is still pretty wonderful.

    After being at anchor for several weeks in the Simpson Bay Lagoon we weighed and set off for St. Barts; the playground for the rich and famous. A few nice beaches & marine reserves (ok snorkeling) were the highlights; a very rolley anchorage and too much high-end crap spoiled it for me.

 

    This morning we headed back to St. Martin and we are once again in the Lagoon. In about one weeks time the three of us will make the ~4 day passage BACK to the Bahamas, specifically Rum Cay. This came to light when Chris and Sarah evaluated options and decided that, as much as they want to see what is South, they have friends and family staying at Rum for the next several weeks. And as anyone who has traveled knows; it is more fun when you share the experience.