We anchored on the edge of the mass of boats in the outer harbour of the town Gustavia, under Fort Oscar. There was a mix of cruise ships, super yachts, racing yachts etc all about the anchorage. The anchorage was actually a hub of activity with planes flying overhead and yachts coming and going. It was great to be on the edge of all these boats watching all the goings on. This place gets even busier around Dec January. Eeek!
The port itself is also crammed with all sizes of boats stern-to the dock and red roofed homes all about. It is a picturesque town with a lot of history and really well maintained old stone buildings. There is a walking tour with boards explaining the history, which was interesting to read when we came across them. We enjoyed a nice lunch out in one of the many restaurants in town after wandering about the streets.
The fashionable shops are very chic winding themselves amongst the cobblestone streets. A little pricey for me but nice to look at. Lots of well dressed people about that’s for sure.
The mode of transport was interesting anything from scooters to 4 wheel quads, electric cars with no doors and yes small French vehicles. A lot of the streets around Gustavia are one way so it was interesting watching people buzz all about. We picked up a real estate magazine and there were definitely some expensive homes for sale and for rent.
In the evening we had a few drinks with fellow Calgarians Rod and Kathy who had chartered a catamaran and had seen the Maverick at the Annapolis boat show. They recognized the boat and noticed our name figuring we were from Calgary so came over to check our home out. Small world seeing Calgarians who have seen a maverick.
We decided to head up the west coast to the bay of Anse de Colombier, a Marine Reserve where they have free mooring buoys. The water was the clearest we have seen and no swells, with the odd turtle popping its head up to say hello. The beach was busy with the locals given it was the weekend. We met a land turtle walking up to the cliff face behind the beach and had terrific views along the rocky north east coast and over to the bay we were in. Great anchorage.
It was a perfect little spot so we stayed another day and Mum & Dad paid there way by contributing to jobs on the boat. We snorkeled all around the bay and saw a lot of big fish and swam with 5 turtles. They are so graceful and cool to watch. Nice bay could have stayed here a while but Sint Maarten awaits.
On our way to Sint Maarten we stopped at the island of Ile Fourchue and who did we see but Mark From Sea Life. Mark joined us for a hike up to one of the many peaks with great views back to St Barths and over to Sint Maarten. We put the screecher out and continued on to Simpson Bay on the Dutch side.
