An Embarrassment of Mangoes

Of course our primary focus here in St. Martin has been to get our boat projects completed.  Besides  new batteries, new solar cells, repaired dodger window we have been varnishing the interior windows in the salon and the topsides of our hatches where the sun comes in so strongly and does damage.   But this post is about a few fun things we have been doing here in St. Martin and not the work projects.

By the end of the first week after our new batteries were installed, we were ready for a little celebration. We headed over to Barnacles, a local Greek restaurant frequented by cruisers.  Saturday night they were featuring a lamb roast and coincidentally, we ran into our electrician, David and shared a few tall tales along with a beer or two.  The roast lamb was fabulous and it was nice to get off the boat and meet some new people.

This is what happens if you are the slowest lamb in the field.

Since we have been anchored in Simpson Bay Lagoon, we have a view of the Causeway Bridge, which separates the French and Dutch sides of the lagoon.  Whoever designed the bridge decided to make it special by adding rainbow-colored lights across the bridge.  After sunset, you can enjoy the “light show” that illuminates the bridge. First it's yellow, then blue, then purple, and so on.  The center section of the bridge that opens for boat traffic is often multicolored and late in the evening, the lights remain on all night in rainbow mode and its fun to view something as ordinary as a bridge become a piece of art. Someone on drugs would find this bridge the ultimate!

The bridge for '60 hipsters.

The new Causeway Bridge is actually one of the best walks in Sint Maarten.

Another reason we like the Causeway bridge is it has good sidewalks that make great walking paths.   Walking or jogging over and back is both scenic and great exercise.  It’s over 2.5 miles and close by so I’m sure we’ll do it a number of times before leaving Sint Maarten.

One day as we were heading to our usual dingy dock we passed a boat named Receta. Ah..ha. I recognized that boat immediately since it's Ann and Steve from Toronto.  Ann Vanderhoof, is the author of two great books about their two-year cruise in the Caribbean Islands.  The first book is called  An Embarrassment of Mangoes and The Spice Necklace is her second book.  The books document their adventures exploring the culture and cuisine from Toronto to Trinidad.  I had learned about it from another cruiser and was just finishing the last chapter.  I thoroughly enjoyed the book  and shared numerous funny parts with Walter.  What’s especially good are the recipes she has incorporated into the book.  I have tried several and hope to try them all.  So I dinghied over and introduced myself along with my two copies of the books plus a mango, hoping she wouldn’t mind autographing my books.  She signed them and we had a nice visit.  We later invited them over for  drinks and had a great evening learning more about their cruising and sharing sailing adventures. We wish them both the best and thank you Ann for writing such perfect books for cruisers visiting the Caribbean.

Ann and Meryl catching the sunset.