Not all islands are created the same We spent the last week sailing around St Martin, St Barts and Saba. St Martin (French)/Sint Maarten (Dutch). This is a great island with lots of culture and great food. I had some of the best pizza I have ever had a quaint little French bistro, Quai Oeust, in Oyster Pond. The French love food, laughter and fun. They are very relaxed and embrace the C’est La Vie (that’s life) attitude. Most shops are closed in the afternoon and reopen later in the day. Sint Maarten (Dutch) is very clean and fun and vibrant. The Dutch people are very friendly and helpful. We started in St Martin last Sunday and are now back on Sint Maarten this Sunday. We visited St Barthelemy (St Barts) after leaving St Martin last Monday. This was a great sail about 12 miles taking about two hours. We arrived on St Barts in Anse De Colombier. This is a beautiful little protected bay that is pristine. Access is primarily by boat and not easy to get to by land. It has a great beach and snorkeling. This bay is part of a marine park and was owned by the Rockefeller family before it was donated as a marine park. The remnants of a summer house, stone dock and main house can be seen from the beach. Next stop was Gustavia on St Barts. Clearing in at customs is completely automated and very nice. This is one of the bigger mega yacht harbors and a very beautiful place. We toured the town and hiked to all three forts that surround the bay. The forts were built by the French and the Swedes as the island has changed ownership between France and Sweden over the last 200 years. We enjoyed Great food and people watching. Shell Beach is a fabulous small beach surrounded by steep rocky cliffs and as the name indicates there are a ton of shells on the beach.. St Barts is known to some for glitz and glamour and is the home of the restaurant, Le Select, that inspired Jimmy Buffet’s Cheeseburger in Paradise. We celebrated Kell’s 43rd birthday with a beautiful dinner at LaRepaire. The kids tried foie gras and of course enjoyed it. Their taste buds are way to sophisticated and expensive. They each had a sirloin steak. We also enjoyed risotto with smoked lobster cream and a seared tuna. On to Saba we went from a sea of humanity to being only one of two boats in Ladder Bay. This is a 28 mile trip and about 4 hours. When we get there the waves are very rough and the mooring balls we are supposed to use when we clear in are taken or broken. Somewhat frustrating but we found a mooring balling on the other side of the island. What a difference. We went from seeing tons of boats and $100 million dollar yachts to being one of two boats off of Saba. Saba is a little round island with NO BEACHES. It is a rock that rises straight of the ocean with shear rock walls all around that go from sea level up several hundred feet. Until the 1940’s the island was only accessible via a set of 800 steps carved into the rocky cliffs. All materials, foods, etc were delivered by hand using these steps. In the 1940’s a small port was constructed that will accept small commercial boats. So we cleared customs in and out in one shot. That’s great!!. Then spend the day on the island. We all went for hike to tallest point on the island. The hike was up to Mt Scenery. 1064 steps and 3084 feet high. This is a world class hike on stone steps that have been cut into the hillside by hand. Took about one hour up and was quite difficult but lot’s of fun at the top where we were in the clouds and a rain forest environment. I read a description of Saba that described it as a fairy tale picture of a forbidden land. I would agree. It’s one of those places you see in movies and go wow. God created something very special here. After two nights at Saba on we sailed back to Sint Maarten and to Simpson Bay. This is a 24 mile sail pointed into the wind. A little rough but not terrible. We had great wind for most of the trip and were sailing around 9 knots. It’s very cool to turn the engines off and the boat is quiet just cruising through the water with wind pushing us along. Now back to Sint Maarten and cleared in on the Dutch side. This was the most paperwork and strict clearing of customs yet. We are anchored in Simpson Bay and have discovered that one of the largest Regatta’s in this area is this coming week. The 33rd annual St Martin Regatta. We are watching the race boats and teams show up as we speak. We have chores to do the next couple of days and will stay here to do laundry, get some boat parts, rest, catch up on work and school. Also need to provision food and water. Everything needed for cruisers is available here and accessible with only a 10 min dingy ride. Cody & William have learned to drive and maintenance our dinghy. William has announced he is the dinghy captain and is taken good care of her (Bessie). Cody has become very good at putting up the main sail and the jib. It’s no easy task to put the main sail on a mast that is over 40 feet tall. It pulls up by hand most of the way and then finished using a hand crank wench. Kaylee is in charge of ropes when letting out the jib and she has helped to batten down the hatches (ARRRRRR). Kelli and Cody are both learning to drive the boat and understand the engines. Kelli is getting quite good at managing the anchor and I am becoming much more confident in all aspects. We have learned that life is different everywhere you go. Different cultures view life from different perspectives. Latitude plays a large role in culture and behavior. Not all islands and people are created the same. -Brian