jazz on pelican beach

Always having such a great time with our dear Canadian friend Reg Bates. You might remember that Reg owns Weather Eye Yachts, the best yacht broker you can find in the Caribbean. He's been a tremendous help in regards of selling our old boat and buying of our new one, so lucky to have found him. Buying and selling a vessel can often be a very personal, emotional affair and not everyone are as lucky as we've been, to find the right middle man. Bonus of course when your broker also proves to be a crazy, funny and warm person and we've had so much fun with this man ever since we met the first time. Thanks again dear for an amazing day in the sun!

My bikini is from Agua de Coco and Beach Fashion Shop. Earrings from We Dream In Colour.

Wknd in sxm

We've spent the weekend in St Martin. One of the nights we were out dancing salsa with our good friends, Reg and his beautiful wife Marianne. Always great to see these two taking over the dance-floor, perfect combination of two very talented dancers. Reg is by the way the broker we've dealt with here in the Caribbean. He has a wealth of knowledge and have made sure to meet all of our requirements. Make sure to get in touch with him here if you are looking for to buy or to sell a boat in the Caribbean. He will take good care of you and will guide you right, plus give you all valuable information one might need for this region. I know of many whose Caribbean cruising dreams have come true because of his personal service. Now let's just hope he can sell our HR352 soon as well, no pressure Reggie! lol

Details and new reduced price on our Hallberg Rassy can be found here. She needs to sell asap.

Bajatzu

Just a little restaurant tip for you all: Bajatzu in St Maarten is one of the best places in the Caribbean to enjoy an International meal. The interior is classy and the ambiance very NYC style, the steaks are perfect, the garlic-baked snails incredibly delicious, the apple tart fantastic and the service absolutely impeccable. We've heard good reviews about this place before but the service and the attentive gentlemen serving us were so amazing and above any expectations that I couldn't get this place off my mind for a long time after our first and second visit. Brilliant Bajatzu. We'll see you next time we're back in St Maarten.

Caribbean delights

This was one of the many wonderful meals we enjoyed with our friends during our stay in St Maarten two weeks ago. Grilled Caribbean spiny lobster, delicious as always, simply prepared with garlic, lemon, parsley and sea-salt.

Haven't drank this much bubbles in years

We sailed over to St Maarten for a few days to clean our old boat and to show one of the beaches to our friends. Karakter on Simpson Beach is a really nice spot to hang out at, reminds us much of los chiringuitos in Spain and our hometown Barcelona. Great healthy food, good champagne obviously, fantastic smoothies and a nice, smooth vibe.

Comfort food at its best

Our favorite place for Indian food in the Caribbean: Lal's Curry in a hurry. Great ambiance by the lagoon and the authentic Indian cuisine is absolutely fantastic. This modest restaurant gets 10/10 in all categories. The buttered chicken is one of the best Indian meals I've ever had and I always tend to order the same thing each of the times we visit Lal, although everything else I've tried are almost equally fantastic. This place is simply a must go when in Sint Maarten.

Can't leave this place

Just one more swim before we leave... jezuz, we're  always late with everything we do. Was supposed to leave 6.00 am this morning to take advantage of the good winds for our passage towards Antigua but it's already after lunch. Perhaps we'll stay another night. Bikini/s like always from my favorite of them all, Babajaan. Check out their new amazing pieces here.

Duty free shopping

Busy here. More substantial blog content coming one other week when we're not in a rush. Today we'll be heading into Philipsburg, the capital of this island, to purchase some things that we need. Best shopping in the Caribbean must be here in Sint Maarten/St Martin. Duty free and all.

Dinner time

Can't deny that it feels extremely good to have occasions and places to dress up for, put make up and high heels on and to be out dining and wining and enjoying life in the dark like it was good old 2009 again. The energy and the familiar movements of this island is much needed for both of us at the moment. Interesting also to discover how many new subjects of conversation one can create in between two people, a couple who spend almost every single minute of each day together, when just changing the surroundings and the atmosphere around. 

Hello St Martin!

Finally back again in the land of sex, drugs and rock n' roll. Or the country of contrasts if you like, or the land of mesmerizing beaches or whatever you prefer to call this amazing island. Sure is that we have came to love the diversity this island offers and the fact that it always manages to make us feeling very welcome, welcome back home, each of the times that we drop the hook in the emerald green waters of this French/Dutch nation. Until we're out there again (leaving Caribbean behind) and continuing this so called world tour where the thought is to one day actually sail around the world instead of jumping back and forth between islands, we will with pleasure continue to enjoy the oh so familiar European flavor and energy that this island offers.

Leaving tomorrow

As the winds seems favorable for the next few days, we decided to take a break from work, shorten the longing and make a spontaneous trip to St Martin for a couple of days, departure tomorrow. Our old dinghy (or not so old, just a bit too small) needs to get replaced by something faster and stronger and they don't seem to have them here in Antigua. Glad we've found a reasonable excuse to sail over to one of our favorite islands. Looking forward to a dinner with good friends in beloved Grand Case on Sunday evening. Should probably be back in Antigua again later next week.

High season's approaching...

It's been extremely dead around here in the Caribbean for a few months as I think I've mentioned before, but slowly but surely we are getting closer to the starting point of the high season. You can easily tell that by the number of superyachts arriving here from Europe and the US. We have only experienced a St Martin empty of larger boats until now but could definitely imagine all these marinas in Simpson Bay Lagoon to be jam packed with super and megayachts and we're pretty close to that now as I understand.

This yacht on the photo, MY Sherakhan, is only one of all the beauties that have entered the waters of St Martin these past few days and there is a lot more to come. Looking forward to their arrival for a change of view and to see what a high season in St Martin and St Barts looks like. We will be around on these two islands pretty much until beginning of next year. Maybe we'll also pay a visit to the annual Antigua Charter Yacht show in the beginning of December. That show is what marks the beginning of the Caribbean yachting season. When Monaco, Antibes, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Porto Cervo, Portofino, St Tropez and Newport have taken a break for the winter, this is when the boats move to our side of the world and the Caribbean yachting world begins to live and vibrate again. 

Happy weekend from Carib

Time to round off the day with some drinks and ribs by the beach tonight. Hope you all are enjoying yourselves this weekend.

SXM

So we're back in SXM (no, that is not an abbreviation for a sadomasochist club ((although that almost could make sense in the context, too)), it's simply the airport code for St Martin and Sint Maarten). We have some things to do around here for a few days and we're always happy to be back here. There is this special energy on this island which is hard to put an epithet on. Love it, especially because the ambiance reminds us a lot about the European. Will show you later on what we've been up to around here. First some important work to deal with.

Sunday lunch

We were invited to our friend's yacht in Porto Cupecoy yesterday for a delightful Sunday lunch. A perfect break from the nerve racking motion of the lagoon where the storm felt much more present than in the peaceful Porto Cupecoy. How wonderful isn't it to have someone else cooking for you every once in a while? Thank you for the kind hospitality, Reggie!

Bring it on

Doesn't it look like we're just about to ride a hurricane? No? Well we're ready either way. Looks like tropical storm Maria could be throwing in some hurricane winds to us tomorrow with storm beginning already tonight so we have not much else to do than prepare our dear Caos as much as we can. We've just tied up to a mooring, threw out an anchor, secured all possible flying stuff off the deck and that should be fine to begin with. This is supposed to be the strongest tropical storm in our Caribbean stay so far. Perhaps even a hurricane if we are really damn unlucky. But like they say; there's always a first time for everything.

Wanna get out on the sea

To stay on land, especially on a happening island like SXM, is wonderful but we can't wait for the storm to pass so we can get out sailing again. Much to discover also outside of this lagoon..

Randoms

Listening to Beck while awaiting the storm.

Mueve la cintura

Lots of salsa, bachata & other ritmos latinos going on here on this island.. here's a good one to get you in the mood.

Mullet Bay

last pic is from Maho Beach. Bikini from Babajaan

Alex got a couple of smaller waves from the swell of hurricane Katia on Saturday afternoon on Mullet bay and there was that other bay which was even better with some nice barrels (no pics from there unfortunately due to the late hour in which we finally found the place). Apparently there was even better surf on the NE on Sunday which we unfortunately missed out on. Shall check the place out next time there's a good swell coming.