Through the years, St. Martin has been a hurricane magnet, losing a number of its beaches and developments. The beaches are beautiful, as is the scenery sunbathing on it, especially on the French side. Marc likes to say, I’m not one to complain”. The kids’ reactions to the lack of modesty (a.k.a. clothes) of the surrounding boaters were funny. Sabrina did not mind showering off the transom here.. no one cares, were are in France”, she would say.
Having been to St Martin some years ago, we remembered the Butterfly Farm at Orient Beach. Our Englishman guide was witty with his descriptions of the butterflies’ habits, reproduction and purpose in life. Due to pesticides, habitat destruction, mono-cropping and other forms of human interference, the number of butterflies has declined drastically. They are breathtakingly beautiful and, like the honeybees, are fabulous pollinators. He and we encourage everyone to create a butterfly habitat in your yard.
St. Martin was the tale of cruising communities. Boat yards on the French side were littered with derelict project boats. We called it the yard of broken dreams. Many of the boats still served as the homes of salty sailors hoping to set sail again. On the other end of the harbor was the mega yacht contingent. Oddly the people who can afford to buy these things can’t ever seem to afford the time to spend enjoying them. So there they sit with a crew of 4-18 on the payroll doing polishing, relocations, and maintenance for the few weeks or weekends that the owners are on the boat. If you are thinking of living on the seas in laps of luxury but don’t quite have the 10 million plus to get into one of these, just accept one of the hundreds of paid crew positions out there. A farm kid from our hometown of Hastings with knowledge of diesels and hydraulics would be worth his weight in gold on one of these vessels.
Having been to St Martin some years ago, we remembered the Butterfly Farm at Orient Beach. Our Englishman guide was witty with his descriptions of the butterflies’ habits, reproduction and purpose in life. Due to pesticides, habitat destruction, mono-cropping and other forms of human interference, the number of butterflies has declined drastically. They are breathtakingly beautiful and, like the honeybees, are fabulous pollinators. He and we encourage everyone to create a butterfly habitat in your yard.
St. Martin was the tale of cruising communities. Boat yards on the French side were littered with derelict project boats. We called it the yard of broken dreams. Many of the boats still served as the homes of salty sailors hoping to set sail again. On the other end of the harbor was the mega yacht contingent. Oddly the people who can afford to buy these things can’t ever seem to afford the time to spend enjoying them. So there they sit with a crew of 4-18 on the payroll doing polishing, relocations, and maintenance for the few weeks or weekends that the owners are on the boat. If you are thinking of living on the seas in laps of luxury but don’t quite have the 10 million plus to get into one of these, just accept one of the hundreds of paid crew positions out there. A farm kid from our hometown of Hastings with knowledge of diesels and hydraulics would be worth his weight in gold on one of these vessels.
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