Saturday - Sailing away from expensive Oatly!
Today I got a taste of true sailing! We woke in Gustavia after last nights' anchoring uncertainty, to find ourselves still in the same place we were last night! Phew!
The advance party had already headed to shore by the time Pete and I woke, in search for provisions, however returned nearly empty handed based on the absolutely ridiculous pricing! Fresh milk was around €15 for a 2 pints, Oatly was €16.79 for 1L, Avocados €8.90 each! Not quite enthused with those options, they returned with bread from the boulangerie, but did fork out for some bananas!
We've now taken to pricing everything we consume by how many Oatlys you'd be able to buy on St Barth's!
We (used loosely here) put up the main sail, and set off in search of Ile Tintamarre, a beautiful island off the coast of Saint Martin. The sail went up easily in comparison with the first day.
Then it was engine off, wind power on, and the difference was lovely, calm, just the noise of the boat creating the waves as we sailed the 3-4 hours towards Tintamarre.
We arrived, and all needed a bit of a rest, and some lunch, precedes by a quick once round the boat to test out the water.
After lunch, I went ashore on the Paddle Board, the rest in the dinghy, for a walk up and down the idyllic sand. This was the most "Caribbean" beach we've been to so far and was only occupied by a few beachgoers, and the typical rich people having their white table cloth sit down lunch!
It was a good spot to test out the drone, footage coming soon, and Pete and I enjoyed playing about with this while the rest went on a walk to the other side of the island!
Pete even got in some gymnastics for good measure!
Soon it was time to reboard Araume and head onwards to Grand Case, back on St Martin where we're anchoring for the night. Much more reasonable prices, this time the shoppers came back with a better haul, while the rest had some down time!
Dinner time came upon us, not before we enjoyed a rum cocktail as the sun went down, here Pete adamant he could see the green flash of the sunset!
We chose Ocean 82, based on its great reviews and good menu options, slightly upsetting the Maitre-D by daring to arrive on a Saturday evening without a reservation for a table for 6. No bother, however, as he found us a table right in the heart of the restaurant, flanked on all sides by either wealthy elderly Americans "Hey Baaaarb... Do you want the Lawwbbsstteeerrr?", or younger Europeans "Tonight we're all going to get meessseedd uppp weeee"!
We enjoyed a mixture of fresh seafood, Duck for me, Beef for Pete, and then desserts or cocktails to finish the evening!
Slightly lighter in the pocket, we arrived back for a bit of a wet night, as a storm arrived at about 2am and deluged the boat, just about getting the hatches battened down before the beds were too wet!
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