Snowy Range Pass

Snowy Range Pass

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Sint Maarten sailing trip

Our last port call of the cruise was Sint (saint)  Maarten.  Another island with generally same post Columbus history.  Fought over by most of the Northern European countries it ended up as a Dutch colony  Today it is an independent country that is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  The Dutch  occupies the southern part of the island and the northern section is associated with the French.  Sint Maarten is very popular with tourists from the Netherlands.

In this port, we decided to enjoy a coastal sail on a tall ship converted from a Dutch fishing trawler.  Anneke was particularly looking forward to this trip because the ship's captain and some of the crew were Dutch. For many years sailing was our main hobby and it was great to be on this very nice sailing ship for part of our day.




The "Mercedes" spends the winters in the Caribbean and the summers in Northern Europe doing charters.  The conversion to a modified tall ship was very well done and it was a pleasure to be onboard.

















We sailed along the coast and enjoyed the views of shore.  One of the attractions here is the airport with sits at the edge of the sea and the large planes arriving from around the world have to come in very low over the ocean. One of  the big attractions is watching planes landing just over the beach. They sometimes get so close that they are blown back across the beach and sometimes into the ocean by the jet blast.  As we sailed close to the beach, there were no large planes landing.  I do not see the fun in it, but here you can see what it looks like.









We also sailed close by the current largest yacht in the world with the former largest yacht nearby.
  






We had a great time onboard talking with the Capt and crew and just being under sail again.


Before heading back to the ship, we did a quick walk thru the village and even picked up a couple of souvenirs. 












8 comments:

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

Oh what a treat for Anneke. She looks like a real sailor...hehe.

I can't believe that is an airport. I think I would be scared to land or take off from there.

What a beautiful and colorful village. Looks like a great stop.

Laura said...

The sailing trip looks awesome!

Happytrails said...

What a beautiful ship!! I know you all totally enjoyed being aboard. Those yachts are gorgeous and enormous!!
I would hate to land or take off that close to the water!!
This is simply a beautiful area!!

Nickie and Jim said...

Holy Moly, waiting for the jet's propulsion to blow you into the ocean didn't look like a whole lotta fun to me (the link you provided)!

You're right, any day on the water is a good day!

Phyllis said...

As I sit here in the chilly dampness from lots of rain AGAIN last night, I look at these lovely pictures and just dream. Beautiful.

Wanderin' said...

We love the beach and those Caribbean islands. We've stayed on many of the islands and love the sand, sun and adventures. Enjoy!

Paul and Marti Dahl said...

We enjoyed a sail around St. Marten a couple of years ago on a much smaller boat. In fact, we barely left the harbor. I was so disappointed, it's been a while since I chummed over the side... ;c)

Sherry said...

I have always wanted to sail on a tall ship. The little town looks very nice. I didn't know that you guys had been sailors.