Day 168, Year 6 The Eagle Has Landed
Date: Sunday, April 10, 2011
Weather: Another Beautiful Day, Winds E 15
Latitude: 18 01.966 N
Longitude: 063 05.833 W
Location: Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten

Mark and Steve’s sister Jeanie (the eagle) arrived safely and on time this afternoon. It is great to have her here and even though she has only been on a couple of sailboats in her life, she is adapting quickly. We left Philipsburg this morning and motored the five miles to Simpson Bay to be closer to the airport. As soon as we arrived and got settled, Mark and Steve took off in the dinghy to go into Simpson Bay Lagoon and figure out how we could best get to the airport to pick up Jeanie at 2 pm. They took the portable VHF and called me to let me know that they made it to the airport and that there was a restaurant with a dinghy dock just right across from the terminal. It was noon but it had taken them half an hour to get there, so they decided to stay there and wait for Jeanie rather than spent another hour coming back to the boat and then back to the airport. They had a snack and then took the dinghy to the French side of the island for a little explore. By mid-afternoon Mark, Steve, and Jeanie arrived back at Windbird. Jeanie couldn’t believe that she was picked up in a dinghy. The long ride was a bit rough, but Jeanie made it just fine and immediately adapted to life on a sailboat.

We had a late lunch and then all got back in the dinghy and headed into the lagoon to look for a place with wi-fi. We wanted to try one more time to connect with Heather and Justin. We are anchored outside in the bay and have to go under a bridge to get into the lagoon. Once inside we saw a magnificent racing boat tied to a dock. The name was Hanuman and it was at least 120 feet long, sleek, and definitely a racing machine. What a beauty. We stopped at the Sint Maarten Yacht Club and asked about wi-fi and they directed us to Skip Jack, a close-by restaurant offering free internet. It was perfect. We were able to sit and have an appetizer while we talked to the kids. We had an okay connection with Heather and Jed and got to see Sam and Jonah in action. We then were able to connect with Justin and Jo and had a really good connection with them. Seeing those grandbabies makes us ever so anxious to see them in Puerto Rico in less than two weeks.

We will do a little more exploring here in the morning and then head back to Philipsburg. Mark needs to go to an internet cafĂ© and spend a couple of hours filing a tax extension while Steve, Jeanie, and I do the shopping thing. We also need to go to a grocery store to stock up for the week. On Tuesday morning we will sail back south to St. Bart’s, and from there to Saba, and then back to Marigot Bay on the French side of St Martin. Steve has been trying to get Jeanie ready for Caribbean sailing by saying things to her like, “Jeanie, have you ever been in a clothes dryer when someone turned it on and you started going round and round? Well, that’s what it’s like on this boat when we’re sailing.” Jeanie is being a good sport and I think we are going to have a great week.

110410 Day 168 Sint Maarten–Jeanie Arrives