"St-Martin / St Maarten"

"St-Martin / St Maarten", sometimes known as SXM is an island in the northeast Caribbean and is amicably divided between the French and the Dutch. It has 3 currencies, 4 languages and a blurred border territory. Each side has a distinct personality - the French cling desperately to their European roots and the Dutch cater wholeheartedly to winning the American tourist dollar with the dozens of cruise ships stopping here. 

The island is duty free and one of the biggest yachting centres in the Caribbean, which made it an ideal location to get Lazy Bones ready for her voyage. Although our focus was outfitting the boat, we also sampled a bit of the island life and enjoyed as much time on land as possible.

Stopping in at ‘Happy Bay’ on the French side for a swim and afternoon local bier – Caribe!

We met some wonderful new friends, through our experience ‘couch surfing’ – Jeremie, Linda and Romane, who were wonderful hosts to both Mike and I during our boat hunting phase. As a thank you, we took them out for a day of sailing to ‘Tintamare Island’. 

We sailed to Grand Case for the weekend, which is reportedly the ‘culinary capital of the Caribbean’. It has a fantastic vibe and the beach is lined with restaurants and bars. 



We skipped the high-end hotspots, preferring instead to savor local faves like BBQ pork ribs and coleslaw at one of the ‘lolos’ – open air cantinas. 

Exploring Philipsburg - the Dutch-side of the island and cruise ship central...

A local market in Marigot, the French capital.

Although SXM is one of the busiest and most populous islands in the Caribbean, it was perfect for our boat needs and had the bonus of great beaches, wonderful food and fantastic people! 

A Day in the Life of Lazy Bones!

So, many of you have been asking what we’ve up to and exactly what’s involved in outfitting a boat to get it ready for cruising?

Although we wish it could be shits and giggles all of the time, we’ve been working (and playing) hard to get everything prepared so when things do go wrong, we’re ready!

Here’s a few snaps of what a ‘typical’ day has been for us:

Coffee on the bow, enjoying the sunrise

Followed by a refreshing swim

Some good ol' sustenance for the day ahead

We generally make fresh water for drinking and showering every couple of days with our on-board desalinator! Then it's time to get some jobs done!

Mike installing a bag for the sheets

Fixing the shower drain situation...

 Checking the rigging up the mast

Scrubbing the deck!

Installing a new set of batteries to store all of the energy we need

Installing the frame and solar panels to create the energy we need for our travels.

 A long day of jobs followed by some relaxing time reading about our future destinations

A late afternoon sail

 Hoping to catch dinner...

 Unfortunately something bigger ate OUR dinner.

 Second best to line caught.

The days have been busy, long and at times stressful but we're managing to keep a good balance of play/work and are super pleased that we are ready to start cruising. St Barths - here we come!

Some wind, waves and a sail to… Anguilla!

Anguilla is a British overseas territory about 5 miles from the north coast of Saint Martin. Known for its relaxed vibe and some of the best beaches in the world we decided it would make for a great weekend break from the ongoing outfitting of the boat.

We set off first thing on Saturday morning with beautiful breezes pulling us along. 

We arrived in Road Bay and cleared in with immigration officials who were extremely relaxed!

We spent our first afternoon wandering around ‘town’. At the end of the dirt road we decided to get back to the boat to enjoy the crystal clear waters of the harbour.

After a long night of listening to local steel drum music on the island, we set off early to one of Anguilla's famed local marine parks – Sandy Island, which has a sweet little beach shack restaurant serving up fresh lobster and cold drinks. 

After a quick walk around the island and a refreshing swim, we pulled up anchor and headed to the Prickly Pear Cays - a set of limestone bumps about 5 miles from Anguilla's mainland with simply stunning beaches!

Unfortunately the restaurant we were hoping to go to for lunch was closed but we enjoyed the beach for the afternoon and headed back to Saint Martin later that night. A great reminder of why we're doing this trip - many of the special places we intend to visit can only be reached by boat!