Welcome to Wandering Star

Wandering Star at anchor in Simpson Bay Lagoon SXM

Welcome to the blog of Yacht Wandering Star.  This 44ft steel hull is our new home in the Caribbean. And this blog a continuation of "The Adventures of Alianna"only now we are Wandering Star.  Having had nearly 9 wonderful years on Alianna, our Corbin 39, we have moved house and are now the proud owners of this custom made steel boat.  A steel hull was certainly not the direction we thought we would be taking on the great boat hunt but we took a shine to her and her to us and here we are.  We are ready to throw ourselves into a world of chipping and painting (well almost, we at least deserve points for enthusiasm…..famous last words!)

 

Welcome to St Martin

We have been on board a little over a month now in the sunny dual island of Dutch/French St Martin.  We have been busy putting our stamp on Wandering Star whilst dealing with sales negotiations on Alianna which we now believe is an almost done deal.  My parents have been out to visit us amongst all this chaos going on and we have had a fun week with them staying on board with us while we have been showing them the sights:  Bridge openings at the Dutch St Maarten Yacht Club when all the mega yachts squeeze through the small opening to cheers from the crowds at the bar during happy hour; To the Sunset Beach Bar (where topless women drink for free) and you can watch planes both large and small arrive on the landing strip at the Juliana airport right next door and watch the blast from the engines blow people, sand and belongings into the sea; To the capitals, Marigot Bay on the French side and Philipsburg on the Dutch side. We have had scrummy meals ashore and been soaked to the bone on dinghy rides in the strong gusty winds.  But one thing is for sure St Martin/Maarten has some of the best beaches in the Caribbean with the most amazing hues of blues. Now Mum and Dad are staying ashore in a cute Caribbean hotel (right next to the runway – which is part of the charm, right?) on right on the beautiful Simpson Bay Beach.

Maho Beach - right next to the airstrip

 We will spend the next week getting ourselves shipshape and finishing all our immediate jobs on the “To Do” list, stocking up and provisioning and buying all the duty free marine spares that we think we might need down island.  From Next week we will be looking for a weather window to leave St Martin and head over to Antigua for the race weeks and to catch up with friends.

Bridge opening at the yacht club

The beach at Philipsburg

High Street Philipsburg

Church in Philipsburg

Philipsburg anchorage

Philipsburg

Lunch at the Barefoot Beach Bar

Watch out for the planes!

Him 'n' Her at Maho Beach

At the bar with Mum and Dad & friends Woody, MV & Shane

How low can you go?

Blown into the sea by the jet blast

Later the walk back in the rain along Simpson Bay Bridge