2024-04-07 Just hanging out in St. Martin

Pretty uneventful week.  Had a nice get together with two other Manta's anchored near us.  Fun night.

Tracy on Wanderlust and Dawn and Ivan off of Salty Fish

Kris has been having ear issues - swimmers ear.  Hasn't really bothered her too much, just a general soreness of the ear.  Did some home treatment with rubbing alcohol and vinegar, which helped, but never took away the issue.  We had waited until we got to St. Martin to see a doctor, since in the United States Virgin Islands, the cheapest we found was $150 for a doctors visit.  We found a walk in clinic here in St. Martin - waited about 1.5 hours and then paid $35 for the doctor and $13 for the prescription for ear drops.  Very happy with the treatment, doctor was nice, and staff was friendly.

Took a nice walk into town, and stopped at one of the French bakeries.   Delicious

Lots of traffic in the downtown tourist area of Marigot, St. Martin

The food selection is incredible - and all so pretty

It was as delicious as it looks.  Bit spendy at $6, but worth it.  

Kris has been sewing this week - finishing the salon cushions.  Now, this project started in 2022 when we decided we were not happy with the fabric of our current cushions, and Kris was also bothered by how the foam had been cut, not lining up with the boat angles and corners as well as she wanted.   We did not know which fabric/vinyl/material we wanted to replace it with.  Not ones to rush into a decision like that - it took us until November of 2023 to finally order the fabric - and the the decision only made because we found a great sale on some expensive material.  We got original ultraleather fabric on sale for $29 a yard - compared to $79 a yard normally.   Kris struggled with the project, as the material was quite stretchy in one direction, and partially stretchy in the other.  That combined with the foam being cut and glued in pieces, without great straight edges.  Had to plan for 1/2" to 1 1/2" stretch in one direction, and no stretch to 1" stretch in the other depending on the length of fabric, and the foam compressing from 1/2" to 1" made for some frustration, and lots of diagrams and head scratching.  She got 90% done, and ran out of thread.  Derek brought some more during his visit, so it was finally time to complete the project.  Turned out OK, not perfect like Kris wanted, but good enough, and we really like the fabric choice.

Fabric is great, doesn't feel hot and sticky, and cleans easy.  Still wish we had gotten the seats tighter, as you can see wrinkles where we sit all the time

Getting the seams on the corners to line up was a real pain.

The lagoon here in St. Martin has many boats anchored, but not a crowded feeling.  Only real negative is the growth on the chain and snubber lines.  Will take some scrubbing to get rid of that growth.  We will have to give the bottom a good scrub at our next stop as well.  There was a cruiser swap meet on Saturday, did not find any needed items but it was good to go in and see all the cruisers.

View from the anchorage.  Simpson Bay lagoon

View in anchorage, looking SW towards airport

We are anchored in 10' of water and you can see the bottom when it is calm, but there is lots of growth in the lagoon that affects all the boats - We see a lot of turtles, fish and rays in the lagoon as well.  Unfortunately the water is warm, and filled with nutrients for algae growth as well.

Lots of fuzzy growth on chain and snubbers - will take some scrubbing.  Imagine the bottom will need a good scrub as well.  

With strong ENE winds coming for the next week, we will most likely be here for the next 10 days.  Oh well, will have to find some more good food, and do some more land exploration.