Over the past week, I have had several inquiries on when we were going to be doing some adventures on St. Maarten. Quite honestly, we are on a budget right now preparing for our boat projects and our super adventurous splurge in Europe so you’ll have to wait another month to get your adventure fix. Our mini adventure this week was Harry Houdinghy living up to his name once again. Early in the week, Bill went back over to Shrimpy’s to pick up the repaired engine. True to Shrimpy’s word, we were zipping right along at top speed! All was well! Until it wasn’t. We went out to dinner with a new neighbor and when we got back to the boat, Harry was gone! The rope we had used had a clasp on it and the rope plus clasp were both still attached to the dock but Harry was nowhere to be seen. We always do our best to not jump to “the dinghy has been stolen” because many locals get a very bad wrap due to boaters not securing their dinghy well. We began walking the docks in the dark trying to see if Harry had floated away. No luck. We were hesitantly beginning to allow the lingering thought of theft to slip into our heads because we could not figure out how Harry could’ve thrown off the clasp in such calm weather. Bill made his way over to talk with the security guards about the situation while I pulled up the coast guard contact information online. A few minutes later, one of the security guards came to the boat and said he had found a dinghy stuck under a far dock. Bill took off to see if it was Harry. I waited impatiently for the hopeful sound of our new motor putting along home. No sound. Bill returned and my hopes were dashed until he announced, “Harry has made his way back home again!” I said, “That’s awesome but I didn’t hear the motor so I thought it wasn’t Harry they had found,” to which Bill responded, “That’s because I was rowing. Good news, Harry is found. Bad news, motor wouldn’t start again.” We still can’t figure out how Harry managed to escape off the dock but he certainly lived up to his name on this escape because it is a mystery. As for the motor, it was returned back to Shrimpy’s shop for another makeover. We have voted this will be the final makeover allowed no matter how many more times the mechanic says, “Just a small issue. All fixed now!”
Other than Harry providing unwanted entertainment, we have just been doing small projects and enjoying the pool. Since it is officially the off season in St. Maarten, we have had the pool to ourselves most days. The pool is part of the country club which offers a gym as well as tennis courts. Tennis seems to be a very big thing here and the courts are usually crowded so we are glad we don’t play tennis! Far too much work when I can choose to float in a pool instead. To get to the pool, we must walk through the clubhouse and check in with the reception desk. The first day we arrived, the receptionist tried to put a colored paper bracelet on our arms to prove we had checked in to use the pool. Bill told her he wasn’t going to wear the bracelet so she said we could just put them on the handle of the backpack. The funny part is that every time we check in, they give us another colored band on the backpack. Not just one band but two bands….one for each of us. We currently have two purples, two reds, two oranges and two yellows. The same three people check us in every time we go. We are the only ones in the pool. One would think that eventually they’ll say, “That’s okay. Just go on in,” but that has yet to happen. No denying the Islanders know how to follow rules! To close out our week we are headed to the movies again for popcorn and Jurassic Park premiere! We will follow up with some delicious shawarma for dinner. That plan may not sound like much of an adventure to others but to me, it sounds like a perfect day in paradise!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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