Sailing the Caribbean – St Martin & St Barth’s November 2012

Steve’s 50th Birthday

What a cracking start to the season when new Ibis recruits Mark, Catherine, Franco and Helen joined returning guest Steve for his 50th Birthday celebrations in the islands…

Birthday in St Barth’s

[dropcap]I[/dropcap]was very honoured that Steve chose to celebrate his 50th birthday on board Ibis, and from our Marigot start we headed over to Anguilla and Prickly Pear Cay and the tiny Sandy Island with just a beach bar perched on the sandy beach. Then it was back to St Martin’s Grand Case for a night out at the Grand Case Mardi street fair. An early start and we headed around the island clockwise to Pinel for lunch and downwind to the lovely Anse de Columbier on St Barth’s.

It was a bit of a late arrival, but we successfully picked up the bouy in the dark and woke up to blue skies and remora fish swimming around. Steve’s birthday cake wasn’t the best looking thing [pullquote_right]”the whipped cream didn’t stand up well to 30 degree heat”[/pullquote_right]on the planet – I’d made a black forest gateau laced with rum and Bonne Maman cherries, but the whipped cream didn’t stand up well to 30 degree heat and before I could get the chocolate icing on top the filling was oozing out the sides….however, it tasted OK and everyone had a piece! Swilled down with a bottle of champagne.

Sailing St Barth’s to St Maarten

We had a lovely afternoon wandering the tiny streets and designer shops of St Barth’s and headed off again the next day for Philipsburg and Great Bay, rounding the week off with a stop at Simpson Bay before sailing home to Marigot.

We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season, with so much fun and laughter my jaws were aching by the end and it will be a hard act to follow!

To see when we’re next sailing where, click on our Caribbean Sailing Calendar, or the main menu links at the top of this page, or contact us if you’d like to find out about a private sailing charter on Yacht Ibis.

And if you enjoyed reading this excerpt from our Ships Log, don’t forget to share it or leave a comment below, thanks!