From Gilligan to the Skipper

South, west, east or even north… I don’t care, we need to get out of St. Martin. Don’t get me wrong, there is much to love about the island. The people are awesome, the lagoon is protected and there are restaurants and stores galore to shop at. It is the last items which are really the driving force of our desire to escape from here… my wallet is getting slimmer while my stomach is getting larger!

The longer I stay in St. Martin, the less I look like Gilligan and the more I look like the Skipper.

There is no end to the temptation to head to shore for happy hour and while drinks are relatively cheap, it does add up. The close proximity of the chandleries with all of their shiny doodads is also a temptation, although not as great as the former.

Yesterday was busy and we ticked a number of things off of our to-do list. We collected the spare carburetor that we ordered from the Yamaha dealer. Now that we have that on hand, we are assured of no further carb issues. We also located and purchased a two-piece mast for our new windsurfer. The mast which came with the board is 15′ long and on our boat, was just a bit too big to carry safely on deck. I had visions of sheets getting hung up on the pole, drama that we could do without. Thanks to our buddy David for ferrying us over to Orient Bay to pick up that new mast. His help while we’ve been on the island has been invaluable.

Having a spare on board almost guarantees that you will have no trouble with that part.

In addition to running around and picking up bits and pieces yesterday, we were also paid a visit by Paul Shard from Distant Shores. Many of you may already be familiar with the Shards, Paul and his wife Sheryl produce a travel show which is shown on TV and is also sold in DVD format. Paul did a quick interview with us and recorded Rebecca demonstrating some of her fitness toys. If the footage turns out it should make it onto one of their future shows and if we’re lucky, I’ll be able to share it here as well. Stay tuned for more on that.

Today we intend to tie up any loose ends that we need to before leaving St. Martin as our plan is to head out of the lagoon tomorrow to depart on Sunday night. The weather is looking favorable for us to finally leave the island. It’s a good thing too as I don’t think my wallet or my belly can take much more of this.

Marty and Gabrielle from Santosha.
Yes, they are a bad influence. No, his head is not quite that large.