Post X-Files Sighting

I went outside last night to cool off a bit after watching two episodes of the X-FILES. I noticed a red glowing light low in the water, just off our port side... Definitely not a light from a passing dinghy... It wasn't moving much, just kind of hovering and bobbing along out there ("the truth is out there")... I told Bob to come look but he couldn't see it... I could though. Are my eyes playing tricks? Is it a problem with my glasses? Whew, he finally saw it and we went out in the dinghy to investigate.

We hunted about but it was nowhere to be seen. Then as we were returning to the boat, there it was... a red light with a weird rattling sound eminating from it. After several passes, I managed to scoop it up in the dinghy bailer. It was a lighted bobber that one of the guys that were fishing off of the rocks must have lost.

The kittens Willow & Buffy think it is really cool.



So do I :)

HAVE A HAPPY!

HAPPY 65TH BIRTHDAY TO MICK JAGGER! Sorry we couldn't be with you Mick but we were busy with boat projects...

And for Sunday,

HAPPY 12TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY to my brother and his wife. I'm sure that Ed & Laura and all of their critters will have a lovely day!

All the best!
Sheila

Working on Yacht Charter Newsletter Blog

We've been busy with lots of things, but lately I've been working on our Paradise Connections Yacht Charters Newsletter blog.

It is a monthly summary of blog postings that are on our All About Yacht Charters blog and our All About Canal Barge Charters blog.

I think the new format works out pretty well... The photos add a bit more interest and taking the time to hand code the tables is really worth it, IMHO... Take a look: CLICK HERE

Feel free to contact us if you are interested in a yacht charter sailing vacation, or perhaps a barge trip in France or other European locations... Doesn't Loch Ness sound enticing??? Especially for New Years... Oops, sorry... should say HOGMANAY!

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Enjoy...

St Maarten Bridge Closures - Scheduled Maintenance

Well, no work on the Dutch-side St. Maarten (St. Martin) bridge between Simpson Bay and the Lagoon... Wasn't that originally scheduled for June???

Anyway, according to today's local paper (July 23, 2008), work is to begin soon.

Here's a link to the article:
Bridge repair works to start on Monday - No openings from July 31 to Aug 9

For your information... The Sandy Ground bridge on the French side between the Simpson Bay Lagoon and Marigot Bay is open. Boats leaving the Lagoon have priority, then the boats from Marigot can enter afterwards.

SANDY GROUND BRIDGE, MARIGOT ST. MARTIN

• Monday through Saturday: Opens at 08:15 - 14:30 - 17:30
• Sunday & Holiday openings: 08:15 & 17:30 (NO AFTERNOON OPENING)

Let's see if it happens this time!

HAPPY BASTILLE DAY

Just another quick post to say HAPPY BASTILLE DAY from Marigot, St. Martin, FWI

Bridge Open Sandy Ground French St. Martin

Just a quick post to let everyone know that the Sandy Ground bridge on the French side of St. Martin has been repaired and re-opened to normal service on Friday, July 11, 2008.

No news about work on the Dutch bridge yet.... :)

Cat toys

Recently we made an Amazon order as we knew we were going to be in St. Martin for a couple of more weeks and thus have access to mail.

We ordered some books and a few DVDs that had been newly released, plus we bought some CAT TOYS!

Buffy and Willow seemed to appreciate them. The catnip mice are now without tails and each have a felt eye missing. The ball with a bell occasionally gets batted around, but Willow's favorite toy is a 2-foot long piece of light rope, and Buffy loves wire ties... you know, those things plastic things that hold groups of wires together, while larger sizes are used as handcuffs :)



Just reminded me of the Steve Martin routine... "Does anyone know where I can get some cat handcuffs?" I think it was from his album (remember albums?) "A Wild and Crazy Guy (CD)". which you can also get as an MP3 download. I miss albums... the artwork, the liner notes...

So It Goes...

French St Martin Sandy Ground bridge troubles?

We heard that the Sandy Ground bridge on the French side of St. Martin is experiencing problems. We've noticed that it hasn't opened for several days.


- Sandy Ground bridge entering Lagoon from Marigot

But, at least the Dutch bridge is still in normal operation. We passed by the Dutch St. Maarten bridge last Saturday on the way to see a matinee of Hancock (enjoyed it) and we didn't see any obvious signs of work taking place, and we haven't heard any gossip or seen/heard anything on the news.

Friday Cat Blogging - Classic Cat Herding Commercial

This is one of my favorite commercials.... Cat Herding.

My sister-in-law Laura, shared it with me a few years ago. It always makes me laugh. Everyone needs a good laugh.

I was just writing to someone who is trying to put together a large group for a diving yacht charter. I said that I understand her situation and that working with large groups can be like herding cats, which reminded me of this classic video...



So enjoy!

Tropical Storm Bertha 1996 / 2008

Wow, Bertha... again. Bertha was our first named storm when we came to the Caribbean. We put Loose Moose in the Hurricane Hole near Marin, Martinique. We were horrified to see how the bareboat companies brought their boats in and just plopped the anchor over with no regards for their (well, not really the employees' boat so who cares!) boats or other boats anchored there.

Fortunately, with Loose Moose's flat bottom (board up!) we were able to pull ourselves into this little creek at the corner of the hurricane hole. No one could ever come close to us there... except for the creepy spiders and other insects.

Anyway, Bertha of 1996 didn't seem to affect Martinique at all. St. Thomas did get hit and quite a few boats were lost (Hurricane Marilyn was the year before).

But now we have another Bertha. According to the models, it looks like Bertha 2008 will give the Caribbean a pass.

Here's the July 3, 2008 @ 11am EDT 5-day prediction from NOAA


We're not going to let it spoil our 4th of July weekend!

Good page for NOAA tropical weather

This is a page I like to look at for those days where there is a system brewing up in the Atlantic.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/gtwo_atl.shtml

If you put your mouse over the circled number on the image, a little pop up pops up and gives you the info about that system that appears in their forecast... That info is also mentioned in the text below the graphic.

I like this Atlantic Analysis because it shows isobars, H's, L's,etc:

• http://www.intellicast.com/Storm/Hurricane/AtlanticAnalysis.aspx

Other weather links:

• http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/
• http://www.intellicast.com/Storm/Hurricane/Track.aspx
• http://www.windguru.com/
• http://www.passageweather.com/

Here's wishing everyone a happy and safe summer!
So It Goes...

That little bit of weather coming off Africa

They had the TV on CNN in MacDonald's when we were there yesterday lunchtime. The weatherman seemed very excited about this weather system coming off of Africa. Fortunately the sound wasn't on.

They have a different outlook on potential tropical storms than we do. It gives the weathermen something to do and talk about... It gives cruisers other things to do and talk about :)


This model looks better than the previous one because there was one guy (there's always one) who had it shooting straight across the Atlantic to the islands. I like this picture better, having all the models predicting a turn to the north and out of our way (and hopefully not bothering anyone else, too).

Looking forward to a calm & quiet summer...