It is a bit of a wild night. The only shore power we have is for the air conditioning units. The inverter problems won’t allow us to charge the batteries so we have to turn all the lights off early and stop charging electrical appliances – of which there are many; phones, cameras, sound systems and computers. The wind blows and the swell stretches the warps and pulls the boat constantly to and from the dock, bashing us against the fenders and squeaking all night. David sleeps in the salon for a while because it is so hot. Then Cat and Alice take their turn sleeping in the salon because the constant squeaking keeps them awake.
It’s Cat’s birthday – she’s twenty – so a couple of things are planned. She and Alice go shopping and I tag along with them. We trudge around the shops but hardly anything is open until 10.00. We have just started to look in earnest when Mike sees us walking along the road and shouts for us to come back as David and Terry have got the hire cars and we are going out.
The cars are clapped out, pretend jeeps. Their roofs are ripped and ill-fitting, they smell of wet dog and are full of sand. However, they will do for the day and the seat belts work. We all clamber in and go looking for a beach with a nice bar. But first, we go to find the airport.
St Barts airport is a real piece of work. The planes come straight through a gap in the hills, swoop low over the roundabout and road, flying down a steep hill to eventually land on the runway. If they don’t pull up quickly enough they can end up in the sea. No wonder there is a big cross built into the nearby hill!
Photo: The planes appear over this statue on the roundabout
Photo: The runway to the sea
From the airport, we find our way round the coast but can find no beach bars. However, we do find the shop where Mike found his original “Sail Fast, Live Slow” t-shirt and dive in to find another one. We are out of luck but he manages to find two others to replace his rather weary ones. Back in the car we end up on a road which leads nowhere, pose for photos then head back the way we came.
Photo: The wild Atlantic side of St Barts
Photos: Mike (in his new t-shirt) and myself
Photo: Viv and David posing on the same site
Eventually we find somewhere to park the cars and walk through to the beach. The beach at St Jean is lovely, and the beach bar is very chic, full of glamorous looking French people who look high maintenance. The bar is called the Pink Parrot.
Photo: View of the beach from the Pink Parrot
Photo: Ann and I at the Pink Parrot
Photo: A sign warns people of low flying aircraft
Photo: David missed nearly 20 planes before he managed to photograph this one
When we get back, Mike goes on the computer to get up to date with the developments in the Atlantic. Better news. It looks like the storm is going further north and weakening. We will have to keep our eyes on it though as things can change.
I have a shower and shortly after, both Ann and Viv are having their showers and the water goes off. Not runs out. Just stops pumping. Mike tries to sort it out from the engine compartment opening in the cockpit, but just hitting it does nothing so he has to strip Viv and David’s bed right down and get in that way. It takes it apart and ascertains that the problem is not electrical. Then it starts working again. We put the bed back together and make dinner.
For no particular reason, Alice gets a nosebleed. Cat assures her that the best thing to do is pack her nose. So she does, with a tampon! It’s a bit big so Cat chops a bit off in situ. Alice worries that the boat will lurch while she is doing this.
Photo: Dealing with a nosebleed
Just as we serve up, it goes off again. No washing up tonight! Mike will try to fix it tomorrow if he can get a service kit for it.
Dinner is a success. We try to make it a special affair for Cat’s birthday. Desert is a frozen Sara Lee coconut cake (well we did defrost it first) with candles which we make Cat blow out.
Photo: Cat, the birthday girl with her cake
Afterwards Viv gets the party going.
Photo: David getting down on the dancefloor – but can he get up?
Photo: Yes he can! The others join in.
Photo: Mike finds it difficult to leave the table, but doesn’t try very hard!
Photo: Ann wakes up and gets lively
It’s a late night. After the party, games take place. I escape and do the blog. I don’t manage to extricate Mike until nearly midnight.
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