My Windjammer Journal

Day Six:
Friday, July 3 1998
St Barthelemy

Kristine's activity boards were full, not only of today's information but of reminders of the end of our cruise:

VENDREDI Le 3 JuilletU
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
0630 Sticky Buns & Bloody Marys
0700 to 1000 Only Time to Cash Out
your account with Kristine in the
Dinning Room. This means --> if you
opened a charge to cabin and would
like to pay it Off using CASH or TC
please see me NOW!
If you would like a CHARGE MORE
Doubloons or leave a Tip for the Crew
please see me by 1000!
WJ recommends $50 per person for
the week's services Thank you!
0700 --> FINAL SEACHEST
Shop until LAST CHANCE
you drop! to BUY! with ZELDA!

0730 Breakfast
0845 Captain's Storytime
0915 ish Launches Ashore
Every 1/2 Hour - At the Dock
1230 - 1330 Lunch - onboard
1400 --> 1 tank Dive departs - Are you
1700 Last Launch until interested?
1900!!
Wine & Cheese Party
You buy a bottle of Wine and we do
the rest! Yummy!!!
1800 Crew Photo! Top Deck!
1900 Launches Ashore every 1/2 Hour
1930 Farewell Buffet Dinner
2000 'Zouk' Band at Le Select
2300 LAST LAUNCH - We sail back
to St Maarten!

Bonjour et Bienvenue St. Barths
Shopping --> Right where we drop you off - To
the Right! Fantastic French stuff! Remember,
you are in a little part of France! It can get $
All shops close between 1230-1500 ish!
Currency = 1 US = 5.6 FF
Restaurants --> Eating out today is a MUST
for lunch or Dinner! Le Select - Eddy's - l'Iguane
La Marine - Le Creperie - Au Port - Wall House
Le Repaire - and Tons more! E N J O Y !
Car Rentals --> 38$ + 10 insurance - Bring CC
Go to Nautica! Right up the white & DC
set of stairs beside the grocery store!
Beaches --> are all Topless! Get around
to all of them by car! It makes for a Fun
Adventure! Buy some food at the groecry store
for a picnic Lunch! Be ready for NO shade!
Saline --> Unofficial nude beach - no facilities
Baie de St Jean --> at the airport - yes facilities
Gouverneur - local - snorkel - no facilities
Columbier - Hike in! Snorkel - no facilities
Shell Beach - 15 min walk - covered in shells NO F.

Breakfast was fried eggs over easy (which must've been difficult for the cooks to manage). The Captain explained that St Barth's was a favorite among many of the crew, including himself. We took their advice and rented a vehicle. It seemed many of the shops along the harbor had some kind of rental counter. Tom rented us a van from Beranger's, and was given directions to where the actual office and vehicle were. We spent many minutes walking up and down the streets of Gustavia -- only to discover we must've passed the storefront several times without even noticing.

Along the way we picked up our wine for tonight's party, I passed Le Select, and we stopped for ice cream at Le Creperie. Supposedly Mat Dillon and Cameron Diaz were sighted there at around the same time.

We found our little red toaster-shaped van and negotiated our way out of the city. After dropping off some passengers, we devoted the afternoon to the inevitable - finding us some topless women!

The first beach we stopped at was Columbier. It was accessible by a walking path which although sandier was too much like yesterday's climb. About halfway down, the path broke from the trees and went along a cliff, showing the vista of ocean and beach. From here it was easy to see there was little need to continue. I put my zoom lens to work and gratefully headed back up.

It took a long time to struggle back up the walking path to the van. We were low on gas so we headed back to the airport. We'd seen a gas station there, when we;d dropped off the others, but it just so happened that it was time for all the shops to close. We hoped a gas station would be exempt from this, but we were forced to sit around until it opened back up. We didn't know at the time that we still could've gotten gas by paying at the pump with a credit card. We walked over to the beach by the airport, marveling at the white sand and beautiful blue water. Behind us, an airplane landed. The Captain had alerted us to keep an eye out for this, since the St Barth's runway is so short the planes have to virtually dive straight down into it.

I shoot Jim shooting Don, Bobby, Tom, and Uncle John

View plane landing in RealVideo.View plane landing for faster modems.

The grocery store next door to the gas station was open, so we bought pops and French snacks. I bought some crepe crackers to munch on. The different wrapper of a Milky Way bar caught my eye; it wasn't the usual brown and green but a blue with swirling planets. The candy bar itself turned out to be more like a 3 Musketeers bar: all nougat and no caramel.

We'd intended to pick up the other passengers, but they'd hitchhiked from the airport beach and happened to spot us sitting outside the grocery store. Soon enough we were able to fill up the tank. We drove back to the city, dropped off the others so they could take the launch to the ship, and then continued our circuit of beaches. The next beach we discovered was behind a couple fenced in cemeteries. The graves were built above the ground and decorated with photos of the deceased.

We followed a road into the hills toward the rear part of the island. We discovered Saline. As soon as we arrived though a heavy downpour opened up for several minutes. I handed the camera off to a cousin and dove into the water, playing in the surf, the waves tugging me into the ocean. Once again we heard Mat Dillon and Cameron Diaz were sighted there, but once again I didn't notice.

We hoped to get back to the ship by five, in time for the wine and cheese party, but we had some trouble navigating our way back to town. We got lost amid the one-way streets and ended up circling Gustavia before we finally found the spot to leave our vehicle. A crowd at Le Repaire was bellowing out songs, letting us know France had won today's World Cup match.

Following the wine and cheese the crew assembled on the top deck to pose for a souvenir photo. Then they turned the tables on us and had us assemble so they could use our cameras and take pictures of us. The passengers then broke into small groups, taking pictures of each other.

Our shipmates (compiled from six different screen grabs)

Back row: Callie, Don, Tom, Jim, Uncle John, John, me. Front row: Jacob, Nicole, Bobby, Johnny

After dinner we began taking launches back to land, so we could meet at Le Select for our party. There was still some hope we might find Jimmy Buffett there, as reporter Marnie Green explains in this RealVideo slideshow update. The party was not quite as exclusive as I'd expected. The bar was filled up, both the inside and the patio outside. A lot of people had to congregate on the sidewalk and street, much to the apparent irritation of some regulars across the street. It seemed pretty stupid to drink beer on the sidewalk outside some bar when I could be drink beer as the sea breeze blew over me on a sailing vessel, so I immediately headed back to the launch. I shot some footage and then went back.

I spent the remainder of the night relaxing on the top deck or gobbling down popcorn at the bar. We set sail by moonlight once more and finally I set the camera aside and joined in with raising the sails. My cousin Tom and I stayed in the bow, talking during the duration of our trip from St Barth's back to St Maarten. We agreed we didn't mind the end of the week: it would be nice to get home for a hot shower and to our own beds -- but we further agreed we'd be willing to continue our voyages right afterward!

Already at our destination, we finally went to our cabins and spent our last night on ship.

Visit these Informational Sites

http://www.stbarths.com
http://www.frenchcaribbean.com
http://www.caribbean-on-line.com

My Windjammer Journal

Day Six: Friday, July 3 1998 St Barthelemy

View plane landing in RealVideo.View plane landing for faster modems.

Visit these Informational Sites

Day Six:
Friday, July 3 1998
St Barthelemy