stbartshopper
Senior Insider
Wed. March 26
We flew from Indianapolis to Charlotteon US Air where we spent the night.
Thurs. Mar. 27
The flight to St. Maarten was delayed about an hour due to a faulty feedback loop that had to be correctedbefore we departed. Still we only arrived in St. Maarten about 25minutes late. We used points to travel First Class and must admit, itwas pretty nice. Win Air left on time and we greeted Odile at Gump'swhere we picked up our rental car. The landing in SBH was the most interesting yet- we had an intermittent crosswind and the plane finally landed about halfway down the runway.
The island was hopping with anticipation of the race that started on Friday. There was a lot of wind and the sea was choppy, full of white caps. We quickly unpacked and jumped in the pool at the Villa in Pointe Milou, where we were staying with our hosts.
In the evening we went to Bellissimo on Gouverneur Beach Road, overlooking the start/finish line of the Bucket. Our thanks to Bill and BJ for wonderful Margaritas and Tapas-the gazpacho in the little cups, chicken on skewers and shrimp on a spoon were the highlights. The SBIHOA were out in force. It would be easier to list who was not there than who was.
Then it was on to Le Carre for dinner where Frank greeted us warmly. The Steak Tartare was excellent as always and the special pork over a puree of beans was delicious.
Fri. Mar. 28
We went to Le Select for lunch and ate in the Office. Le Ti Punch came with a nice floater and the cheeseburgers and fries were superb. We went down to Laurent Effel and saw Anna. Erick was in Milan, arranging for next year's items.Their son is running the men's shop and doing a very good job. John and Chrissy at Gems told us they have had a good season.
Before dinner, we wandered the docks of Gustavia, as it was open house night on all of the Bucket boats inthe harbor. We went aboard both Meteor and Andromeda and all we can say is wow! Mussels were ordered in advance from Eric at Le Repaire,where we settled in for a wonderful meal.
Later Jimmy B played at BAZ.
Sat. Mar. 29
We went out on a Contender with Michaelas our driver. We were there when the boats started and at the finishline when the race ended. The wind was blowing and the seas wererough for us but not for the racers. We travelled amongst the boats all morning and took terrific camera shots. We got out of the churning seas and motored over to shelter at Forchue for lunch- wonderful sandwiches from La Boulangerie. Then it was back to the boats. The waves did not seem as large in the afternoon and after lots of rumpunch and Sancerre, the day improved. We finished the afternoon anchoring off of Shell Beach. The surfers told us that the northswells were the first decent ones of the season and the waves at theChristopher and other locales were good.
We went to Bagatelle for dinner. The food and service was excellent. The music became louder and louder as the evening wore on and the place filled up. Luke, the headwaiter from Eden Rock and Fred, from Do Brazil were both there having fun.It was on to BAZ next door where we danced until the place closed. We were told Jimmy was playing on the Meteor but did not go over to seehim.
Sun. Mar. 30
We booked a late Brunch at Le Gaiac in order to see the boats sail by Le Toiny, and they did, in full sail.It was a perfect afternoon- spinnakers and all. The layout of food was as beautiful and tasty as years passed and the pan perdu was to die for.
Bernard and Julian greeted us at the Wall House for dinner. They informed us that they plan to move backto France at the end of April, if the sale of their restaurant goes through. The fresh Dover Sole special was stupendous.
Mon. Mar. 31
We had lunch at Indigo and spent theafternoon at the Guanahani. We had to sample their Steak Tartare andit was just as good as at Le Repaire and Le Carre. The Burrata and tomatoes with balsamic for the table was among the best we have everhad. The front desk personnel told us the hotel was full in December but had only been running about 2/3 since then. That is not good for such a wonderful hotel.
Randy greeted us at Maya's and Maya stopped by a little later on. Randy crewed on the Unfurled and said the boat received a 20% time penalty for coming within 45 meters of another boat, because they did not inform them ahead of time. Randy went on to explain that last year there were 40 boats in the Bucket and it was cut to 38 this year because there were too many and it was a little dangerous. The race apparently has many more boats wanting to participate than there is capacity and many are turned away. It is supposedly the biggest race by far of its kind in the world. We hadthe fresh Dover Sole again and it was as good as at the Wall House.It was fun to see Cero tending bar there. He told us he had recentlyseen Pascal from PaCri on the island.
The wind had died down from Fri. andSat. and there was a stillness on the island both from the race beingover and the calm sea. Unfortunately, when the wind disappears, the bugs- mosquitoes- return, which became a little nuisance at dusk.
Tues. April 1
We went to Do Brazil for lunch and atewith our feet in the sand. The weather was perfect and the Rose wentdown easily along with the Vanilla Rum. The service and food were excellent, particularly the Mahi burgers and lobster salad.
We stopped by Le Select and was told that Marius was in Guadeloupe having a follow up eye exam. It wasjust a scheduled routine follow up. We ran into Matthew Cohen the photographer for Unfurled this year and Elaine, last year, during the Bucket races. We learned that the company Royal Huisman, who apparently had 5 boats in the Bucket, had a whole crew of photographers- one on each boat and one on land.
Our last night we went to l'Esprit inSaline where we were greeted warmly by Jean Claude Dufour. All of our meals were good but this was the best. The flavors are consistently unusual and the tastes burst in your mouth with pleasant surprises from the appetizers through dessert. It was also the most expensive of all of our meals.
Wed. April 2
Win Air departed 20 minutes late. Our US Air flight departed one hour late out of St. Maarten due to astorm in our take off path which the pilot told us was 'illegal' to fly through, so we waited. The pilot finally turned the plane around and took off in the opposite direction. We landed in Charlotte almoston time where we made the connection to Indianapolis, which left ontime. We were greeted in Indianapolis with wind and rain but still had St. Barth sunshine in our pockets and too many calories around our waists.
We flew from Indianapolis to Charlotteon US Air where we spent the night.
Thurs. Mar. 27
The flight to St. Maarten was delayed about an hour due to a faulty feedback loop that had to be correctedbefore we departed. Still we only arrived in St. Maarten about 25minutes late. We used points to travel First Class and must admit, itwas pretty nice. Win Air left on time and we greeted Odile at Gump'swhere we picked up our rental car. The landing in SBH was the most interesting yet- we had an intermittent crosswind and the plane finally landed about halfway down the runway.
The island was hopping with anticipation of the race that started on Friday. There was a lot of wind and the sea was choppy, full of white caps. We quickly unpacked and jumped in the pool at the Villa in Pointe Milou, where we were staying with our hosts.
In the evening we went to Bellissimo on Gouverneur Beach Road, overlooking the start/finish line of the Bucket. Our thanks to Bill and BJ for wonderful Margaritas and Tapas-the gazpacho in the little cups, chicken on skewers and shrimp on a spoon were the highlights. The SBIHOA were out in force. It would be easier to list who was not there than who was.
Then it was on to Le Carre for dinner where Frank greeted us warmly. The Steak Tartare was excellent as always and the special pork over a puree of beans was delicious.
Fri. Mar. 28
We went to Le Select for lunch and ate in the Office. Le Ti Punch came with a nice floater and the cheeseburgers and fries were superb. We went down to Laurent Effel and saw Anna. Erick was in Milan, arranging for next year's items.Their son is running the men's shop and doing a very good job. John and Chrissy at Gems told us they have had a good season.
Before dinner, we wandered the docks of Gustavia, as it was open house night on all of the Bucket boats inthe harbor. We went aboard both Meteor and Andromeda and all we can say is wow! Mussels were ordered in advance from Eric at Le Repaire,where we settled in for a wonderful meal.
Later Jimmy B played at BAZ.
Sat. Mar. 29
We went out on a Contender with Michaelas our driver. We were there when the boats started and at the finishline when the race ended. The wind was blowing and the seas wererough for us but not for the racers. We travelled amongst the boats all morning and took terrific camera shots. We got out of the churning seas and motored over to shelter at Forchue for lunch- wonderful sandwiches from La Boulangerie. Then it was back to the boats. The waves did not seem as large in the afternoon and after lots of rumpunch and Sancerre, the day improved. We finished the afternoon anchoring off of Shell Beach. The surfers told us that the northswells were the first decent ones of the season and the waves at theChristopher and other locales were good.
We went to Bagatelle for dinner. The food and service was excellent. The music became louder and louder as the evening wore on and the place filled up. Luke, the headwaiter from Eden Rock and Fred, from Do Brazil were both there having fun.It was on to BAZ next door where we danced until the place closed. We were told Jimmy was playing on the Meteor but did not go over to seehim.
Sun. Mar. 30
We booked a late Brunch at Le Gaiac in order to see the boats sail by Le Toiny, and they did, in full sail.It was a perfect afternoon- spinnakers and all. The layout of food was as beautiful and tasty as years passed and the pan perdu was to die for.
Bernard and Julian greeted us at the Wall House for dinner. They informed us that they plan to move backto France at the end of April, if the sale of their restaurant goes through. The fresh Dover Sole special was stupendous.
Mon. Mar. 31
We had lunch at Indigo and spent theafternoon at the Guanahani. We had to sample their Steak Tartare andit was just as good as at Le Repaire and Le Carre. The Burrata and tomatoes with balsamic for the table was among the best we have everhad. The front desk personnel told us the hotel was full in December but had only been running about 2/3 since then. That is not good for such a wonderful hotel.
Randy greeted us at Maya's and Maya stopped by a little later on. Randy crewed on the Unfurled and said the boat received a 20% time penalty for coming within 45 meters of another boat, because they did not inform them ahead of time. Randy went on to explain that last year there were 40 boats in the Bucket and it was cut to 38 this year because there were too many and it was a little dangerous. The race apparently has many more boats wanting to participate than there is capacity and many are turned away. It is supposedly the biggest race by far of its kind in the world. We hadthe fresh Dover Sole again and it was as good as at the Wall House.It was fun to see Cero tending bar there. He told us he had recentlyseen Pascal from PaCri on the island.
The wind had died down from Fri. andSat. and there was a stillness on the island both from the race beingover and the calm sea. Unfortunately, when the wind disappears, the bugs- mosquitoes- return, which became a little nuisance at dusk.
Tues. April 1
We went to Do Brazil for lunch and atewith our feet in the sand. The weather was perfect and the Rose wentdown easily along with the Vanilla Rum. The service and food were excellent, particularly the Mahi burgers and lobster salad.
We stopped by Le Select and was told that Marius was in Guadeloupe having a follow up eye exam. It wasjust a scheduled routine follow up. We ran into Matthew Cohen the photographer for Unfurled this year and Elaine, last year, during the Bucket races. We learned that the company Royal Huisman, who apparently had 5 boats in the Bucket, had a whole crew of photographers- one on each boat and one on land.
Our last night we went to l'Esprit inSaline where we were greeted warmly by Jean Claude Dufour. All of our meals were good but this was the best. The flavors are consistently unusual and the tastes burst in your mouth with pleasant surprises from the appetizers through dessert. It was also the most expensive of all of our meals.
Wed. April 2
Win Air departed 20 minutes late. Our US Air flight departed one hour late out of St. Maarten due to astorm in our take off path which the pilot told us was 'illegal' to fly through, so we waited. The pilot finally turned the plane around and took off in the opposite direction. We landed in Charlotte almoston time where we made the connection to Indianapolis, which left ontime. We were greeted in Indianapolis with wind and rain but still had St. Barth sunshine in our pockets and too many calories around our waists.
Last edited by a moderator:
