Making Lemonade life gives you lemons make lemonade” Hello friends and family this cruising journal/blog is about my travels, the places I go and the friends I meet along the way.

May 24^th

Troubles begin. Headsail furling broke more work to be done in St Maarten. We will be sailing to St Maarten either with a storm sail or asymmetrical.

May 22^nd

Anchored outside Jolly to swim and clean bottom

May 23^rd set sail for St Maarten winds 10knots and falling

Long slow sail and long night for Jim. We arrived in the outer harbor on the Dutch side of St Maarten to wait for the bridge opening. St Maarten is owned by the French and the Dutch. Each has their own customs, bridges for entry to the lagoon. The yacht club marina is on Simpson Bay which is the largest lagoon in the Caribbean. On the sail here the mainsail also developed a tear and has gone in for repairs.

May 25^th

All the work has been scoped and it appears we will be here for at least a week possibly two. Parts need to be ordered from Sweden and sail repaired by local contractor. We have spent a few days exploring. I discovered a wonderful new Gelatoria (Italian ice cream) just opened with sorbets and gelato made fresh daily on the premises. The building is gorgeous and has a big carousel at the back to ride. If you visit St Maarten you must visit Carousel. As a duty free island St Maarten is the shopper’s paradise of the Caribbean. High end shops line the streets in Phillipsburg and Marigot the two capitals. Both sides are visited by cruise ships twice weekly.

June 1^st

We have just been told the parts won’t arrive from Sweden until the end of the week at the latest Monday. It is very hot and humid now and the hurricane season has officially begun, yikes. We have changed our plans and now will be going to Maine for the summer to explore the vast Maine coast which will be wonderful.