The Accidental Nudist

Marigot Bay, St. Martin

From Anguilla we made the short little 9 nautical mile sail to St. Martin. We anchored in Marigot Bay and spent 5 days exploring the area.  One of the first things we found was a massive French grocery store - we were like kids in a candy shop! Up until now (other than Walmart in Puerto Rico) we have been shopping at tiny, overpriced shops full of tinned goods and some questionable produce which may or may not include a free cockroach. So when we got to this large, air conditioned full-sized grocery store full of inexpensive products shipped in from France we were over the moon! We stocked up on creamy dairy products, big fat brown eggs, fresh and frozen vegetables and fruits, and treats like pickled onions and rhubarb jam. There was a buy one get one free special on cheese so we stocked up in brie, camembert, edam, masdam, blue, gorganzola and swiss. We may have left Puerto Rico with a fridge full of beer but we left St. Martin with a fridge packed full of imported cheeses.

Our favourite patisserie, Sarafina, which we visited everyday!

After a few days in Marigot we headed to Grand Case a few miles away. We did some great snorkelling there and saw the largest Spotted Eagle Ray we have ever seen. The ray was down on the bottom and was kicking up a lot of sand so sadly the pictures aren't very good. It's tail was enormous!

The island is half French and half Dutch and is two different countries. We had read that taking the boat from one country to another can be a bit of a hassle so we decided to ride our bikes to the Dutch side to check it out. It turned into a bit of an epic journey. At first it was nice and flat and we thought by staying on the road closest to sea level we would encounter less hills - we were very wrong. About 40mins in we started hitting some really steep hills and they just didn't stop! My first gear doesn't work and the frames of the folding bikes are too small for either of us to get out of our seats and by hill about 506 I seriously wondered how many seated climbs I had left in me! The biggest rip of is my brakes don't work so I had to ride up the hills and walk down them! We stopped in Simpson Bay for a swim and to rest for a few minutes before continuing on.

Simpson Bay

As we biked near the international airport on the Dutch side we came across a beach bar.

Waiting for the jet

This is where you see all those crazy pictures of jumbo jets passing right over the beach. It has become such a popular attraction that the beach bar lists the flight arrival times!

Exploding Stick Figure

Tourists wait on the beach and spill out over the road to await the jets landing. Despite all the warning signs depicting the blasts from the jets blowing a stick figure to pieces, when we arrived there was a jet due to land in 5 minutes so we figured why not wait and see what all the fuss is about.

Since half of the island is French you don't just get mountains of divine stinky cheese and buttery pastries but you also get nudists! There are several nude beaches in the area and the anchorage is full of people swimming around nude and wandering on deck in their birthday suits. It was so hot and bathing in a swim suit just isn't the same as bathing naked, so as the week progressed I realized how often I was not bothering to put clothes on! I will always remember St. Martin for the great food and as a place where I unintentionally became a nudist. Which makes me think - if we've stopped wearing clothes, why am I constantly doing laundry?!?