St Maarten/St Martin 27 February 2011 Newsletter Other newsletters Contests | Restaurants | Bargains and Happenings ISLAND NEWS

Weather: Last Sunday featured a lot of liquid, although it did let up around 6PM. We headed to dinner in Simpson Bay through major flooding in the low spots at the golf course. It was supposed to rain on Monday, but turned out to be great, although a bit breezy. Tuesday started out so hazy that even Saba was lost. Those are Cupecoy sunsets. No green flash, of course, as the sun is setting into the haze on the horizon, but it was pretty spectacular. Later in the week it got fairly breezy, a bit cooler, and less humid. Pretty nice weather for boating even if it wasn't so hot you were forced to hop in the water. By Friday the ENE tradewinds were really howling, kicking up whitecaps on the lagoon. That indicates at least 13 mph winds, but Wunderground was putting it up to 20 mph.

It still was reaching 81F with little humidity. There were a few clouds and some haze on the horizon. A good beach day on the leeward side, but it would blast the tan off your hide on the windward side.

The box shows the current local conditions and here's the detailed forecast from Weather Underground and here's one from the Weather Channel. Sunset today is at 6:16 and the moon is just past its first quarter. In 2011 the full moons will be 19 Mar, 18 Apr, 17 May, 15 Jun, 15 Jul, 13 Aug, 12 Sep, 12 Oct, 11 Nov, and 10 Dec.

If you live at Cupecoy, you get a lot of Cupecoy sunsets, so on the left below is a rather special shot of a sunset taken from Marigot looking back over the lowlands. In the center is a look out to two sailboats heading past Cupecoy. It's a pretty bright sunny day, but you can see the haze on the horizon and the clouds overhead. On the right is a closeup of Random Wind going out for their day sail.

SXM-Beaches: We had made Saturday lunch plans at ZEN Café on Orient Beach Info. So on a day when Wunderground was predicting 21 mph winds, we headed over. The crowd was indeed a bit sparse, but as Saturday only comes once a week, there were still enough people there. We had lunch at ZEN Café where we met Florence from La Villa. I hardly recognized her with a sun hat and sunglasses in street attire rather than the glamorous outfits she wears in the restaurant. On the right is a shot taken from ZEN Café looking north at almost all of the sweep of Orient Beach. The orange umbrellas are from Orange Fever which Florence's husband Luc runs with his partner, Olivier. The green roofs in the distance are the old Mont Vernon Hotel complex, now renovated into individual apartments, many for rent. This is where Thibault and Amaury from Bistrot Caraïbes have many studios for rent. After lunch we headed north stopping at Kakao Beach for a beer and a chat with Doumé. He and Hervé have been running Kakao for almost two decades. Below left is a photo of the beach bar. We were back in the big bar watching the English Rugby team take apart the French team, producing a rather subdued bar crowd.

We then headed to Palm Beach Restaurant, the penultimate beach bar on Orient. Up at this end, the reef fades out and boats can enter. It also means the waves reaching the beach can be a bit larger. The photo in the center below shows some people playing in the surf with Tintamare in the background. In Anguilla they call this Flat Island, which is something like the pot calling the kettle flat. The highest point on Anguilla is a meager 300 feet and most photos from the tourist board show shots of scrub brush in the foreground with majestic hills rising in the distance. They don't mention that the majestic hills are on St Maarten. However, being basically a sand bar, Anguilla does have bigger and better beaches - but keep your top on. On the far right is my rum punch from the beach bar at Palm Beach with Green Cay in the background.

Beach reading: Tooth and Nail by Ian Rankin - about $10 - Rankin gets great reviews/blurbs: "A novelist of great scope, depth, and power." --Jonathan Kellerman, "In Rankin, you cannot go wrong." --The Boston Globe, "Ian Rankin is up there among the best crime novelists at work today." --Michael Connelly, "A superior series." --The New York Times Book Review, and "Reading [Ian Rankin] is like watching somebody juggle a dozen bottles of single malt without spilling a drop." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review). But the product description on Amazon left me a bit cold: "Scottish homicide detective John Rebus has been sent from "North of the Border" to help London police catch a serial killer with a gruesome M.O. Teamed with a London cop he wants to trust but can't, Rebus lets a beautiful psychologist into the case develops a bizarre portrait of a killer who leaves bite marks and tears on each victim's body. Now it's only a question of who is going to get busted first: the cop with the accent who breaks all the rules--or the psycho painting London with blood... " The book was written in 1992 and is a bit dated at this point, but he is a good writer. There are many more: Knots and Crosses, The Black Book, Hide and Seek, among others.

Sapphire Beach Club: We are in our condo at this time. It will be available for rent again starting in mid-April at rates ranging from $700 to $1000 per week until 15 Dec, when high season kicks in again. You'll get a 10% discount from Unity Car Rental, one of the longest running and most trusted on the island, and many more coupons as well, including the use of our 2010 SXM Privilege Card that gets you discounts on many restaurants. Check the calendar on our website for available dates. A recent visitor said, "Erich, We had a wonderful time at your condo for the third year in a row. We appreciated the coupons. Hope to be able to do it again next year." For those of you who wish to sell or rent their week or unit, we have opened up the Sapphire Beach Club website for that purpose. We charge $25 per year. If you wish to rent or sell your unit, send us some text (and $25 to esk@sxm-info.com via Paypal). If you wish to rent or buy a unit without high middleman fees, check out the website. At present, there are 20 sales and/or rentals available directly from owners. Given a 25 to 35% standard rental commission, there should be some bargains in eliminating the middleman and dealing direct.

SXM-Hotels: Pelican did indeed close down on Saturday evening and locked a chain across the entrance. Despite having two former TAPRC (tenants association) chairpersons contend that the new Pelican owners’ actions were criminal, PM Sarah Wescott hoped to get things resolved quickly. Early in the week, it was reported that Special mediator Raphael Boasman coaxed a proposal out of the owners and by the end of the week WIFOL (the union) seems to have agreed with the terms on salary payment. In case you weren't paying attention, you'll note that the government consulted with the union and the "owners" of the resort, ignoring the owners of the timeshares. TAPRC then followed up on their contention of criminal activities with an ultimatum from their attorney to resort management stating they should resume their "managerial activities" by Saturday or face legal action. I can't vouch for Mark Silverman of Examiner.com but this article contends that when TAPRC bought the property from the bankrupt developer in 1996, they did not raise fees enough to cover operating costs, choosing to borrow money to make up the shortfall. Ultimately the deficit grew to more than $4 million and in 2005 they embarked upon scheme whereby they would build the Marina Residences.

This would give them a profit to cover the debt and a bigger maintenance fund to keep everything going. The collapse of the financial markets in 2008 and the subsequent bursting of the property bubble dashed their hopes. They had been borrowing money from the management company that they had hired. Eventually the management company foreclosed and the property was sold at auction. The management company bought it. This brings us to today's sorry situation.

Activities: On Sunday night we went over to La Bamba Beach Bar to hear Category 5. The band consists of five guys from five different countries performing five different styles of music: rock, country, reggae, motown, and blues. Branko from Serbia and Eddie from Argentina are on lead guitars and vocals, Nacio from Aruba is on bass and vocals, Erik from France is on drums, and King Bob from the US of A is on lead vocals. The link is to la Bamba's Facebook page and has little info, but a lot of photos of people you probably don't know. There is no phone, no address, just "Simsons Bay, Netherlands Antilles", both parts of which are wrong. They are not in Simpson Bay, but rather over the bridge in Cole Bay, specifically on Kimsha Beach next to Ocean Explorers. Of course, St Maarten is no longer in the Netherlands Antilles. The Sunday night band is a regular thing and they do a full moon party that is much easier to reach than the one at Kali's on Friar's Bay. This week I did manage to get a picture of the bass player, mostly because we know Nacio from Everyting Cool in Philipsburg when he and Ronny (and a drummer) played at lunch. That was a about a decade ago. Drummers get no respect, I didn't get a photo of Erik except for a bit of his pate behind Branko. Jim Barnhoff (center) stood in for a few songs, as he did at Pineapple Pete in last week's newsletter.

Nacio

Branko and King Bob

Jim Barnhoff and Eddie

La Bamba at night

We stopped in at Pineapple Pete on Thursday night to find Fred filling in for Ronny. He sings and plays a very jazzy guitar. We especially liked his rendition of "Every Breath You take" by Sting. He appears to have a setup that allows him to record his rhythm guitar work in a song's intro, and then play it back while he then plays the lead guitar part. He can also record his use of the guitar as a drum, adding some plausibly live percussion to his efforts. We were quite impressed, although there were few songs we recognized. On Friday night we stopped in again and Ronny "Santana" was back at his post. We had parked next door, in front of Remax, and could hear Mark Knopfler's "Sultans of Swing" as we approached. In some live performances, Knopfler stretched the guitar solo past 10 minutes. It's a great piece for Ronnie to show off his abilities. I must report that Leffe is no longer available, Sam Adams is.

Groceries: It pays to root around in the frozen food section of the larger supermarkets, especially after the Christmas/New Year's buying spree. We found a Frenched double rack of New Zealand lamb for about $8.50 per pound. It was just over a kilo of meat, almost 2.5 lbs with most of the fat removed and all the rib bones cleaned. We had it for dinner one night with a mustard and crumb crust, seared on the stovetop and then finished in the halogen convection oven. Our kitchen is a bit better than the average timeshare condo. When our original microwave gave out (which happens quickly in this highly corrosive climate) we replaced it with a very nice GE Advantium unit. Most timeshares down here do not have ovens, so the halogen convection oven is a great upgrade. We stopped at Maho Market to pick up some milk and yogurt. It's convenient, but you pay for the convenience. A half gallon of milk at Grand Marché was $2.75, at Maho $4.90!

	Alcohol: We headed over to the Orange Grove Shopping Center to visit Sylvain at Select Wine Cellar and get some of the 2007 Crozes-Hermitage ($27.50) from Domaine Belle. We stop in frequently to taste (and buy) wines, often having lunch next door at Champagne Snack Bar. If you care to join us, send an email.		Region/Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2007 2009 Bordeaux 10 x x 9 10 x 10 Burgundy x x 9 x 10 x 9 Rhone 9 10 x x 9 10 9
	On the right above is a short list of good vintage years. I have neglected the US west coast because they generally can make a good wine every year and they vinify their wines to be drunk young. Even here on the island it is difficult to find something older than 2005.

Traffic: We drove over to Pburg and back after lunch on Friday and were surprised by how quick and easy it was. I do note that traffic heading toward Pburg as we came home was backed up from the bridge to the airport runway (not the entrance) by 4:20 and the bridge was about to open! In case you forgot, they open at 9:00 and 9:30, 11:00 and 11:30, and 4:30 and 5:30. The first opening of each pair is for outbound boat traffic and the latter is for inbound. There is a lot more info of interest to sailors on this site. On Friday night we drove over to Marigot, leaving at 7:15 from Cupecoy and were parking in front of L'Oizeau Rare Restaurant on the Marigot Waterfront in time for our 7:30 reservations.

Nature: We took the scenic shore drive from Orient Beach to Oyster Pond. Certainly the lookout at Coralita Beach provides great views of the long sweep of Orient Bay and Galion Beach. The trade winds generally kick up some large waves that break on the reefs protecting those two beaches. The wind-swept coast here seems to offer little in the way of sustenance, but you generally see herds of something flocking in the area. In this case, we have sheep. For the uninitiated, check the tail: goats, up; sheep, down. Our office is well over 100% solar-powered and our servers are about 130% wind-powered. Small Island story: The Pelican saga is truly a small island story. The government gets management to make an acceptable offer to labor (who are voters) and the timeshare owners are ignored. If Mark Silverman is to be believed, the timeshare owners mismanaged themselves into the debt that put them in this situation. One great big pot of blame, plenty to go around.

Contest Winners:

26 December 2010 to 27 February 2011
Caribbean View Condo - half price summer rental (May-October) - Renee Herbert-Glover
Lagoon Pub Crawl - two for one ticket - Kirsten LeDrew
Skipjack's - $50 off a dinner for two - Renee Herbert-Glover
Select Wine Cellar - Wine tasting and a bottle of wine - Lisa Cold Carib
Random Wind - $40 gift certificate - Kirsten LeDrew
MMG 2000 - Two for One week at the gym with a shake - Lisa Cold Carib
Peg Leg Pub - $50 off a dinner for two - Kirsten LeDrew
PassportMD - Six months free service - Linda Gallick
Radiant Gems - $50 off a purchase of $200 or more - Scott McIlmoyle
Lighthouse at Oyster Bay - $1000 off a summer week (June-October) - Renee Herbert-Glover
Piazza Pascal - $50 off dinner for two - Kirsten LeDrew
SXM-Privilege Discount Card - One free monthly card - Renee Herbert-Glover

SXM-Info welcomes a new prize to the list: a one week rental for half off the posted rates on the LAW Car Rental website. Taxes and insurance are NOT included. As you can request five prizes on one entry form, you could win a bargain on lodging, car rental, entertainment, dinner, and a gym to work it off!

Current Contest:

27 February to 24 April 2011
Caribbean View Condo - half price summer rental (May-October)
Lagoon Pub Crawl - two for one ticket
Skipjack's - $50 off a dinner for two
Select Wine Cellar - Wine tasting and a bottle of wine
Random Wind - $40 gift certificate
MMG 2000 - Two for One week at the gym with a shake
Peg Leg Pub - $50 off a dinner for two
PassportMD - Six months free service
Radiant Gems - $50 off a purchase of $200 or more
Lighthouse at Oyster Bay - $1000 off a summer week (June-October)
Piazza Pascal - $50 off dinner for two
SXM-Privilege Discount Card - One free monthly card
LAW Car Rental - Half price Car for a week

Read our rules, visit the websites of these sponsors, find their contest codes, and enter them on our entry form.

One of the rules is that you should enter each contest only once. You can enter five of the drawings on one entry. Thus, you could win a rather nice vacation at a considerable savings by combining accommodations with dinners and activities.

Future Contests:
24 April to 24 July 2011 | 24 July to 30 October 2011 | 30 October to 25 December 2011
same cast of characters as current contest

Pizza Galley   We went to Pizza Galley in Simpson Bay for dinner on Sunday. They are just over the bridge and we actually found a spot in their tiny parking lot in front of their establishment. We had our usual JP Special pizza (Pepperoni, Italian sausage, green peppers, mushrooms, caramelized onions, black olives, and mozzarella cheese) and a bottle of 2007 Mon Redon Cotes du Rhone, and small Caesar salad. It's more than enough for the two of us and costs a mere $45. Note the great vintage for the house wine!       As usual, we spent a good bit of the evening talking with JP about restaurants. He mentioned Sushido Vino and the new Valentino's in Simpson Bay Yacht Club. He also mentioned that Pizza Galley was voted Best Dessert and runner up for the Best Pizza in the recent Daily Herald readers poll. That's five years in a row for the Best Dessert. The 2010 plaque has not arrived yet. He's also proud of his Environmental award. He uses Good2Go biodegradable products at the restaurant. The Lacy C Floating Bar has floated off, so JP has a few more seats and a great view of the lagoon, including the megayachts.