St Maarten/St Martin 25 June 2017 Newsletter Other newsletters Contests | Restaurants | Bargains and Happenings ISLAND NEWS

Weather:NOAA has predicted a 45% chance of above normal hurricane activity for the season that started at the beginning of June. The scary headline was: Brace for above-average hurricane season this year. Even a modest amount of thought would tell you that if there was a 45% chance of an above normal hurricane activity, there was a 55% chance of normal or below normal activity. But that's not a scary headline. The details at this early juncture are a 70 per cent chance of 11 to 17 named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher.) Five to nine could become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher), including two to four major hurricanes (Category 3, 4 or 5; winds of 111 mph or higher). An average season produces 12 named storms of which six become hurricanes, including three major hurricanes. In any event, it is the rainy season and the ten days before this newsletter would have been a good time to stay home. The whole time was either rainy or partly cloudy. Neither is good for a vacation but unless a large system sits on the island, the clouds and rain are generally spotty. The temperatures are warm to hot and fairly stable. The cool temp at night was about 78F and the daily highs were mostly 84F with two at 85F and one at 83F. The coming week is more of the same with a chance of rain today, four partly cloudy days followed by a day of rain and a partly cloudy Saturday and next Sunday. The high temp will be 84 or 85F and the lows are either 78 or 79F. The total rain is estimated at a quarter inch.

Here's the detailed forecast from Weather Underground and here's one from the Weather Channel. Sunset tonight will be at 6:51 PM providing 13 hours and 13 minutes of sunshine. We are just past the summer solstice and losing 4 to 6 seconds per day, which is to say that it is a rather flat apex. We are on the downhill side and the days will get shorter until 21 December! In 2017 the full moons will be 8 Jul, 7 Aug, 6 Sep, 5 Oct, 4 Nov, and 3 Dec. Below is a pano taken from as we passed by the Blue Mall and looked out over Cupecoy Beach.

SXM-Beaches: The large ex-trawler that broke its anchor chain at the end of February and ran aground in Nettle Bay near Mezza Luna was moved off the ledge and over to Marina Fort Louis. I mentioned this in the last newsletter at the end of April but screwed up the link to the story in the Daily Herald The ship that is aground in the Bay of Potence (near Galis Bay) is still there and probably will stay there until it rusts away. That's it on the right. It went aground when Hurricane Luis hit in 1995.

Beach Reading: The Trespasser: A Novel by Tana French From Amazon: "Detectives Steve Moran and Antoinette Conway are now partners on the Murder Squad. They've been handed a case that at first looks like every other low-energy domestic they've ever been given--but during a routine interview, the murdered woman's friend drops a clue that leads them to suspect this could be bigger than they had imagined. Much bigger. Contentious squad room politics add to their frustration as the detectives are led in conflicting directions by red herrings, dead ends, and warped perceptions. The Trespasser kept me happily discombobulated, guessing at an ending that I didn't see coming. And that is what makes Tana French one of the best thriller writers out there." Martha borrowed it from our NY library and is listening to an audio CD. She really liked the reader.

Sapphire Beach Club: My unit at Sapphire to a med student until I return in December. No news is good news, so I assume that the progress made by Jan Borsje and his team is continuing. Just some random shots off our Caribbean side balcony. On the left is a ship in the murky heat haze passing between us and Saba in the background. On the right is one of the Tall Ships that came here for a bit.
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 several 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-Activities: Random Wind (left) is still going out for day charters in the summer. SXM-Hotels: It appears that the Chinese hotel/condo/showroom mega-project announced about nine month ago with plans to commence construction in early 2017 has missed its deadline. It was delivered to the public as a fait accompli and ready to go in Indigo Bay. A few dignitaries shoveled a bit of sand in and promptly moved on. Currently, there are suggestions that they take over the Mullet Bay ruins.
It can happen. Mont Vernon at the northern end of Orient Beach was damaged badly in Hurricane Luis but has been beautifully resurrected. Thibault and Amaury from Bistrot Caraïbes have several studios there. The rent is reasonable in high season and low in the summer. Their beautiful pool is above right.

SXM Shopping: One of our favorite places to visit is Bernie's Local Rums & Spices on Hope Hill overlooking all of Orient. In addition to great rums and exotic spices, you can get great photos. You could also take a photo of the swarm of sugar birds and leave a small donation to aid Bernie in her animal rescue operations.

	Nature: On the right is Martha's stink flower in full olfactorial bloom. Our office is well over 100% solar-powered. In fact, in seven years of operation our solar panels have produced over half the electrical needs for the house, my work shop, and a large animal barn. Our hosting company servers are about 130% wind-powered.
Small Island story: Nothing says third-world Caribbean as much as this story from The Daily Herald. The photo with the article says most of it, but you need to know that this is quite close to the dump in Pburg. It was the Bakker Recycling company until March when Mr Bakker was arrested under suspicion of money laundering. He and his business may be gone but the citizens keep dropping off cars creating a lovely visual to add to the scenic beauty of the burning dump.

Winners of the contest ending 25 June 2017
Lagoon Pub Crawl - two for one ticket - Lee Massee
Skipjack's - $50 off a dinner for two - Lee Massee
DK Gems - $150 off a $500 purchase - Karen Held
Random Wind - $40 gift certificate - Karen Held
Select Wine Cellar - Wine tasting and a bottle of wine - Nancy Dallas
Piazza Pascal - $50 off dinner for two - Lee Massee
Pizza Galley - $25 off on a dinner for two - Lee Massee
Ti Coin Créole - $30 off on a dinner for two - Lee Massee

Current Contest: now until 1 October 2017
Lagoon Pub Crawl - two for one ticket
Skipjack's - $50 off a dinner for two
DK Gems - $150 off a $500 purchase
Random Wind - $40 gift certificate
Select Wine Cellar - Wine tasting and a bottle of wine
Piazza Pascal - $50 off dinner for two
Pizza Galley - $25 off on a dinner for two
Ti Coin Créole - $30 off on a dinner for two

Future Contests:
1 October to 24 December 2017
same cast of characters as current contest

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 dinners and activities. I really check and a while ago Sulay entered 33 times for one contest, instead of increasing her chance of winning, she decreased it to zero as I deleted all of them. She did account for about a third of the entries for that contest.

Here's some comments from a past winner:

Karakter We stopped in at Karakter, just past Mary's Boon in Simpson Bay to listen to Soul Dressing, a new band with Ronnie Santana on lead. We ordered a bottle of Meiomi ($55) and we both chose grilled tuna with French fries and mayo ($22). Dinners come with a good bit of salad and your choice of starch. The tuna was great, especially with the nice Pinot Noir and we loved the crisp fries. Not bad for $99. We added a tip for the good service and tossed a fiver in the bands tip jar. It's a fiun plave to be as they have music every day except Wednesday and Sunday (when they have a beach party). Mark, the manager, said he will probably cut the Monday music over the summer but hopes the other four nights can continue with music.