{"id":1444,"date":"2017-01-16T11:32:39","date_gmt":"2017-01-16T16:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eglin.net\/2bikes\/?p=1444"},"modified":"2017-01-16T11:32:39","modified_gmt":"2017-01-16T16:32:39","slug":"st-barts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eglin.net\/2bikes\/?p=1444","title":{"rendered":"St Barts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The island of Saint Barth\u00e9lemy is only 12 miles from St Martin and whilst St Martin is the winter base for many superyachts, St Barts is where the owners come to play.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Each island we visit has its own character, St Bart’s is at the European end of the spectrum.  Mainly white, wealthy and cosmopolitan, St Bart’s could be a French island in the Med. <\/p>\n

We arrived on January 5th<\/sup> with the idea that the boats attending the big New Year\u2019s celebrations would have started to leave.  The superyacht marinas in St Maarten, just about empty on New Year\u2019s Eve, were filling up by the day we left.<\/p>\n

The short sail to St Bart\u2019s was complicated by the Causeway Bridge breaking down and blocking our planned departure through Simpson Bay on the Dutch side.  This delayed our departure to the afternoon bridge opening on the French side. We arrived at Ile Fourchue just a couple of miles off St Bart’s, just at sunset.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Ile Fourchue<\/p><\/div>\n

 We picked up a mooring ball for the night before heading into the main port at Gustavia the next day.<\/p>\n

We bumped into Peter and Patty from Serendipitous in the port office.  Jimmy Buffett\u2019s Cheese Burger in Paradise was written at Le Select in Gustavia, so we naturally all headed there for lunch. <\/p>\n

<\/a>

Cheese Burger<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a>

Anse du Grand Colombier<\/p><\/div>\n

That evening we moved the boat to Anse du Grand Colombier in the north of St Bart’s, a lovely anchorage, quiet, with great hikes to a lovely caf\u00e9 with good coffee, fresh pastries and baguettes, we may have done that hike twice.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Hiking to the Boulangerie<\/p><\/div>\n

Bas and Agnes on TiSento hosted Ingomar, Serendipitous and Kinship for a sundowner, it was great to catch up with everyone.<\/p>\n

A few days later we went back to the main port of Gustavia, where we rented a car for a day trip around the island. This is not our normal way of getting around, but we have found these really hilly islands with their tiny, twisty roads quite unsuitable for cycling. We had seen several of these funny-looking open, miniature jeep-like electric cars on the road, and really wanted to drive one. They are called a Moke \u2013 <\/em>see :<\/p>\n

https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mini_Moke<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>

Moke<\/p><\/div>\n

The rental place only had gasoline models available, so we took it anyway and headed off to explore the island, and have a picnic at a scenic lookout. Wow, what a beautiful island\u2026and clearly one with lots of money! It has some spectacular scenery, and a beach around every bend. Tourism seems to have developed in a moderate way so they are not all spoiled by huge hotels and crowds. The super-yacht crowds come with their own hotels, and obviously spend lots of money ashore supporting the local economy. In turn, they seem to take real pride in making their island look nice. The waterfront is well done up, the towns are clean and well-maintained.<\/p>\n

The rental Moke was a disappointment \u2013 it was a 2016 version made in China and drove terribly and with less than 2000 km on the clock it seemed to be about to fall apart at any second. That said, it was still lots of fun to zoom around in an open car on those crazy roads with spectacular views at every turn.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We went out to the airport to watch the planes, and what a hoot that was!  Another crazy Caribbean airport with a very short runway and a killer approach, coming in low right over our heads as we stood on the roadside watching. Check out the video we shot:<\/p>\n