Charter yacht shows in the sun are a great way for yacht crew to show brokers how well their yachts will perform in real life. We here in St Maarten for the first of the two top Caribbean charter yacht shows.
We flew out to Antigua with the “world’s favourite airline” in a somewhat dilapidated plane where the video on demand failed to work and very little of the remaining entertainment system functioned. Luckily the plane was not jammed packed so we had a little elbowroom and I managed to get some work done on my computer. Sadly the rear of the plane lacks any power supply and my battery failed long before the flight has ended.
Liat, the puddle jumping Caribbean Airline, carried us the 110 miles from Antigua to Sint Maarten. Like a country bus service it went via St Kitts to drop and pick up passengers and was off to Tortola after we left.
We arrived in Sit Maarten late in the evening after a very long drawn out day. Luckily it was not too far to the French side and our hotel, La Samanna, an oasis of calm and sophistication on what can at times be a somewhat manic island.
There, the kind folk of Orient Express Hotels who always look after us so well had been kind enough to upgrade us to a fabulous premium suite. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a lovely sitting room, small kitchen and spacious terrace balcony over looking the beautiful golden arc of sand leading down to the clear blue sea. We went to sleep to the gentle sound of the water lapping the beach.
We hired a car and because we were a day ahead of the start of the show went off to explore the island, revisiting haunts we know so well and others that we do not. We came back to find Lady Joy a Christensen lying at anchor off our room with her guests enjoying the view of our hotel and us the view of her.