St. Maarten, France & the Netherlands in one!

Hello, St. Maarten, the Friendly Island! This was a really confusing place seeings how half the island is under French rule and the other belongs to the Dutch and they speak over thirty languages on a space of about 60 square miles. However, people like Mick Jagger have homes here and there's a great big protected harbor (built by the English) which loads of people park their yachts in... more yachts. However, on this day we got to ride in a HUGE catamaran! I was so excited when I saw it coming. This was our "water taxi" over to a bay where we were to go snokeling and kayaking. We had to try the nets out. We were clipping along at a good pace once the sail was out so it made sitting on the nets feel a little strange. But the waves and the warm air won us over and we caught some early morning sunshine. Alas, the catamaran mixed with the 2-hour-long snorkeling/kayaking would inevitably be my downfall: I got a roaring sunburn everywhere my swimsuit didn't cover. (I'm suntanning before I go on my next tropical adventure.) Couldn't beat it though- the snorkeling was good although you can't see the rocks we were cautiously swimming around nor the height of the waves we were bobbing in. Also, I realized a few minutes into snorkeling that my swimsuit strings on top had come undone. I hope the fish were the only ones who got a show before I realized what had happened. A hurricane hit the island a few years back so there wasn't a lot of coral to see but there were still a great amount of fish- a few of the "Dori" ones- and I tried diving to the bottom while snorkeling which is not as easy as it looks. We eventually all had too much salt water and were ready to head back to the ship.

Meanwhile, where's Keegan during all this adventuring? Having one of his own of course! He and Layton were shuttled around by Kristina and Grandma B. as they toured a butterfly farm and then the beach. Keegan was none too fond of the creepy crawlies and wasn't much fun at the beach either... we think the waves were a little too choppy for him.

This picture is for Ephraim. Before we left port that night, our ship needed a top-up. This is a fuel barge and a tugboat brought it right up alongside the cruise ship. Cody liked watching them work. I thought Eph might like to see where the fruits of his labors ends up. :o)

We got to watch an exciting Elton John impersonator (apparently the only act sanctioned by Sir Elton himself to act in his behalf) sing Elton's songs after dinner. Keegan went ape when the encore was 'Crocodile Rock'- he was singing and bobbing his head like it was going out of fashion. I'll let you decide what the animal on the bed is... my guess was a bulldog.