Our excursion today was sailing on the Passaat (which means Tradewinds in Dutch I think). The sailing ship is 105 years old, owned and operated by a couple from Holland, Mirian and Pieter. This excursion got great reviews on trip advisor. (Note to self: that doesn’t always mean that it’s an awesome excursion.) My antenna was already up with these folks back in October when she said she would call after Halloween for our credit card number to hold the spots, and she didn’t. I checked with her again in December just confirming we were still booked (as I did with all the excursions we had booked). The original email from them said they could arrange transportation to and from Simpson Bay for $14 per person round trip. I requested that but she never addressed it in any subsequent email. We didn’t know quite what to expect and figured we’d go down to the taxi area and if we couldn’t find anyone holding a Pasaat sign with our name we’d just get our own taxi. (ETA: When I finally checked email again on Sunday after we were home there was an email from her on Friday, January 8, saying she had arranged email. Why she waited that long I have no idea but with no cell service and limited wifi from the time we left home Friday morning on, I never saw it.) Check in was at 11:00am according to the paper work we had. That meant we had to have breakfast and be in the port area in time to regroup if our transportation wasn’t already arranged. We didn’t know how far away Simpson Bay was. Holy crap that place was a flippin’ zoo. Might’ve had something to do with the fact that there were four ships docked that day. Ya think? Fast forward, we finally get someone to assist us in hailing a taxi big enough for 8 and he asks us where we’re going in Simpson Bay – it’s a big place. Well hell. We don’t know. After we went through a couple of guys one of them took Bob back inside and pulled up the company online and got an address. Thank the Lord. Then we get a taxi. Bob. Bob was a trip and a half. The guy had us in stitches the whole time. He was awesome. His real name was Veejay but he went by Bob. Makes sense to me. It was 10:50 and my Bob asks driver Bob how far away we are. Driver Bob said about 25-30 minutes. My Bob told him check in was 11:00. Driver Bob laughs. Not gonna make that he says. But the ship doesn’t sail until 11:30. I think we’re fine. The views winding through St, Maarten were gorgeous. There are mountains, beaches, incredible turquoise water – what more could a person ask for? Unbelievably, we got behind a bulldozer going 10-15 mph on this two lane road winding across the mountains. Bob kept us entertained. At some point a car tried to cut him off, or something, and he laid on the horn and cackled like Ahmed. We died LOL. We fell a little bit in love with Bob. He even gave my Bob his card with his US phone number on it so if we come stay on the island we can call him. How cool is that?

We made it to Skip Jack Restaurant (the drop off) with a few minutes to spare but Mirian was chomping at the bit waiting for us. The rest of the passengers were already on board. We piled into the dingy and motored out to the ship. It was pretty from a distance.

It was kind of beat up and neglected looking up close. Mirian said she sent a car for us. I don’t believe it. They just came across as very unorganized and disheveled people. While it was nice to be on the water, it was a little disappointing to us that they weren’t stopping at a good snerkling spot. Just a swimming spot. And apparently there wasn’t enough wind for sailing so he just motored around all day. Really not the same effect. But it was relaxing, the scenery was beautiful, the food was really good and the company was entertaining. So it was a good day, just not a fabulous day. Not an excursion we’d recommend or repeat. The ship had potential but was in desperate need of some TLC. It appeared their company was struggling. Not sure how much longer they’ll be in business. Regina accidentally got a glimpse of their living quarters trying to find the restroom. She was horrified at the condition saying there was stuff thrown everywhere and she didn’t know how the boat was afloat. Topside looked way better than down below. While they were nice people, be this will not be a high recommendation on tripadvisor.

One of the highlights of the day was seeing planes fly in over the beach to land at the airport. I’ve seen the pictures of this from the beach and it is almost terrifying how close those planes fly right over top of beach goers. But it sure was fascinating to watch from a boat!! LOL

The food served for lunch was a meal, and it was pretty good. Mirian made a remark about not having enough fish for everyone because she didn’t get a meal form from our group. Well, she never asked for one. Whatever, another strike for this excursion. But we enjoyed it nonetheless.

DE was fascinated with this “vortex” or “black hole.”
(Photo courtesy of Sarah Williams)

One of the other passengers had this really cool Piranha Joe’s t-shirt on we all really liked. How cool to find out there was a little shop in the duty free area that sold them. We all got one except Rick and Regina.

Pretty cool story, huh?

Rick was freakin’ out because he couldn’t find his glasses, so off they went try and solve that mystery. By the time we got back to our cabin we didn’t have much time before we had to get ready for dinner. Ricky was all worked up because it seemed his glasses fell out of the bag and were gone. That really sucks. He needs his glasses to function. I would’ve been upset too. That’s a big deal. A little later it was discovered that Kathy had them all along. Thank God. She was one of the last ones off the ship and saw them sitting on the table, thought they were theirs and tossed them in her bag. What a let down it was to see those blasted luggage tags on our bed this afternoon. Reality still refusing to set in. I’m determined to milk every moment out of this week.

Another beautiful sunset this evening.

Ricky was in a much better mood at dinner. As much as we didn’t want to dress up, it was lobster tail night at Blu, so a no brainier there. They always serve Baked Alaska for dessert with the lobster. You just can’t go wrong with that. Gabriel treated us to his disappearing credit card trick at the end of the evening. Jim and Rick are still looking for their cards. Haha. He just so damn cute.

There was a comedian in the theater tonight. He was really good. I’m not sure there’s an accent he can’t do. I’d definitely see him again. (Lost the Celebrity info that said his name – Ugh.) The Liars Club was on at 10:30. Three crew members are given a word to define and the audience tries to determine which one is the correct answer. The three crew members on the hot seats were Nathan, Kim and Mark, all of whom were good sports and enjoyed the game, however many times they’ve done this. I can’t wait to get back on the grid to find out if these are actual words. (ETA: They actually are – I looked them up … on the internet. LOL)
Pandiculation 
Nathan – said he was a condom model in a previous life and it was an allergic reaction to latex
Kim -full body stretch
Mark – the process to encourage pandas to mate
Haweshole
Nathan – pause in public sp asking when nervous
Kim – hole in the side of ships for mooring last lines
Mark – someone who extorts money with the threat of violence
(They used this word last year so we already knew that one, plus Bob knew it from working on ships.)
Chubble
Nathan – seeing something with your eyes and being disappointed
Kim – brand of condoms
Mark – aerobic motion of putting on panty hose (he demonstrated this extremely well – hysterical)
(ETA: Believe it or not, this is true. Here’s the Urban Dictionary definition: Chubble – noun, verb – to move or to be like a mass of fat, to chubble. ALSO: one who chubbles is a chubbler.)
Assapanick
Nathan – when a group of people stare at you
Kim – body double that looks better than you
Mark – native name for flying squirrel
Each one concocted a far fetched, crazy story about the word, explanation and definition. They were hysterical. Between Andrew and this show we were all laughed out. It was about midnight but the time we got back to the cabin and ready for bed. I was done and went to bed without journaling. It had been a long day.
Tomorrow St. Thomas. Last day. Man this week has gone fast.