Day 5 - 04/16/12 St. Maarten

Day 5 – 04/16/12


St. Maarten



Here it is, 05:30, and I can’t sleep again. I’m really excited about riding around St. Maarten. Barb and I spent our honeymoon there 27 years ago. I doubt we’ll recognize much although I did look through our old pictures. I went for a walk and found out where everyone is first thing in the morning…they’re walking round the running track.

It’s VERY windy today. It’s supposed to be in the low 80’s. No jackets today.

Getting ready to launch.

We didn’t have to meet until 11:30 so we had time for a nice breakfast. After breakfast it was meeting time in the Deck 2 Forward conference area. A couple of people were late…targets for ridicule. We had the bikes ready to go before the ship was docked. We’re always the first people off of the ship. The regular passengers have to wait for formalities and go through a check-out. We just mount up and disembark. We rode down the gangway into the sunny heat of St. Maarten. We were in a canyon between two large cruise ships and were told to keep the revving down. Those Harley riders love to rev their engines. We met up with the local motorcycle club, the Caribbean Eagles and headed out.



St. Maarten doesn’t look anything like I remember. First off, I don’t remember it being so hilly. It’s also very built up and dirty. We headed over to the gas stop to get our ration of fuel. Since my little Honda uses less fuel than the big bikes I had more fuel left over from the previous ride so they almost filled me up. We left the gas station and went to the Harley Dealership. It’s a Harley thing. You have to visit the local dealerships for shirts, patches, etc. After the dealership it was time to ride. The roads in St. Maarten (Dutch side) and St. Martin (French side) leave a lot to be desired. There are speed bumps everywhere. T is officially the isle of speed bumps.

St. Maarten's hills.

We rode by the airport and stopped on the road at the end of the runway. The area was full of people. Here’s the deal. Whenever a plane lands it comes in so low you could almost hit it with a baseball. Well one was coming in while we sat there, right over Barb and I. The people wait around to feel the jet blast as the jets pass. At takeoff it’s much stronger. People actually get blown over and pushed around by the jet blast when they take off. Nutty folks.



We continued our ride around the island to the French side. The roads had lots of speed bumps and pot holes and curves which kept our speeds down…and traffic. Lots of traffic, especially in any populated area. We had a lot of trouble keeping the group together. The local motorcycle club ran interference for us by blocking traffic where they could so that we wouldn’t be cut off by cars.



We ended up at Waikiki Beach. It was a nice beach with a restaurant and beach chairs. The weather was crappy…way too windy and mostly cloudy…so we didn’t change into our bathing suits. We had a little lunch and relaxed. It was a nice break. The road into Waikiki had two big speed bumps at the entrance. Even I bottomed out on the way out. (My bike has a little more clearance that the big Harleys). Someone even had their guardian bell knocked off. Bad karma.



The road back to the Dutch side was more of the same…curves, potholes and speed bumps. We ended up on the waterfront street called the Boardwalk. We parked the bikes for about 1 ½ hours and walked around the shopping district. The girls found a chocolate shop, hit up a jewelry store and I got my customary Hard Rock café pin.

On the Boardwalk in St. Maarten

We moved on to the cruise ship dock for a little duty free shopping. The girls went ahead and boarded the ship while we waited around for the time to load the bikes. We moved the bikes back onto the dock where security inspected our bikes and Steve did the nitrogen thing to our fuel tanks again. We loaded the bikes and had them chocked in 12 minutes. That’s what we were told. I think it took a little longer.



It was back to the cabin for a shower then off to a casual dinner in the dining room. Our assistant waiter was super attentive since Dave had said something to the head waiter the meal before. I was given my diet cokes before asking and coffee came as soon as I started falling asleep right at the table. It was a long day and everyone turned in as soon as the meal was over.