Sayonara in St. Maarten

Sunrise in St. Maarten during a sun deck yoga sesh

Lovely sunset in St. Maarten

What a whirlwind! It was just about a month since I left Ft. Lauderdale on Mia Elise II and here I am back in Florida with a charter and owner's trip under my belt. I am no longer completely "green" which is a good feeling. The charter was intense but amazing, I learned so much and am grateful for the experience and getting to be a part of a great crew minus a couple questionable individuals already discussed. Of course the theme nights and events were my favorite and the beach day and tender boat outings were major highlights. I tried to get up on deck before my shift every morning so I could take a look around as the locales were all amazing. Living in the laundry, maybe not as much fun...but the tip does make that all seem to fade.

Rainbow over St. Barts - I never stepped foot on this island

Amazing to see all the work that goes into making these guest's have the most incredible experience of a lifetime. I also got great insight on what NOT to do and how critical it is to have a team of people who get along all working together with mutual respect. When your daily routine only involves your guests and a group of 14 other individuals and no one else for sometimes weeks at a time while working 12-15 hour days you better hope those people are solid! We did some drills during the trip where I was the "victim" that had to be search and rescued, and it was pretty amazing to see the whole drill go down and how prepared everyone is to take action. So important to be a cohesive crew! 

Morning run over the Simpson Bay Causeway Bridge

When we arrived at our final docking point, St. Maarten, we were docked next to M/Y Venus, Steve Job's former yacht which is amazing, check her out here and watch the video of the entry through Simpson Bay bridge as we also traveled through there and everyone at the yacht club watches you go by: http://www.yachtingmagazine.com/steve-jobs-yacht-venus-spotted. Another ship that was noteworthy was the Maltese Falcon sailing ship: https://www.symaltesefalcon.com/.  The owner of Victoria's Secret's yacht Limitless was also there, quite a beauty: http://www.superyachts.com/motor-yacht-3120/limitless-photos.htm. The rumor is the owner actually paid for the bridge to be widened so they could come to St. Maarten.

Our marina

The Yacht Club where you can watch the yachts come into port

M/Y Venus on our starboard side

Revolutionary Maltese Falcon

M/Y Limitless - at 96m she is largest yacht to enter this location

We worked for 16 days before getting some time off, so you can imagine the group is eager to make the most of it. Once the boss left we were docked in St. Maarten/St. Martin (also referred to as Devil's Island I was informed) and it was time to get off the boat and enjoy the surroundings. I will admit I headed straight to the spa and got a mani/pedi with fellow stew Roxy, I was in dire need. Next priority was beach and pool sessions at the Fat Turtle of St. Maarten (apparently there is a Fat Turtle at every IGY Marina). Highlight for me was the day I got up early and decided to join a few of the guys who were on the search for surf, and we ended up taking the Mia Elise tender out wakeboarding. Super fun but also crazy different from my usual lake sessions. At the end of the trip the captain took us all out for a a crew dinner at Jimbo's Rock and Blues (http://www.jimboscafe.com/) and it was a blast. Definitely some much needed time off!