LinoCat

Have you ever seen a sign at a garbage bin that you are not allowed to dump your garbage during the day? Maybe they do it here because it looks so digusting and smells so ugly that people should not go there during the day? Or was the smell coming from this small river? Never on another caribbean island we have seen so much dirt than on the french ones. The dinghy dock here in Marigot stinks like they pee all over it every night. This floating swimmingpool was built in front of the beach in Grande Case. In 2 days we saw NOBODY swimming there. Of course, the beautiful beach is right around it and it is the same sea water. since it is only a floating pontoon. But the fun thing is: It is paid by the European union! Anyone wonders where the money goes? We went to Marigot this morning to clear out. You remember that they had printer problems, right? Guess what: YEAH, they send me again to Fort Luis marina. So we have customs office which is not able to do their duty. Even though nothing is...

The beach here is here very nice with clear water. The dinghy dock is fairly old and rotten and so is the main dock which already collapsed. Anchorage is good holding on sand in around 3m of depth and near by there are some rocks which are supposed to be good for snorkeling. There is a small buoy there for dinghies. Lani enjoyed playing in the sand and unfortunately we have to leave today back to the immigration because they did not clear us out. Lets hope they have fixed their printer problem!

This morning at 7.45 after breakfast we pulled the anchor up and crossed the Simpson Bay Lagoon to the french side. At 08.15 the drawbridge opened and we went into Marigot Bay. We dropped the anchor here to clear in. Customs and Immigration are at the ferry docks and so i went there by dinghy. After typing in all the details (Yes, the french system does NOT support saving the data like with eSeaClear.com) i printed the information out and the customs officer realized that the toner cartridge was empty. No problem, i will wait until he changed it BUT he did not have another one. So he told me i should go to marina Fort Luis to clear in there. Usually they do it only for marina guests but he would call them. So i walked there and they did not know anything. The lady had to call her supervisor and then i could clear in. Guess what: YES, i had to type everything again. Now they told me it is NOT possible to clear in and out at the same time so i have to type all of that again tomorrow! And...

Yesterday it was the first time that we travelled by dinghy from one country to another because we went through the Simpson lagoon to the french side. The dutch side looks almost american with the US dollar and english language being dominant. On the french side even the road signs look french. The french have 20 square kilometer and the dutch 13. There is no real border here between the countries. Hey it is almost like in Europe. The top picture shows an old propeller plane which is still flying around. Maybe it was a DC-3 but i am not sure. To the left is the West Indies Shopping Mall on the french side. Only clothes and girls stuff, no electronics or tools for the big boy :-( This is a beach bar where we have been yesterday for a coffee. Nice music but they had a big dog running around free and so we left. These iron balls are used for bonfires, especially on fullmoon parties. So there is a wooden fire in them and people dance and drink. This is one of the marinas on the french sid...