The Nantucket Clipper has returned to the French-Dutch island of St. Martin-St. Maarten. When we first started our expedition, we were on the Dutch side of this island (See December 17, 2000 journal). Now we’re docked on the French side of the island at Marigot ("Mair-ah-go"), the capital of St. Martin ("San Mar-teen"). Marigot is a quiet little town. No big cruise ships dock here as they do in Philipsburg. On a hill overlooking the harbor sits old Fort St. Louis ("San Loo-ee"). We climbed a steep trail to the fort and looked down on Marigot and our ship to the south. To the north we saw Anguilla, only about five miles away. St. Martin-St. Maarten is the smallest island in the world that is shared between two nations. The French and Dutch came to this island at the same time in 1648. The two countries decided they didn’t want to fight, so they agreed to share the island. Legend has it that a Frenchman and a Dutchman started at one spot and walked in opposite directions around the island. Where they met on the opposite side became the border between the two countries. The Frenchman walked faster than the Dutchman, so France got a larger part of the island! The French and Dutch probably didn’t want to fight over this island because it wasn’t that valuable. It has large salt ponds, like Anguilla (See December 28, 2000 journal), and steep rocky hills. We came across the ruins of an old plantation. During the time of the American Revolution, the plantation grew food for the rich merchants on the island of Statia (See December 26, 2000 journal) as well as some sugar and cotton. Like Anguilla, people here also sold salt to passing ships. Today St. Martin-St. Maarten is very valuable because of the beautiful beaches and warm Caribbean sun. We visited the beaches, which have soft powdery white sand. We’d hoped to go snorkeling to see the island’s coral reefs, but the winds caused big waves that made it dangerous to snorkel. The big waves stirred up sand and sediment on the sea floor and made the water cloudy. Our young explorers, Bethany, Matthew and Fred, didn’t seem to mind. They loved playing and body surfing in the big waves. |
Looking down from Fort St. Louis, the Nantucket Clipper is docked at Marigot, the capital of French St. Martin. The hills behind the port are all part of St. Martin. The smaller boats at the dock are ferries that take people to Anguilla and St. Barts.
Half of Simpson Bay is French and the other half is Dutch. No borders exist between the two parts. You can go back and forth between the countries and not even know you’ve changed countries.
This old plantation in French St. Martin grew food to sell to the rich merchants of Statia.
Big waves made the water dangerous for snorkeling, but fun for young explorers to play in! |
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December 30, 2000
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