Saint Martin was another great stop for provisioning, boat work and kids activities! The island is also quite unique as it is actually split into two different countries - The northern part is French and called Saint-Martin, while the southern part is Dutch and known as Sint Maarten.

The only downside to our time in St Martin was that the ocean wasn't exactly cooperating. Swelly seas, rain, and winds gusting up to 30 knots most days made for a bit of an uncomfortable stay. Still, we managed to tick off some important boat maintenance tasks, so that’s a win!

Another friend was due to land the day after we arrived and with the wind still doing its thing and spinning our boat around the anchor, we decided to embrace life on land. We had a fantastic evening in Grand Case, starting with drinks at the super cool floating bar, Balaou, followed by a delicious waterfront dinner at Java! After a couple of days exploring, we said goodbye to our friend and sailed over to Marigot, rented a car, and started exploring the island on land!

We spent a day at the awesome Loterie Farm – ziplines, hikes, a pool, and a playground for the kids, all tucked away in the jungle! Of course, a visit to the famous Maho Beach in St. Martin was a must to witness the crazy airplane landings. We then took the chairlift at the Sky Explorer/Rainforest Adventure Park for some panoramic views of St. Martin. Maddie also had a big item on her "bucket list": watching Moana 2! It came out around her birthday, but we were crossing the Atlantic and it wasn't streaming yet! So we found a cinema nearby, and it happened to be the last day it was showing and we had the whole theater to ourselves too!

Our dinghy had to be dropped off for repairs since it had been leaking air for the past six months the platform spokes for it were also damaged, so we got them fixed and reinforced, but that would take about a week. So, in the meantime, we decided to visit Anguilla and St. Barth!

Once our dinghy was ready to be picked up, we headed back to St. Martin – this time on the Dutch side. We navigated through the bridge into the lagoon. We heard about a boat kids' meetup at Buccaneers, so we quickly headed over for a beach sunset play date and some drinks! The next morning, the mamas had a much-needed coffee date at a patisserie before diving back into boat life. That very day, we set off for a highly anticipated stop – The BVI!