Sailing! 200 Years of Marriage in the Wake.
- Marvin and Lee
- Feb 19
- 4 min read
Updated: Feb 23
We never imagined we would sail in the Caribbean on a crewed sailing yacht. But, life happens! We were invited by our friends, Steve and Edie, to join them on a cruise in the Leeward Islands in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. Steve and Edie, fellow (former) Shoalsailer owners, asked Michael and Linda (also Shoalsailer companions) and their Keys neighbors, Jonathan and Anne, to sail on a luxurious 100-foot Swan super-sloop for a week.
Named L’Hippocampe, French for seahorse as well as the scientific name for the genus, has a capable and affable crew of four who attend to every comfort of the charter guests. The accommodations were spacious and modern in four cabins, all with ensuite bathrooms, including separate showers.
Jordan, the chef, prepared fabulous gourmet meals, served by the multitasking steward Anna. Will, the boat’s engineers, kept the complicated systems in order and assisted Captain Anton with sailing the boat. Anton is from Denmark, while Anna’s roots are in Latvia, via the UK, and Will and Jordan are from the UK. Jordan remarked that we shouldn’t hold that against him when it comes to cooking. He was surely correct – the food was outstanding, gourmet and creatively prepared.
At sunset each evening, wine flowed,
prosecco bubbled, rum appeared in glasses (neat or in sundowners) and conversation was lively. Later, a little sambuca topped off the day’s activities.
All told, more than 200 years of marriage were aboard! Every couple had a night with a special flavored heart cake.
All about sailing!
All of us, except Marvin (who continues to have back issues,) took turns at steering L’Hippocampe, seeing speeds exceeding 10 knots in light air. More typically, the speed was 7 or 8, but once when Lee was at the helm, she hit over 11 knots! What a thrill it was to sail around St. Martin, Anguilla, and St. Barths (or the English spelling, St. Barts) through Caribbean blue waters.
The time flew by. There were a few shoreside excursions in St. Barths, Orient Bay, and St. Martin. Tintamarre Island, in Orient Bay on St. Martin, is a particularly wonderful protected nature reserve that begs a return visit to explore more. Remnants of stone walls (and a particularly fancy gate) as well as a couple of structures speak to former inhabitants. Because it is protected, we were able to enjoy red-billed tropicbirds, brown boobys, and a couple of great elaenia (in the flycatcher family.) And, we swam/snorkeled over at least 4 turtles feeding on the sandy bottom.
Dinner out on Pinel Island, also in Orient
Bay, was delicious and full of little bananaquits flitting back and forth to feeders set up under the restaurant’s thatched eaves. It is also a nature reserve, accessible by private boat or small passenger ferry, with two restaurants, Yellow Beach and the more sedate Karibuni where we lunched.
We ate out in St. Barths too. L’Isoletta was an Italian restaurant with great burgers and a meter-long pizza! It was expensive, as is everything on St. Barths, playground of the rich and famous.
There were so many superyachts in the harbor off Gustavia that it boggles the mind. These privately-owned motor yachts were in the 200-foot to 300-foot range, plus 2 small cruise ships just a bit larger than the private yachts.
St Barths is the island Jimmy Buffett chose for his main Cariibbean home.
We stopped in at his bar Le Select. He wasn't there. But we have fond memories of attending his 2007 concert at the Dunes Preserve on Anguilla.
Rendezvous Bay is One Particular Harbor:
Captain Anton efficiently handled all of our clearing in and out of the three countries we visited – St. Martin (French) and Sint Maarten (Dutch) on the same island, Anguilla (English), and St. Barthélemy (St. Barths for short) which is also French. On the last day, Anton expertly maneuvered us through the 11:30 in-bound opening of the bridge between Simpson Bay and the inner harbor. It was a crowded single-file line of large boats vying for position to make it through the single span draw bridge. Then, he backed L’Hippocampe into her slip at Port de Plaisance Yacht Club with apparent ease. Alas, the trip was over. A cab, arranged by Anton, came to pick up 6 passengers to go to the airport and fly home. We all said our good-byes to each other and the wonderful crew.
A separate cab delivered us to Royal Pasanggrahan Guest House, a hotel we had visited on a previous trip to Sint Maarten, right in the heart of the city and with access to the famous tourist boardwalk and beach. Back when plans were being made, we decided it would be fun to spend an extra night in Phillipsburg at this funky boutique hotel and perhaps meet a local friend for dinner. Our friend was not able to join us; we suspect it conflicted with the Super Bowl.
Happy sails 'til we meet again!
All in all, our heads were spinning from this whirlwind voyage (and the rocking of the boat.) We are grateful to have been included with friends in celebration of 50 years of sailing together through life.
Thanks Steve and Edie!
Thanks for reading!
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Website: www.shellpointer.com
02.19.2026
Wonderful ! Glad you made the guest list.
What a great adventure! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for sharing this wonderful voyage!