Saint Barthélemy (St. Barths)

Government Overseas Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (France) Capital Gustavia Currency € Euro Area 21km2 Population (2009) 7,448 Language French Islands 1 inhabited Economy Tourism (high-end) GDP per Capita €26,000 (France, 29th worldwide) Links CIA Factbook, Wikipedia Page

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Saint Barthélemy is a small island/country/département of France that is just to the south-south-east of Saint-Martin and is a small and quaint island. Historically it was one of the few in the Caribbean which did not participate in any aspect of the slave industry and that is reflected in today's culture and inhabitants. It has become a refuge for well-heeled tourists and caters to the big mega yacht crowd with a wonderful harbour surrounded by the main and only city of Gustavia. I have never seen a check in/out procedure as informal and easy as that of Saint Barths. I went through it 3 times almost without breaking step.

During one trip there I managed to trip while going forward to drop the anchor and break my little toe. I motored the dinghy in to the docks and went to check in and once (in)formalities were finished I asked in French if the harbourmaster could recommend a doctor with an X-Ray machine and explained that I thought I'd broken my toe. He said that the local hospital was my best bet and pointed it out to me, sitting on top of a small hill about a kilometre across the harbour. He stopped me when I limped off in that direction and said that he'd drive me there. He escorted me to the reception desk and explained my plight to the attendant, adding “Pas de problème, il parle Français” and, upon hearing that, the lady brightened visibly. I was then passed to a nurse in the emergency reception area, who looked relieved when the receptionist passed on the good news about my supposed language skills. When the doctor arrived a couple of minutes later my proficiency in French was the first thing that the doctor was told and everyone seemed quite happy. I then, in my broken French, stated “Je pense que j'ai cassé mon oreille.” and they promptly chuckled or smiled, which I didn't really consider an appropriate reaction to my plight at all. The doctor then (in excellent English) explained that I hadn't broken my “oreille” [ear] “orteil” [toe]. Anyway, they confirmed by diagnosis, took X-Rays, reset it and then told me all I could do was bind it up to it's neighbour for a month and by then it would heal. I had to come back two days later to pay the €50 bill as the accounting department was closed but they didn't seem worried that I'd sail off into the sunset.

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Motoring Zanshin I toward Gustavia in St. Barths. I'm coming from Anse Colombier and will anchor outside of town.There's always lots of big ship traffice, from cruise liners to megayachts. [17°54'49.15"N 62°52'17.37"W (facing SE)] From Columbier to Gustavia	Looking along the length of the harbour at Gustavia on St. Barths, with the megayacht docks to the right. The mere mortals anchor outside the harbour, out of sight on this picture. [17°53'44.48"N 62°50'55.63"W ] View west from Gustavia harbour	Antique fisherman anchor on display at Gustavia in St. Barths. The fisherman anchor, despite being very old in design and hard to stow on deck, is still used on many boats because that sharp pick digs into many surfaces that modern anchors will just bounce over. [17°53'44.48"N 62°50'55.63"W ] Gustavia (the hospital is at the crane)	Boats in Anse Colombier (2009-02-27 20:30:11 DSC-N2 [f/8.0, 10/5000s] ISO 160) View at Baie Columbier	Starfish picture taken from deck
Lone Ranger [17°54'28.94"N 62°51'49.8"W (facing NE)] Typical St. Barths yacht (Lone Ranger)	Turtle in Anse Colombier [17°55'29.06"N 62°52'14.67"W ] Turtle swimminG in Anse Colombier	My spot in Anse Colombier on St. Barths was close to shore and during the night the wind died down and Zanshin I turned around this mooring several times. In the morning the wind picked up once again and after spending an eternity trying to untangle the 2 mooring lines I'd used I gave up and cut the lines so that I could depart. [17°55'21.71"N 62°52'13.2"W ] Twisted mooring that I had to cut away	Yet another rust bucket. [17°54'20.78"N 62°51'56.52"W (facing SW)] Yet another rust bucket	The main promenade and megayacht dock in Gustavia on St. Barths. During the season the whole length is full of megayachts similar in size to the one in the distance, but the anchorage is open to the swell and sometimes rather uncomfortable, even for the big boys. [17°53'57.65"N 62°51'3.4"W (facing SE)] Main promenade in Gustavia
Somehow the dead-end sign shouldn't be in the same frame as the hospital one. [17°53'38.93"N 62°51'2.21"W ] St. Barths sign directions to Hospital	This is where I headed off to in order to get my broken toe x-rayed and set. [17°53'39.59"N 62°51'2.72"W (facing SW)] St. Barts Hospital entrance	A typical example of the type of megayacht med-moored at the promenade in St. Barths during the season. The crew is always immaculately attired in uniform and seems to spend most of the day doing nothing but cleaning the yachts. [17°53'55.02"N 62°51'1.65"W (facing SW)] The 'Toys' just keep on getting bigger	The large yachts all med-moor in St. Barths. The anchor(s) are dropped and set, with the help of divers from the port, a long way into the port and then the boats are backed to the dock and once they are in place the whole arrangement is tightened. This way quite a few boats will fit in a short space and this is the system prevalent in the Mediterranean, hence the name. [17°53'54.34"N 62°51'1.28"W (facing NW)] ... and BIGGER