December 9, 2022 towing wrecked ship, Ft St Louis, dinner at Tropicana

Friday This morning we watched as there was an attempt to tow the sailboat on our shore back into the water.  The owner was there today.  We found out he didn’t have any insurance.  But the boat looked like it was still in good condition, if it were floating again.  He had hired someone to pull the boat off the shore.  There was a guy at the sailboat tying lines and a couple guys in the boat towing it.  The lines broke several times, but they finally had it moving.  Then it appeared to hit a sand bar or reef and they didn’t have enough power to pull it over that.  So they left to get a bigger boat.  In the meantime, the boat came back to the shore and was rocking again.  The companionway hatch was open and water was getting into the boat, making it even heavier to tow.  Eventually, with all the motion, the mast broke.  We watched the life boat go overboard and inflate, just like it’s supposed to.  The guys on the tow boat never did return.  Even more sad to watch today.  

 

 

We drove through Marigot to check out a few things.  We stopped at the Catholic Church to check on the time of mass on Sunday.  The road behind the church leads up a hill to Ft St Louis ruins.  There was an amazing view of the city and harbor.  You could see Anguilla to the north and St Barts to the south.

our condo was by the jetty behind the boats

view to the south with St Bart on the horizon

Anguilla in the distance

another shipwreck to the east

We returned to our condo and dressed for dinner.  We walked to a restaurant that was near a marina (and where we had breakfast yesterday), Tropicana.  It was open air overlooking the lagoon.  We had a wonderful meal.  We were given complimentary hummus and toast.  We shared a salad and French Onion soup.  Dave had steak tartar.  I had pork tenderloin in a gravy of mushrooms and onions.  
We splurged and had desserts.  This is a “French Collectivity” which is slightly different than a French overseas region, both are part of France.  So we had to try the desserts.  I had a macaroon that was the size of a hamburger with a toasted praline layer in the middle.  Dave had a fruit parfait in a waffle like basket.  Everyone oohed and awed when they served them.  After the meal, they gave us a complimentary shot of their homemade banana/vanilla rum made from an old family recipe.  Of course we had way to much to eat.  But that’s part of traveling we enjoy, tasting the local food.