The WakaNahannis at Sea: Easter in St. Martin

Since arriving back to Marigot Bay on the French side of St. Martin, we have been more diligent about our daily school routine. There are lots of kids around, so after school, we are usually swimming and hanging out with friends.

Observing starfish after school

School's out!

Swinging off the rope at the side of the boat with our new Dutch friends

Malea and her mermaid tail

John, Malea and Simon sending Wavey aloft to the spreaders

Wavey working aloft

Jeff from So Blessed was great in taking the kids "surfing" on Malea's surfboard. The kids had trouble getting to standing as it was their first time. Malea is quite a pro!

Malea making it look easy

One afternoon before Easter, we popped over to Explorer Island (small uninhabited islet in the Lagoon), and saw some families decorating Easter eggs. They invited us to join in.

Egg decorating on Explorer Island

Our friend Shera from So Blessed

Erica (Mom of three, who organized egg decorating) from Sea Schell

Artful eggs

We returned to Explorer Island a few days later when we were invited to a birthday party for Ayla aboard Sea Schell, who was turning 14 years old. There were several families, lots of treats, a bonfire, and an island to run and roam. It was fun to meet lots of cruising families.

Birthday party

Building the fire (Ayla is in middle in green shirt)

Jeff from So Blessed

Playing with fire

That's some BBQ, Simon!

The kids weren't sure if the Easter Bunny would find us on the boat this year. He must have borrowed a dinghy or something, because the boat was filled with chocolate when we awoke Easter Sunday.

Beginning the egg hunt

Easter waffles

On Easter Monday, we got up early, grabbed our masks and snorkels, and headed to the Little Divi Beach Resort for their annual underwater Easter Egg hunt. We arrived just in time to see organizers sending about 1250 hard-boiled eggs to the depths of 3 to 13 feet. There were about 200 people collecting in the water, plus lots of spectators cheering.

Here is Wavey's account of the day:

I was just about knee deep in the water when I heard someone say into a microphone, "Get ready ! "I then dove into the crystal clear water. The water was cool but not cold. I stood up (now about chest deep) just in time to hear the sound of a woman saying, "GO!" I pushed off the sand swimming with all my might. I saw a cluster of eggs on the sandy bottom of the ocean. I swam down to grab them. "Great!" I thought. I swam around looking for more. The underwater photographer took a lot of great photos of me too. I came out to exchange the eggs for tickets about three times.

After all the eggs were found everyone came out with their final collection and traded them for tickets and the second phase of excitement began! All kinds of prizes were won, including a two night stay at the resort, a GoPro Hero 5, and lots of coupons for all different things! We won: a two tank dive at The Scuba Fun Shop, a gift certificate for a local German restaurant, and one free yoga class at the Joga studio. We also won a t-shirt, some stickers, three free sailing lesson coupons, and a pin. I had a great time at the Little Divi Bay Resort!!