{"id":6599,"date":"2017-02-14T08:34:36","date_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:34:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=6599"},"modified":"2017-02-14T08:34:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-14T13:34:36","slug":"grand-case-is-well-just-grand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/?p=6599","title":{"rendered":"Grand Case is, well, just grand."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s Tuesday morning and we are anchored off of Grand Case, a charming little French seaside town on St Martin.\u00a0 This spot is known for the many French restaurants and shops that line the waterfront, the largest concentration on the island, I&#8217;m told.\u00a0 It looks, well, very French.\u00a0\u00a0 Not surprisingly, they even have a little bakery in town.\u00a0 Can I have another baguette please?\u00a0 Actually, yesterday I bought two\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The anchorage is a bit rolly but picturesque.\u00a0 There is a pretty impressive concrete pier to tie the dink up to complete with some pretty good sized waves breaking on the nearby beach. Getting off and on the dink can be a bit challenging with the surge and there is no way that many would brave the surf to land a dink on the beach. \u00a0 That&#8217;s Pandora off in the distance, center.\u00a0<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6604\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-023.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-023.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-023-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-023-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-023-533x800.jpg 533w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>There is also a small airport in town and every so often a plane comes in from over the water appearing to barely clear the main street and boats in the harbor.\u00a0\u00a0 This one came in just a few moments ago. \u00a0It sure looked like it was awfully close to clipping the buildings on shore. \u00a0&#8220;Yes, please, I&#8217;ll have some landing gear with my foie gras.&#8221;<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6613\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17b-008.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17b-008.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17b-008-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>Yesterday Brenda and I walked downtown to look in the shops.\u00a0 It\u2019s a pretty town.\u00a0 Very quaint. \u00a0 And yes, it looks very French. \u00a0Funny thing.\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6615\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-009.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-009.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-009-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>A little Catholic church right in town. \u00a0 Oddly, I hear that they do the entire service in French. \u00a0Why is that, I wonder? \u00a0It&#8217;s pretty amazing, even the little kids have learned to speak French here. \u00a0I never learned. \u00a0Too hard.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6602\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-011.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-011.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-011-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>This is where we are having dinner tonight with friends. \u00a0Even this place is French. \u00a0Go figure.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6601\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-010.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-010.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-010-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>Most of the restaurants have large tanks of lobster on display.\u00a0\u00a0 These are bigger than they look.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6614\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-018-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-018-1.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-018-1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>After our walk, more of a short stroll actually, we stopped for a drink at a bar near the town dock.\u00a0 The bar had set up a number of \u201csamples\u201d on the railing running down to the dock.\u00a0 It was a very inviting and creative way to show their wares, I thought. \u00a0 Just try that on a &#8220;public&#8221; pier in the US. \u00a0&#8220;You can&#8217;t do that. Get those drinks off of private property. \u00a0It violates the separation of government and private enterprise&#8221;. \u00a0No wait, perhaps with Trump that will no longer be a problem for us. \u00a0 \u00a0Something to look forward to.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6611\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-045.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-045.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-045-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>The view of the harbor as the sun went down was really nice and put even more &#8220;happy&#8221; in our &#8220;happy hour&#8221;.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6608\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-038.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-038.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-038-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>As the sun set behind the hills it was really beautiful off to the east.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6605\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-024.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-024-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>Pandora looked her best in the evening light.<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6607\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-037.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-037.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-037-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>As we sat in the bar a few planes landed at the airport.\u00a0 It looked like we could nearly touch them as they passed overhead. \u00a0&#8220;De plane, De plane!&#8221; If you get that joke, &#8220;you are really old now&#8221;.\u00a0<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6606\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-026.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"3329\" height=\"2575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-026.jpg 3329w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-026-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-026-768x594.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-026-1024x792.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-026-800x619.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 3329px) 100vw, 3329px\" \/>A beautiful view of town from aboard Pandora once the sun went down. <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6612\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-048.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-048.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/2-14-17a-048-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/>Oh yeah, remember \u201cwhack-a-mole\u201d?\u00a0 Well, he\u2019s back at it again as my SSB and AIS both failed yesterday.\u00a0 Yacht repair in exotic places once again.\u00a0 I think I have tracked it down to a failed DC\/DC converter.\u00a0 More to come on that.\u00a0 Besides, we will be back in Simpson Bay to pick up my mainsail as the new part for the batten will arrive tomorrow. \u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ll have to try and get all of this fixed so we can make a run to St Barths over the weekend.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Fixing the boat again Bob?&#8221; \u00a0Yes, I&#8217;m afraid that&#8217;s true. \u00a0It\u2019s always something.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it just grand?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s Tuesday morning and we are anchored off of Grand Case, a charming little French seaside town on St Martin.\u00a0 This spot is known for the many French restaurants and shops that line the waterfront, the largest concentration on the island, I&#8217;m told.\u00a0 It looks, well, very French.\u00a0\u00a0 Not surprisingly, they even have a little [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","_s2mail":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6599"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6616,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599\/revisions\/6616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailpandora.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}