Sailing Around the Island of St. Maarten    Captain Mike loves to skipper his sailing yacht Graunya around the Caribbean island of St. Maarten/St. Martin. St. Maarten/ St. Martin is the Caribbean island which allows him to pursue his culinary passion: He finds inspiration for his cooking in the many top-restaurants. The ingredients for preparing the delicious meals on board are available through select puveyors to the Villa, Hotel, Restaurant and Mega Yacht market. International flights arrive in St. Maarten/St.Martin daily, bringing the choice food stuffs of the world.
The island of Sint Maarten/St. Martin is the smallest land mass in the world to be shared by two different nations. Thirty-seven square miles shared by France and the Netherlands Antilles. The French territory covers about two thirds of the island and is a part of Europe and the European Community. The Dutch side is a member island of the Netherlands Antilles and part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but not considered European territory. There is no real border, just monuments and signs.
Not to worry, this is the biggest small island in the world. Without visiting, it’s impossible to imagine the diverse variety of beaches, accommodations, cultures and terrain. Casinos, five star restaurants, and shopping abound.
The Caribbean's largest lagoon is the Simpson Bay Lagoon, landlocked with the exemption of two narrow channels with draw bridges. The Lagoon is large enough to have a real sail and is home to a giant fleet of yachts, which are either berthed in one of the luxury marinas or anchored in the sheltered waters.
St. Martin/St. Maarten is the ultimate micro cosmos, home to residents from over 9O different nations. The island has broken out of the third-world economies and societies and became the exiting, active, bustling economic center of the Northeastern Caribbean.
St. Martin/ St. Maarten entered the ‘big time during the Eighties, when investor friendly policies on the Dutch side lead to a rapidly developing tourism and marine industry. The French side followed soon with special tax incentive for French citizen to invest into tourism and the charter yacht industry.
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