a connection through New York in the middle of the holiday travel fiasco. Getting blasted by 35-degree air for 10 seconds while changing flights was enough of a reality check to really make me appreciate heading right back down to the Caribbean. The moment I landed in St. Martin, Theo and I immediately discussed the week’s plans, keeping in mind the best looking weather forecast was early in the week and again during the last few days. Theo was eager to head over to Dog Island to do some exploring. Before I even had a chance to kiteboard at his local beach, we were on his catamaran at 5 a.m. the next morning, heading over to explore the neighboring island with his dad Manu Demanez at the helm.
Martinique to the south separated by Dominica and a few other islands such as Saint John’s, Antigua and Barbuda. Saint Martin is only half French and dates back to the 17th century when a line was drawn to divide the island following conflict between the French and the Dutch. Today the island remains split between Saint Martin (the French side) and Saint Maarten (the Dutch side). So even though the sail to Dog Island was only a few hours, and much closer than many of the other French islands, it is — as I came to find out—a marine preserve that’s part of Anguilla, which falls under the British Commonwealth. Luckily, I still had my passport packed.
If you’re like me and have no idea of the local geography, here’s a quick summary before you find yourself lost amongst the islands as I did. There are three and a half French Islands in the Caribbean as part of the Lesser Antilles. Saint Barth’s and Saint Martin are considered the Northern French Islands, with Guadeloupe and
PHOTO BY THIERRY DEHOVE Spring 2017
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