Pre- wedding Episodes: the Rum Punch Contest

With all the commotion and chaos and stuff leading up to the wedding party, I really didn’t find the time to write about all those fun and interesting events that are/were wedding related. I can’t remember how we did find the time and energy to get involved (or dragged) into it all, but I’d like to share some of the stories over the next couple of weeks!

One of the things I wanted to do after the wedding ceremony on the beach, was offer Caribbean rum punch to all our guests, while family portraits would be taken and the sun supposedly set behind the watery horizon. For months, I had this great plan of inviting a whole bunch of friends into Irie’s cockpit and experiment with rum and other liquids. Finally, less than two weeks before the big event, an unofficial invitation went out and about ten people showed up for Irie’s Rum Punch Contest.

Mark and I provided a whole array of ingredients, from nutmeg to hot pepper sauce, from bitters to triple sec, different kinds of rum and tons of healthy Ceres juices. The crew of SV Mojomo provided their own secret ingredients and arrived with a secret recipe and a blender. Cheaters! After offering some nibbles to line our stomachs, the contest was open. Everybody present was supposed to make a full pitcher of their own rum punch creation, all ingredient combinations were allowed. One by one, Rosie, Sim, Jon, Sam, Matt, Denise, Axel, Liz, Mike, Mark and I did our best to please the thirsty crowd.

The more choices of ingredients, the more stuff you are inclined to put into the mixture, with as a result that nobody remembered what went into their creation by the end of the evening. Mike’s didn’t have much more than rum in it, just the way he likes it and the trend went from a yellow solution to darker and darker red, the more the evening progressed… Everybody loved the Mojomo rum punch, but because it was so sophisticated, Mark and I decided to keep it a bit simpler for the final beach event. The consensus and main conclusion of the tasting was that a good rum punch requires passion fruit juice and lots of rum!

Of course, the day of the wedding, things went a bit crazy and I almost forgot to make the pitchers of rum punch to follow the beach ceremony. At that point I didn’t really care too much about the ingredients, but remembered the passion fruit juice. I started pouring -oops, a bit too much rum – and mixing, throwing the main rum punch ingredients together. The outcome was something like 1/3 of white rum, 1/3 of passion fruit juice, 1/3 half and half orange juice and pineapple juice, a splash of grenadine and ice when served by our beautiful ad accommodating (“We won’t take anything back to the villa, it all has to be drunk! Here, take some more!”) hosts Sim and Jon. And yes, I did forget one ingredient: freshly grated nutmeg. But, the concoction was strong enough to make sure nobody noticed!

Photos courtesy of Axel Busch and Liesbet Collaert

Liesbet and Mark’s Caribbean Wedding Party

After months of preparation and anticipation and weeks of planning, organizing and stress, Saturday April 30^rd, 2011 arrived. Mark and I had picked up 5 sets of family members the previous days and everybody was settled in our rented Villa Steel Magnolias, enjoying their Caribbean vacation while we arranged last minute preparations, pick-ups and shopping. During the day of the wedding, our friend Eli, who runs Lagoonies, took over the villa’s kitchen and prepared all the side dishes. Kristen and Tim helped out tremendously and from 3:30 pm on, we had Tess and Milo take over the presentation, food prep and grilling. As expected, Mark and I ran around and were busy bees until 5 pm came around…

While Mark greeted all the guests (of which some unfortunately “cancelled” last minute), maid of honor Rosie assisted the bride (= me) in getting ready. Shower, dress, jewelry and make-up were all finished within ten minutes and for the occasion, I blow dried my short hair, the first time in fifteen years! The realization that I probably shouldn’t show up at the beach ceremony with wet hair prompted such decision. There was something old (white ankle bracelet), something new (white dress), something borrowed (Rosie’s perfume) and something blue (bracelets sent by Emily), when I walked outside our luxurious suite to approach the beach on my dad’s side. Kristen had made a wonderful and colorful wedding bouquet with flowers from the villa’s garden.

Barefoot and with a massive smile, I

joined the beach scene for the ceremony. Mark and all the guests welcomed me in their midst and I took in the pretty beach decorations of black stones, pink flowers and palm leaves, creating a natural altar. Cruising friends Rosie, Liz and Sam had done a great job! Mark’s brother-in-law Brian led the informal ceremony and turned it into a very personal and special moment. But first, Mark decided “better late than never” and asked me to marry him! Some speculated that he just wanted to be sure of the answer before proposing…

Brian took over and after the welcoming words and a bit of background information about my “future” husband and me, it was Mark’s turn to read his self created words to me. When he started, his lips trembled and his voice was poignant. My eyes turned watery and everybody else’s as well. His text was beautiful and so true, to the point and funny at other times. Tears and laughs sounded from around. It took me a moment to read my own poem and words of love and respect for him.

Mark’s mom Carol read her poem about the ebb and flood of the ocean and of love, followed by another poem, picked by Kristen, which Brian read. Our good cruising friend Dave couldn’t attend the wedding, but had written and composed a song about us. We played it on the beach while everybody followed the personal and fitting lyrics on sheets of paper. Mark’s best man Ed dunked our stainless steel rings into the ocean as a blessing for/by Neptune and to ensure them a rust free life. The wedding ceremony finished with the short words of my dad ”Take her, she’s all yours now, my responsibility is over!” and a blessing by Stanley, Mark’s father. Then, it was time for rum punch, distributed by Sim and Jon who made sure nothing went to waste.

Our German cruising friend Axel donated his talents and camera gear to capture the whole wedding event, from set-up to ceremony to food to party to atmosphere to fun. We had a short photo session in front of the Caribbean Sea and the group pictures came out splendidly. When the sun started to set, the party moved back to the villa for scrumptious appetizers of salmon, different kinds of pâté, an array of French cheeses, crunchy baguettes and locally made plantain chips. The self-serve bar consisted of gallons of beer, wine, liquor, soda and juices. Everybody did their best to make a dent, but most of it had to be taken to Irie afterwards. It’ll make our provisioning when leaving St. Martin a bit easier!

Eli’s voluminous and classy side dishes complimented the tasty shrimp, chicken and beef skewers prepared by Mark, Tim and Kristen and grilled by Milo. Everybody enjoyed all the yummy food and seemed a bit too stuffed once the party started. I thanked all the guests for coming and Ed presented a very spontaneous and interesting speech. Matt played a bit of violin, before the opening dance took place. Half way through the combination of my two favorite Ben Harper songs, Mark invited his mom and I took my dad for another slow dance. This was the official start of the party and the dessert buffet of mouth watering French pastries. At some point, I threw my beautiful bouquet, caught by Sam, and Mark ripped my garter off with his teeth. It somehow ended up in Matt’s hands. I guess we’ll have a couple more sailors’ weddings next year?

People talked, laughed, danced, ate and drank until the wee hours. Only one couple, Matt and Denise, “accidently” fell into the pool. Everybody was on their best behavior. Mark and I had a fantastic and special evening that finished around 2:30am. The villa was a perfect location for this event and without the help of so many friends and family members we wouldn’t have been able to pull the whole thing off! We really appreciate the help of our cruising friends and Brian, who turned Liesbet and Mark’s Caribbean Wedding Party into a very memorable, romantic and unforgettable experience!!!

All pictures by Axel Busch

Thank you!

Two More Weeks…

The end of April is approaching fast. Life on Irie is still pretty much the same as the last few months: busy, busy, busy. Mark has been working incredibly hard to test developments for our new product, The Wirie AP, and has been researching, correcting and rewriting code, while trying his best to communicate with the developers in Taiwan. In the meantime, business is good here in St. Martin and our worldwide customer support is active. I have been writing and taking care of boat errands and daily chores. We also attempt to locate boat parts and items needed for the coming cruising season and we completed a few boat projects. On top of this, we have a wedding party to plan and visitors to expect. The days are long, but they sure fly by!

Since my friend Rosie from SV Alianna arrived in the lagoon, we have made some progress figuring out wedding stuff. I’m very new to the whole thing and don’t care too much about fanciness, but there is still a lot to plan and organize for the ceremony and the party. Rosie has been a tremendous help and inspiration. She joined me to Philipsburg, where we found a suitable white summer dress and we also explored the wedding grounds again and came up with some villa and ceremony decorations.

Another friend, Eli, who runs Lagoonies, will help out with the food and Mark and I are busy researching recipes and sorting through music. I made a whole list of things to do and things to get and go through my planning and schedule a few times a week. Over 30 guests will attend our special day and we are looking forward to have family and friends together.

The “Liesbet and Mark’s Caribbean Wedding Party” will start at 5pm on April 30^th at our rented villa in Baie Rouge, St. Martin, where everybody gathers. Then, a small, informal wedding ceremony follows on the beach. Our friend Axel is in charge of the picture shoot and a first tropical drink will be savored. Around sunset, the party will move back to the villa for food, drinks and music. Of course, I can’t give too many details, but I promise a full report after the fact!

Weekend in Friar’s Bay

Circumstances and conditions were favorable for Irie and her crew to do something fun over the weekend. The Saturday morning flea market at Lagoonies wasn’t happening, because of the monthly boat jumble on the French side, meaning that Mark and I did not “have to” promote The Wirie that day. And, the following Monday and Tuesday were a bank holiday in Taiwan, so Mark was off the hook on Sunday. Other times, his work week and communications with Alfa start on Sunday evening, because of the twelve hours difference.

Together with our friends Sim and Rosie on SV Alianna, we planned to spend the weekend in Friar’s Bay, outside the lagoon, a mere four miles away. After an invigorating, fast and short sail, passing the Mirabella V out in Marigot Bay, Irie dropped anchor in the sandy bottom of the sweeping and pretty bay. It wasn’t too busy yet, being nine o’clock, but we didn’t care really. It was time for some relaxation and enjoyment, a (not so) typical weekend away. And, it was also time to hang out with our friends, setting aside our busy schedule for a change.

Mark and I had a lot of email catching up to do, since the internet connection at our usual spot in the lagoon had been down for days, so we started off the weekend with that, using our Wirie. After lunch, we picked up Sim and Rosie and aimed for the beach. The waves gently lapped onto the sand, making for an easy landing. We all walked the relatively short trail to our favorite St. Martin Beach: Happy Bay. Even here, the waves were less high than usual, thanks to the wind direction. Not too many nudists were in view this time and all four of us had an enjoyable afternoon in the lucid water and the shade of a palm tree. Rosie and I had many more things and wedding plans to discuss, which unintentionally chased the guys away…

Saturday evening was spent on Alianna, where Rosie and Sim whipped up a delicious meat pie. Even after some snacks and drinks beforehand, the four of us (being piggies when it comes to food) managed to eat the whole thing with mashed potatoes as a side. Mark and I were treated like kings, not having to do anything and enjoying every minute of it. Our bellies were bloated and even if we would have had to do something, it was impossible. We couldn’t move for an hour. The cheesecake would have to wait until the next day.

Sunday, after a tasty pancake breakfast, Mark couldn’t help but work a bit, testing some changes to the software of our long expected and anticipated new product. Rosie and I focused on my wedding day and in the afternoon I gave our boat some needed (cleaning) attention, top and bottom. At night, it was our turn to serve drinks, do the cooking, preparations and dishes. Once again, we had a nice and stuffed evening. By Monday morning Irie was settled at her mooring again and the crew started a new work week. I also made up a new rule: not eat quite so much from now on, before that white dress wouldn’t fit anymore! It’ll be a tough one…