The "Sharing One of My Favorites" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just found out that I won a photo contest on the SXM Travel Forum. The forum recently had a contest where you could enter 5 of your favorite photographs that had been taken of the beaches on St. Martin (SXM), Pinel Island or Anguilla. I entered my 5 and after the first round of voting, was lucky enough to have one of mine in the final 5. A second round of voting took place and when the voting ended I had won the contest. Members of the forum as well as friends and relatives were invited to vote for their favorite photo. You did have to register as a member of the forum if you wanted to vote. The photo that won for me was taken on Pinel Island. I have an 18" X 40" print of it hanging above my fireplace in my family room. Looks great! Pinel is a small, uninhabited island off the coast of SXM. Every time we travel to SXM we take a day trip to Pinel, since the water there is so calm and warm and the beach is so beautiful. The trip is made on a ferry that starts running at 10:00 AM and makes trips every half hour with a final return trip at 5:00 PM. Can't miss the last return trip, since there are no places to sleep on the island. There are three beach bars on the island and they all have beach chairs and umbrellas to rent for the day. The power that is needed for cooking and keeping drinks cold at the beach bars is generated either by gas generators or by solar panels. Directly behind the beach bars is a small mountain, or maybe I should say a large hill, that Carol and I climb on every trip for a shot of the island and the neighboring SXM, off in the distance. I submitted a second photo of Pinel as well as one from Anguilla and two from SXM. The prize for the contest has remained a mystery to everyone, but I did have to mail my birthday, Carol's birthday and our wedding anniversary date to Nanci, the moderator of the forum. Anxious to see what I won for having fun sharing my photos with everyone. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - naturally, my photos follow .....

The prize winner! Pinel Island as seen from the mountain overlooking the beach. SXM is in the background.

Pinel Island from the ferry boat

Great Bay Beach on SXM

Happy Bay on SXM

Shoal Bay East Beach on Anguilla