Fort Louis and New Purchase

The blogging below is co-authored by us both.
These photos were supposed to be placed in the order to tell the story. However, each takes about 20 minutes to upload from the computer to the blog, and they appear in the disorder that they want to rather than the order we try to place them. Just another opportunity to say the serenity prayer!
In the photo at the right bottom is the fort that guards Marigot (its name has to do with Mangroves according to the museum) with Lene in front and the flag of France flying atop, as it does from our boat (so called courtesy flag) along with the US flag, while we are here. But this shot shows little of the hill one has to climb to get to this elevation, which gives the fort such a commanding presence. In fact, in the one battle fought here, the cannons at the fort were not used -- musket fire drove off the invaders with great loss.
The lowest right photo is Roger with his back to the town and to the western side of the island, from the same elevation. Marigot Bay, where we anchored our first night, is off Roger's left shoulder and our marina, inside Simpson Bay Lagoon, is above his head. The ferry dock and immigration office are at his right shoulder. The pointy peak above Roger's head is on a peninsula extending into the lagoon and is named....we kid you not, the Witches Tit. Beyond it is the town of Simpson's Bay, on the Dutch side (south side) of St. Maarten, where the megayachts are docked and the big marine stores and better shopping is located, though Marigot has an Hermes store, etc.
The top photo was taken from the top of the fort and with zoom, showing ILENE in Marina La Port Royale, with other boats moored on either side of us. We are the boat toward the back of the mass of moored boats, center right, whose mast sems to go up through a blue hulled boat further away.
Two photos of Lene with a cannon in the photo grace this posting; the one with me as well shows a portion of a large circular seawall that encloses Marina Port Louis, the expensive one outside the lagoon where our new friends, the Morecrafts, are staying.
And last but not least, top left is a view of our new dinghy. It is an "AB" brand dinghy, made in Colombia, SA, for Caribbean waters. You can see its deep "V" bow made of aluminum. Inside that bow is a small enclosed space for life jackets, pump, bailer, oil, oil measurer, lock, night lights etc. This is very handy and the top opening compartment is cushioned and covered with vinyl for seating comfort and as a step in getting in and out because the bow is so much higher than was the bow on the old dinghy.
Before we sign off to take showers and then dink over to the Dutch side to meet the Donaldsons for dinner, let me tell you about another, exciting purchase made today. Rojay and I went to the biggest Ace Hardware store you've ever seen. We bought up a storm but what I really want to tell you about and will report again on once I have an opportunity to use it, is our brand new and powerful Shop Vac. This will...I pray...be an extremely useful tool in the war against cat hair and litter dust which, in addition to the heat, is my nemesis.
Go to run. More anon.