WOW week 25 already!!
I obviously cannot speak from experience but I think owning a
boat is a lot like having a child – they cost money, you worry about them
constantly and they can give you sleepless nights. This will become clearer later…..
I felt extremely sad to leave the BVI’s especially Gorda
Sound as the time we spent there was what I thought true cruising was all
about. We relaxed on the boat, took walks along the beach, saw the lovely
sights, and swam when we wanted….. It was very special.
Sunday morning we dinghied back to the Bitter End Yacht Club
as we needed to stock up on some
fresh fruit. Fresh anything is expensive in
the BVI’s – a pineapple can cost anything from $5 - $10! We never buy more than
a few days’ worth of fresh fruit and veggies as most have been refrigerated and
they do not last very long even when you put them in the fridge.
After stocking up with some apples and oranges, we dinghied
across to Gun Creek (still within Gorda Sound) to Customs to check out of the
BVI’s.
That afternoon we prepared the boat for our next trip to St
Martin - we were planning on leaving
Monday morning at about 7.00am, sail NE until sunset, then sail south through
the night – actually passing St Martin
by a “few” nm, then at sunrise sail NE again arriving in Great Bay,
Philipsburg, St Martin at about lunch time on Tuesday.
We were up bright and early before sunrise on Monday and by
6.45am we were heading out of Gorda Sound.
We passed Necker Island which has a small island just off it
that has just three palm trees on it (see photo). It was as we were passing
this lovely little island that Mel said, “Where is our anchor?”
We both had a long look and our main CQR anchor was gone!!!
We had donated it to King Neptune! Ouch!!! Thank goodness we have a second
anchor but still it made us both feel quite ill for part of the day. We are not
sure what happened as Mel checked when he took the anchor up, not even an hour
before that everything looked fine.
I actually enjoyed most of the sailing – yes we were healing
quite a bit which I am struggling to get used to as I have to constantly remind
myself that the boat is NOT going to tip over and that the keel will not break
off, as it is a full keel. I sat/slept
in the cockpit for most of the sail to St Martin which is a first for me.
Everything went according to plan –we sailed NE until we
tacked south at sunset (7.00pm) sailed south until sunrise (6.00am) then tacked
again to NE arriving in Great Bay, Philipsburg at 12.00/noon. We saw only two cargo
ships and one other yacht about 6nmiles from us, otherwise we just saw lots of
sea birds. One actually hitched a ride with us for a while and made itself at
home depositing its stomach all over our outboard motor. The outboard motor is
attached to the port side on the stern of the yacht.
Philipsburg is the Capital city of Sint Maarten – Dutch side.
The following information is taken from 2014 Marine Trades
Directory and The Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands (pg 66) - “St Martin
also known as Sint Maarten is actually two countries on the same island - the
start of the Leeward Islands. It is divided politically – the northern part is
French (Saint Martin) and the southern part is Dutch (Sint Maarten). It is only
37 square miles and known collectively as St Martin. It has two flags, at least
four languages are spoken and three different currencies are used.
In 1493, the islands were discovered by Christopher Columbus
(he sure got around) and claimed them for Spain. It wasn’t until the 17th
century boom of the West Indies trade that St Martin was settled. The Dutch
wanted the island and eventually pushed out Spain only to discover a French
settlement had been established. Legend has it that both sides were far too
civilised that rather than fight over the island, they had a Frenchman armed
with a bottle of wine walk in one direction and a Dutchman with a flask of gin
take the other. Where they met became the boundary and the French ended up with
a bit more land than the Dutch.” I wonder why???
There are no border controls – this is due to the signing of
the Treaty of Concordia in 1648 which allows both countries to remain peaceful
neighbours”
The northern part of the island is St Martin referred to as
the French side and the southern part is St Maarten which at one time was part
of the Netherlands Antilles and is referred to as the Dutch side. It was on
October 10 2010, also known as 10 – 10 – 10, St Maarten officially became the
Country of St Maarten and is one of the four constituents countries that forms
the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Sint Maarten (Dutch side) is self-governing although Holland
still handles its foreign affairs whereas St Martin and St Barts are like
communes in France.”
St Martin is also a shopper’s paradise as everything is duty
free and there are PLENTY of shops – up market brands like Gucci, Tiffany’s to
the market stalls.
The main airport of Saint Martin, Princess Julianna Airport
is a well-known airport due to the run way and the landing approach of the
planes. The beach (Maho Bay) is directly under the flight path as the planes
have their wheels down, ready to touch down. People are there waiting for a
photo opportunity as a plane flies and lands so close by.
Philipsburg is where the HUGE, some obscene looking cruise
liners, dock. In the two days we spent
in Great Bay, Philipsburg, we saw five
cruise ships arrive and depart. They arrive in the morning at about 7 – 8.00am,
then leave around 6.00pm. There are plenty of water taxis to take the cruise
ship occupants to the many shops or to the many water sports activities that
the area has to offer e.g. snorkelling, sailing, jet ski’s or just spending time lounging on a deck chair or lounger for
the whole day on the beach.
The first night we arrived at Philipsburg, we didn’t sleep
very well as we were concerned about the anchor – remember we were using our
spare anchor. Most cruising boats have two anchors – well three in fact but I will
not explain “Why three?” now.
At about 2.30am, Mel was up watching the wind, anchor watch
and how we were in relation to the other boats around us. He was concerned that
our second anchor was not holding as well as it should – we were having gusts
of wind 20 -25knots. We were going to let out some more chain but that would
have brought us rather close to a rust bucket of a tug boat that was on a
mooring ball close by, so we decided to re-anchor. By 3.00am we had re-anchored
and we were much happier with our location, so went off to sleep. We were
pretty tired as we had not had much sleep the night before sailing down to St
Martin.
Wednesday morning, Mel went to organise the hauling out and
painting of the hull while I stayed on board to do some domestics.
We thought since we had to fly out to Cape Town to see Mel’s
Dad, we may as well get some work done on Passages while we are away.
Lots of slime and growth develops on the hull of a boat which
ultimately affects the performance of the boat. One has to clean and re-paint
the hull about every second year although there are very expensive paints now
that are double the price but they last much longer than 2 years – more than
5/6 years which is a saving in itself.
While Mel was away arranging the haul-out and painting of the
hull, the anchor watch went off, indicating we were dragging! Panic stations –
I got ready to turn on the engine but noticed that we weren’t dragging – not
sure what happened but the anchor watch went back to where it was when the
alarm went off. Thankfully Mel returned back to the boat about 15 mins later
and checked everything – all looked fine. Phew!!
That afternoon we went walking along Front street where all
the high profile shops are and then along Back street where all the markets and
cheaper bargain hunting shops are located.
Thursday, we decided we would sail to Simpson Bay Lagoon.
This is where most of the yacht chandleries are located as we need to have our
genoa seen to and a few other never ending things we need to buy for the yacht
e.g. like a new anchor.
Simpson Bay Lagoon is where the main bridge is that connects
the French and the Dutch side. There
is the outer bridge which gives you access
from the sea (Simpson Bay) to Simpson Bay Lagoon, where we intended
anchoring and then there is the inner bridge which is the “border” post between
the French and Dutch sides. Once you cross under the inner bridge from the
Dutch side, you are on the French side (different country) – when you are in a
boat, the same rules apply when exiting and entering a new country. You have to
exit one, in order to gain entrance into the other. If, however, you are in a car, on a bike,
dinghy or walking, there are no border formalities, you are free to enter and
exit as you please.
The bridges both outer and inner, have set opening times for
inbound and outbound traffic, so you have to time your arrival and departure
according to the opening times. There are strict protocols in place which you
have to adhere to – we actually heard one Captain get a reprimand from the
Dutch bridge authority for not asking permission to enter the Lagoon. Strict tabs
are kept on who goes in and out and of course payment is involved.
We arrived just outside the Simpson Bay Lagoon Bridge half an
hour before opening time for inbound boats. We asked for permission to enter
and then set the anchor, waiting for our next instructions. We received our
instructions 10 mins before the opening of the bridge, to start getting in line
and to come forward, closer to the bridge. We brought up the anchor and headed
for the bridge. Small boats are meant to go first but catamarans and their
Captains like to push in front. We think it is because they can go faster than
monohulls but still who likes bullies!
It took us about 10 mins to eventually get through to the
other side where we found a sandy spot in the Lagoon and dropped anchor.
The Lagoon is protected from swells but not from the wind
that comes rushing down from the hill tops. We were still experiencing gusts of
20knot winds in the Lagoon.
Thursday afternoon we went exploring as Mel needed to go to
Island Water World and Budget Marine to price few essentials for Passages.
Being in the Tropics, it rains on and off with quick, heavy
showers and we have been caught a few times in these showers.
Thursday evening after organising out trip to Cape Town,
South Africa, we were exhausted as we hadn’t caught up with all of our sleep
from our nights of interrupted sleep – the wind was still howling but we seemed
happy that our secondary anchor was holding…… one can never become complacent
can one? A true lesson in life.
Friday morning Mel needed to go to the French side to
organise the special paint we were putting on the hull while I stayed on board
as I didn’t feel like walking around another boating warehouse, plus I was
worrying about the anchor as I still wasn’t convinced that we were okay.
Remember I am a bit of a worry wart!!
When Mel leaves me on Passages, we run through the “worst
case scenarios” and he takes the portable radio in case I need to call him in
an emergency. Well as I was busy pottering around, the anchor watch went off
and we had moved 40 metres!!! I run upstairs and saw us heading towards a big
cat that was anchored behind us. We were dragging and moving very quickly!!
I switched on the engine, drove forward, away from the cat
and started radioing Mel – I tried about 4 – 5 times over a period of 15mins.
He didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure how long he would be away and for how long I
would have to keep driving Passages forward and away from the other yachts nor
was I sure where the anchor was. I had a rough idea so kept driving up to where
I thought we had dropped it. I tried Mel another 2 -3 times, still nothing and
the wind was howling continually pushing me back. I thought I couldn’t stay
like this indefinitely so called over the radio for anyone in Simpson Bay
Lagoon who could assist me as my anchor was dragging and I needed help! Thank
goodness for Barry and Mike who said they would come and help… they were on
board within the next 5 mins helping me to re- anchor.
We found another sandy spot close to where we had originally
anchored and they reset the anchor. After taking down their contact details
–off they went as they were wanting to go for a day sail out into the sea and
needed to get ready for the opening of the bridge for outbound boats.
I still had the engine running when I saw Mel coming along in
the distance. It was quite funny to see his reaction as he realised something
must have happened as Passages was not in the spot he left her, earlier. I am
usually very happy to see my husband, but I was EXTREMELY happy and relieved to
see him this time.
Barry and Mike were sailing past Passages so Mel went quickly
in the dinghy to “Thank“ them and we made plans to catch up with each other
over the next few days as we owed them a drink!
I was now extremely reluctant to leave Passages…. We noticed
there was a mooring ball close by that had a sign “For Rent phone…..”. Mel
phoned to find out how much it was for the mooring ball, half expecting to pay
BVI prices of $30 a night. Well the cost was only $5 a night – what a difference
so we took the ball for the next two nights (Friday and Saturday). We had to
sail back to Philipsburg on Sunday as on Monday morning at 8.00am, Passages was
being taken out of the water for the next month to have her hull cleaned and
painted while we are in S.A.
Needless to say, Friday night, we slept so well as we didn’t
have to worry about any alarms going off!
Saturday ……. We decided before preparing ourselves and
Passages for our time in Cape Town, we would go across to the French side.
Marigot is the capital of Saint Martin. The official language
is French and the currency is the Euro.
We dinghied across to Shrimpy’s which is the local hangout
for yachties. Mike and Sally run Shrimpy’s which offers a laundry service,
inexpensive Wi Fi, a bring and buy shop for second hand boat bits, plus they
have a very safe dinghy dock.
There appears to be more crime and theft of dinghies on the
French side so Shrimpy’s is a good place to go to. Sally is a South African
from Kwazulu Natal area, while Mike is from Austrian origin, but lived in South
Africa for many years.
We decided to walk to the main area of Marigot where all the
main cafes, restaurants, markets (Boulevard de France) are located. The bay was
full of yachts. Overlooking Marigot and the bay is Fort Saint Louis which was
built by the French between 1767 and 1789. The fort was captured and held by
the British from 1794 until 1796.
Saturday afternoon, we took down the genoa and folded it up
in its bag ready to take to be repaired. Since Puerto Rico (Fajardo) some of
the burgundy material that is at the end of the sail had come loose. When the
sail is rolled up, the burgundy material acts as a sun protector for the sail.
Mel went back to Budget Marine and Island Water World with his never ending list
of things to purchase while I started preparing for our trip to South Africa.
Saturday evening we met up with Mike and Barry for their “we
owe you big” drink.
Mike and his wife Dyana, live in St Martin, on the Dutch
side. Their house/flat is on Simpson Bay Lagoon.
Barry and his partner Gail have a sail boat called Gaiamar.
Gail was in the States and was only returning to St Martin on Monday, when we
were flying out of St Martin. They were planning on heading south like us to
Trinidad.
I mentioned last week that Mel’s Dad is not doing very well,
so although we need to get further south as officially we are now in the
hurricane season (June – November – although our insurance says July to
November), we have to get to South Africa.
We leave St Martin on Monday afternoon and arrive in Cape
Town 36 hours later. We will be exhausted but the main thing is we will be able
to spend time with George.
I mentioned earlier that yachts usually have three anchors,
the main anchor, and a secondary anchor which is at times required…. And a
third small anchor which is attached to the stern of the yacht in case you are
grounded and need to be pulled yourself off the bottom. There are times when
you would use your main and secondary anchors at the same time. One would be
put out on the one side of the boat while there other would be put out on the
other side of the boat. This is often referred to as Bahaman anchoring and is
used where the current changes direction every 6 hours. On occasions you would
need to put the main anchor out in front of the boat and the third anchor at
the back of the boat, to prevent the boat from swinging too much.
Week 25…. What a week! As I said owning a yacht, I assume is
like having a child…. Passages always needs something fixed which involves lots
of money, she keeps us awake at night with all the alarms etc. and for me, she
is a worry as I am worried about leaving
her for the month. AND like having a child, we wouldn’t want it any
other way as she is special to us.
I am not sure whether I will write anything for the blog over
the next month as I may wait until we return to St Martin in July. Whatever I
decide to do, keep well.
Sending lots of love
Captain Mel and Admiral Caryn/xx
