No 3: Passages 2025 - Are we ever satisfied?

 

Philipsburg, St Maarten (Dutch side).

The past few weeks we have had variations in the wind. For one week, there was hardly any wind, and it was so hot! (Not as hot as Perth – my goodness!!). We just bobbed around the anchor, with most boats in the anchorage facing in all different directions. This past week, it has been the total opposite. We have had winds of 20 knots gusting to 28 knots and more on a regular basis all day and all night. We have had squalls race through the anchorage, making us rock and roll quite a bit, but not for too long. Thankfully, the holding in Simpsons Bay Lagoon is exceptionally good, its mud, so the anchors are sucked into the mud. It is always interesting taking the anchor up when mud is involved as it takes a little longer as we want to get the mud off the chain and anchor and to not fill our anchor locker with sticky, dirty mud. Mel knew our anchor wash switch was not working very well, so he has been busy replacing it with a new one, ready for when we eventually leave Simpsons Bay Lagoon and head out to Marigot Bay before departing St Martin for St Barts. We are not sure when this will happen as the weather does not look too good over the next few days due to these high gusting winds, which are often referred to as the Christmas winds.

We know we must be patient and until then continue to tick off things on our ‘To Do List.’

Mel enjoying his breakfast.

Since our last post, Mel has been given the ’all clear’ with his abscess. It is still an open wound but is healing nicely having risen 6 mm. That was the depth of the crater in his leg. I had to visit the dentist as one of my crowns came off. Luckily, I did not swallow it as the dentist was able to glue it back in place. It was sore but my goodness almost half the price of Australia and that is taking the Euro/Australian exchange rate into account.

I have been enjoying using the new stove/oven, which keeps a constant temperature when set so I have not burnt or overcooked anything yet. (Fingers crossed). We enjoyed the turkey Mel bought while in the States so had a very belated Christmas meal.

We spent time at the beach, which was lovely and refreshing, plus we caught the local bus to

Enjoying our belated
 Christmas dinner.

Philipsburg, the capital of Sint Maarten – the Dutch side. We visited the cheese factory store and bought a wheel of matured Gouda cheese, called the Black Cow. We have cut it up into sections as we are trying to ration ourselves so it can at least last for most of our time, sailing this year. A challenging task as my dear Mum often referred to me as her ‘Little Mouse.’ Cheese never lasts long in our fridge at home. While we were at the cheese factory, we both were not shy when it came to tasting samples.

 Other than the usual chores of shopping for fresh vegetables and fruit, we have spent time on the boat enjoying our various activities: Mel working on his electronics, Me – reading and sewing. I made a storage bag for the wind vane rudder, so it can be attached to one of the lifelines when not in use. Now, I am trying to make a cover for our outbound motor.

As mentioned earlier, we are waiting patiently for a pleasant weather window so we can sail to St Barts, a place we have not been to. It is an expensive place to anchor so we do not anticipate staying for very long. From there we will sail to Antigua – to English Harbour/ Freeman Bay to be precise. We have been to Antigua a couple of times: we went on holiday and spent Christmas there in December 2011 and then sailed there in 2014, anchoring in Jolly Harbour and Falmouth Harbour.

So, until next time…. Take care, keep well, and stay safe.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

👉Philipsburg Sint Maarten

P.S. We will not have access to Starlink while we are in Antigua, so if you do not hear from us for a while, or the blog entries are a bit delayed, you will know why. We are not sure how long we will be staying in Antigua. Bye

No 2 - Passages 2025: Our sailing plans for this year

 

How my morning usually starts while we are in a lovely anchorage.

Hello again from St Martin (French)/St Maarten (Dutch). We hope you have had an enjoyable start to the New Year.

In our last blog post we mentioned that we had heard that there would be a fireworks display in Marigot Bay celebrating the start of 2025. Well, we felt quite fortunate as we saw fireworks displays from three different countries sitting on the deck of Passages. We saw them from the Dutch and French sides of the island and across the way on the island of Anguilla, which is small British Overseas Territory.

We thought that would be all the celebrations, however, that evening, New Years Day, there was a wonderful fireworks display in Marigot Bay. It was almost as spectacular as the Perth Australia Day fireworks, but then I am biased.

👉New Year 2025 Fireworks Display

Back to now…. Mel’s leg. Well, it is healing better than what the Dr’s first expected. Originally, the Drs wanted to attach a pump to Mel’s leg so it could generate skin, but it is healing well and after visiting the hospital every 2^nd/3^rd day for a new dressing, Mel can now change the dressing himself and only needs to see the Dr’s once a week. He still can’t swim but where we are currently anchored, we can’t swim. (Thank you to everyone who has asked about Mel’s leg – it is very much appreciated).

The International airport
from Simpsons Bay Lagoon

Due to the rocking and rolling in Marigot Bay, we decided to move to Simpsons Bay Lagoon. We had to navigate a bridge which is only open, three times a day. We have been here since Thursday, 2 January. The positives about being inside the lagoon are that it is less rolly, and we have anchored halfway between the French and Dutch side. However, like most things in life, there is always a trade-off, we can’t make water. We have needed to fill up the jerry cans with water and put them into the water tank. We decided to come into the lagoon as we needed to do some work on the boat. The never ending ‘To – Do – List’.

The main sail needed some new loops and telltales sewn onto it, so at present we don’t have a main sail but are hoping to receive a message soon saying it is ready for collection.

The biggest issue has been the oven. For quite a while now, the oven’s thermostat has been temperamental. Lighting the oven and setting the temperature has been an issue, so for the past few years, any baking I have done has been, well let’s just say, a bit hit and miss and interesting. Spare parts

The old oven.

are no longer available for the oven, so we eventually bit the bullet and bought a lovely new one from Budget Marine, here in St Maarten/Dutch. We even had it delivered to the boat and the old one taken away. Everything had gone a bit too smoothly, as nothing is ever easy and straight forward on a boat. It did take Mel and I a whole day to put the new one in. However, true to form on a boat as every single millimetre counts, the oven fitted perfectly but there are small screws sticking out along the sides preventing the oven from swinging (up to 30 degrees) on the gimbles. This is vital when trying to cook on a boat that is rocking and rolling. The gimbles allow the stove to swing along with the boat’s movement, keeping the oven/stove level, as horizontal as possible. Mel is having to make some adjusts so hopefully I can eventually cook the lovely turkey Mel bought in the States for us to eat for Christmas.

Mel preparing
to instal the new oven.

While we have been anchored here in Simpsons Bay Lagoon, we met up with the owners of the boat, Evy, which is anchored behind us. David and Monica are from Canada. They have just bought their boat and are starting their sailing adventures. Thankfully David was around to help us, as last week our outboard motor on our dinghy stopped working about a kilometre from our boat. Mel started rowing when another fellow yachtie, Steve from Wales, came along in his dinghy and towed us back to Passages. Thankfully Steve is anchored parallel to us.

Mel arranged with the Yamaha agent to change the outboard’s the cooling water impeller the following morning and asked David to tow him to the workshop on the Dutch side of the island. It has now been fixed, after the technician almost

David taking Mel
 and our dinghy in for repairs

gave up trying to loosen one of the nuts.

It hasn’t been all work and no fun as we climbed up to Fort Louis which has spectacular views of Marigot Bay and the whole island even the Dutch side of Simpsons Bay Lagoon. We’ve also been enjoying all the lovely pastries especially on the French side. (Not good for the weight).

 Our plans for this year: we intend heading down the east Caribbean Island chain as far as Martinique, before heading across the southern Caribbean Sea to Curacao in the Dutch Antilles, which is part of the ABC islands north of Venezuela. Passages will stay in Curacao for the next hurricane season while we return to Perth. We have the whole sailing season (until the end of May) to get there so we will visit some of the places we have enjoyed visiting in the past and intend visiting a few new places like St Barts and Barbuda. We can stay for as long as we like basically. This will be only our second time (2018 being our first) in our cruising life, where we don’t have to rush anywhere (unless the weather changes drastically and we need to head south).

 Take care, keep well and stay safe.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn

 

The lovely HUGE avocados
 we can buy in the Caribbean.

Mel enjoying a Guavaberry to celebrate his birthday.




👉Sights of Marigot St Martin

No.1 - Passages 2025 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from St Martin

 

Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2025.

 

 

As you can see, we’re back on Passages, ready for another sailing season.

We are anchored in Marigot Bay, St Martin, on the French side of the island. The last time we were here, June/July 2014, we sailed from the BVI’s to Philipsburg and Simpson Bay on the Dutch side of the island.

Passages: Sint Maarten

We decided to come to the French side, as it is far easier to check into St Martin, than on the Dutch side,

plus we wanted to go somewhere different. One can move freely between the two countries. In fact, yesterday 30 December, we went to Carrefour on the Dutch side to do some shopping for fresh vegetables.

How did we get Passages to St Martin/ Maarten? Well, let’s go back a bit.

Our last blog entry was in June 2024, when we left Passages in the boat yard in Brunswick, Georgia, U.S.A. At the end of October, Mel flew back to Passages, via Cape Town where he spent time with is brothers.

Mel was determined to take the fastest and quickest route back down to the Caribbean – that is heading due east from the States into the north Atlantic. When you reach 65 degrees west longitude, turn right/south and eventually, you would reach the top part of the Leeward islands – St Martin.

The alternative way is along what is often referred to as the ‘Thorny Path’ which we did in 2014, and it took us approximately 4 months.

I did NOT want to do the fast route as I knew I would not be able to cope if the seas become rough. To be totally honest, the last two years (2023 & 2024) have put a damper in my enthusiasm to sail as we have had just awful conditions, and I feel as if I have regressed in my confidence. I also felt that despite my commitment to Mel and his sailing dream, I could NOT put myself into this situation. It would also be unfair to Mel, who would need to focus on the boat and not on his wife and her needs.

Mel had mixed feelings, of excitement and of course, apprehension about the challenge ahead of him, to sail solo on such a trip which many sailors dread doing to get to the Caribbean. The trip could take between 10 to 17 days, weather dependent.

 

Firstly, there were a few things that needed to be done on Passages before Mel could embark on his journey. As usual, things don’t always go according to one’s own time frame, so Mel was delayed by 2 to 3 weeks. He also was waiting for a reasonable weather window.

Mel eventually left Brunswick Marina on Wednesday 4 December 2024, arriving in Marigot Bay, St Martin on Tuesday morning, 17 December 2024, almost two weeks later.

 

Technology can be so useful and amazing. Mel had a Garmin Inreach which updated his position every 10 minutes, so I could track exactly where he was. I had to keep an eye on Mel and his mistress, Passages. We could send sms messages to each other as well, which was handy, and it kept my anxiety and worrying in check. Twice a day, 8.00 am/pm Perth time, we would chat to each other on WhatsApp, thanks to Starlink.

 

Mel had a few incidences as is to be expected on such a journey and being out at sea, which is totally unforgiving.  For a couple of days he was surfing down 3.5 metre swells with winds gusting up to 36 knots, the inverter packed in at the start of the journey so he couldn’t use the microwave to heat up the ready/quick meals he had purchased, and he ran out of wind near Anegada only bobbing along at 1.5 knots. Mel tried using a different method for connecting the genoa sheets/lines to the genoa that failed, but as always, Mel took everything in his stride.

To add to all the excitement, Mel developed an awful abscess on his right leg. He thinks it was a spider bite as he found a spider where he had been sitting while on his journey.

 

I eventually left Perth on Saturday 21 December, arriving in St Martin on Monday 23 December via Miami. Mel was at the airport to meet me and from there, we went to the hospital, as the doctor wanted a surgeon to assess Mel’s abscess. We were at the hospital for 6 hours waiting for Mel to be seen to, with me being forced to wait outside under a shelter with my luggage and no water (in a jetlagged state). A surgeon eventually attended to Mel and we motored to Passages in the dark. What a welcome to this year’s sailing season! Since arriving on Passages, our focus has been to sort out Mel’s leg. He has made several trips back and forth to the hospital. The abscess was huge and has made a nasty hole in his leg. Thankfully, we have medical insurance. Unfortunately, he has not been able to swim in the lovely waters we find ourselves anchored in. All in good time.

In the meantime, I have been busy updating our grocery and the boat’s inventory. Mel did a HUGE grocery shop before leaving the States. We will NOT starve – that is for sure.

 

For Christmas, we went for lunch to a lovely French restaurant and for New Years we believe there will be many firework displays on the French side in Marigot Bay, so we will just be staying on the boat and enjoying the sights and sounds from Passages.

So, until next time – here is wishing you and your loved ones a happy, healthy and successful 2025. Whatever you do may it give you complete joy and fulfilment.

 

Take care, keep well and stay safe.

Best wishes, always

Mel and Caryn