Saint Martin/Sint Maarten: the cunning plan

As we were running low on funds (again!), the plan was for David to go off scientific observing with MRAG for a couple of months while Beth, Bryn and I stayed safe and cosy at anchor in the lagoon in Saint Martin (French)/Sint Maarten (Dutch). Beth and Bryn had boat school to catch up on, I had work projects coming in, and lots of people we knew would be passing through as they went up and down the Eastern Caribbean island chain. Matt (MOJOMO) was also there and we needed to catch up with him after his circumnavigation.

David’s work never materialized. Then we had a technical hitch that meant that we were without an engine for 2 months, so couldn’t leave if we wanted to. Then the Heineken Regatta loomed. Then the hurricane season was just around the corner... We ended up staying 4 months and then rushing south! Saint Martin is one of those places that people seem to love or hate – while we were ready to leave when we were finally able to get away, we had a great time and would go back. Anyway, here’s the potted version of what we got up to.

The technical hitch bit

The technical hitch of this particular trip was that the oil cooler (carrying hot oil at high pressure) developed a leak and sprayed oil all over the engine room. Luckily B&B reacted promptly when the oil pressure alarm sounded and turned the engine off immediately (saving us from a seized engine).

Volvo no longer make most (for ‘most’ read ‘any’) bits for our engine, so buying a new part off the shelf wasn’t an option. (I get a sense of déjà vu every time this happens.) David took the dead bit for repair at the French ‘Fred the Shed’; 2 weeks later we retrieved the offending part (1 week for the work, 1 week while France was closed due for a variety of public holidays). French Fred did what he could to clean up the mesh and tubes, and weld the collar (gosh, I sound like I know what I’m talking about!), but it obviously wasn’t going to be that simple. The repaired cooler was fitted with new gaskets but it continued to leak (for ‘leak’ read ‘spray’) oil.

The offending part.

Bryn cleaning oil out of the engine room – again. (Please note that this is not unpaid child labour – he gets extra pocket money for this.)

Back to our saviours – Jackie and Stu at www.Ship2Ship.co.uk – who did manage to source a new oil cooler in Europe (the difficult bit) and shipped it out to us (the quick bit). We finally managed to prise it out of the hands of Sint Maarten Customs and Excise (closed for a few days due to public holidays).

Our shiny new oil cooler.

Our shiny new oil cooler once David had tinkered around with it to make it fit the engine.

Luckily we were able to borrow John (STINGO’s) generator to top our batteries when it wasn’t sunny, as we couldn’t run the engine for about 2 months.

We did get through a few boat jobs while stranded without an engine, including getting a new UV strip fitted on the genoa, setting up the nearly 4 m² of our solar panels as a rainwater catching system, and getting a replacement gear sent out for our DuoGen (wind generator).

We got a new UV strip put on the genoa; there was a choice of yellow, yellow or yellow.

There was plenty of tropical rain to test out our new water-catching system.

DuoGen gears: shiny and new versus worn and noisy (as a result of exposure to Saharan dust/pink grinding paste).

Around the lagoon

Bryn, Beth and David spent quite a bit of time motoring slowly around Simpson Bay Lagoon to take the bulk of the soundings to provide data for Mike (QUINN) to produce this handy chart for this blog entry!

Simpson Bay Lagoon http://www.shrimpys-saintmartin.com/images/sxmchartbig.png.

We anchored close to Mount Fortune (affectionately known by everyone as the Witch’s Tit) on the French side of the lagoon.

The water in the lagoon is murky but clean (with turtles and lots of fish) and we swam most days. I noodled with LIAHONA, FAWKES, SECRET SMILE, NIRVANA, ALLEGRO and a few other boats (the noodling group evolved as different cruisers passed through the lagoon).

A new causeway spans the lagoon on the Dutch side; it is designed to have a swinging bridge section that will enable yachts to pass from Sint Maarten to Saint Martin. There was great excitement when the swing bridge section arrived on a ship from The Netherlands. The ship/bridge combo squeezed in through the existing Dutch bridge with just 20 cm clearance on each side. A fleet of dinghies turned up to watch (and to give the Dutch Coastguard practice herding dinghies). My Dad would have loved watching the bridge engineering and related boat activity.

The ship/bridge combo entering the lagoon through the existing lifting bridge on the Dutch side.

The swinging bridge section being slid sideways from the deck of the MARIETJE ANDREA and into position on its causeway pillar.

We await with interest the timetable for bridge openings that will tie in with the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of the existing Dutch bridge.

We woke up one morning to find that the boat anchored in front of us had sunk; a week later it was lifted by a crane on one of the barges working on the new bridge.

The Frapping Halyards 2013 Caribbean Tour continues

We played music at Barnacles, at El Toro, on various boats, at Matt and Kate’s, at Turtle Pier...

“Sarah, can I have a bass guitar? Sarah, can I have a bass guitar? Sarah, can I have a bass guitar...”

Nancy and Dave (FAWKES) dancing to the jam at Barnacles.

Anita testing the quality of the Margaritas at El Toro’s.

It’s amazing what some people carry around in their bilges – a flute was something that popped up one morning in ‘Treasures of the bilge’ on the daily Cruisers’ VHF net. Beth has been playing recorders and penny whistles for a while, and she loved the idea of a flute (birthday present solved). Luckily Gavin (SECRET SMILE) was willing to give her lessons, she practiced hard and was soon playing at the music jams.

Beth making her public debut in Lagoonies (and earning herself a Sunday brunch).

Turtle Pier

We spent quite a bit of time at Turtle Pier – an abandoned bar and restaurant. It is condemned and will probably be part of the new runway extension/road by the time we go back to Saint Martin. While it was a bit rickety in parts, it made a good venue for sundowners, potjies and jams.

Turtle Pier.

John (OUT OF AFRICA) introduced us to potjie.

Tucking into the potjie.

Fence surfing

There can’t be many tourist destinations where hanging on to the fence at the end of the runway and ‘surfing’ the hot jet exhaust as planes take off is listed as one of the top 10 things to do!

You have been warned!

Some people get lifted off their feet while surfing, many lose hats, sunglasses and the occasional item of clothing – our lot escaped with a mild grit-blasting and the loss of 1 pair of sunglasses. The big planes have to back up close to the fence as the runway isn’t very long, and the little ones back up close to the fence to give the surfers a good ride! The Sunset Bar by the beach has a flight arrivals and departures board so that you don’t miss surfing the biggies (KLM on a Sunday afternoon was always a blast, apparently).

Duck! KLM coming in to land.

Assuming ‘surf’ position (hanging on to the fence).

The Heineken Regatta

David, Beth and Bryn signed up as water taxi drivers and assistants for the 33^rd Heineken Regatta. They had a great time, meeting some great locals and visiting cruisers while earning free beers/cokes, T-shirts, hats, bags, the odd tip...

The Heineken Regatta Water Taxi Drivers’ convention.

Sunset over Marigot Bay (Heineken arranged an orange sunset to match those T-shirts).

Matt – and 101 other excuses for a party

It was great to catch up with Matt (MOJOMO) and meet Kate. They bought a house while we were there, so along with the ‘end-of-the-world party’, we also had the house-warming party, a music jam, and got together regularly for supper. The view from their house is absolutely stunning – stretching 180 degrees from Saba in the south(ish), across the whole lagoon to Anguilla in the north(ish).

A room with a view: looking across Simpson Bay to the lagoon beyond.

Looking north across the lagoon (and the Witch’s Tit) to Anguilla in the distance.

Kate cooks a mean Pavlova in addition to many other things!

Kate and Matt.

Their huge balcony was a great place for a jam (the red dangly things are hummingbird feeders).

We house-sat for Matt and Kate while they were away; one of the nights that we stayed over, the frogs in their pond were particularly noisy and didn’t hide when we went to investigate. There was a minor earthquake later that night – maybe the frogs could sense that something unusual was about to happen.

Frog chorus – Doh, Ray and Me.

New dinghies

Our little dinghy has been struggling for while to carry four adults plus the shopping or the music gear (two guitars, two cube amps, a tambourine, a selection of whistles, recorders and a flute), so we invested in a 12-foot AB RIB replacement and sold our old dinghy on. Our 13.5 HP outboard can just about get the new dinghy on the plane with all of us aboard (downhill with the wind behind us). Beth and Bryn were given a dinghy and outboard of their own (thanks STINGO!). It needs some TLC, so getting the leaky transom sorted and servicing the outboard will be one of their projects this summer.

Dinghy double-take.

ORION

We spent lots of time with ORION. Most get togethers involved popcorn, swimming, movies, zombies, eating and drinking. At Easter there was egg decorating, hiding and hunting, followed by stuffed lobster tails to die for!

Decorated Easter eggs.

Stuffed lobster tails a la Anita.

Pancakes by candlelight on CAPE.

Saying goodbye to the ORION crew was tough. We wanted to give them something to remember us by, so made them sail cloth and sail batten banners festooned with our hand- and footprints to hang up when they got home to Arizona.

Art attack on CAPE (tough on those with ticklish feet – like me)!

Anita’s banner: “A friend is a hand that is always holding yours...no matter how big the ocean between you.” The Uhl family banner: “The Crew Audacious was supposed to leave with only photographs and memories...But you guys left footprints in our hearts.”

Déjà vu: the fraction that is lost during aging of rhum agricole is called the “angels’ share” – the fraction drunk by Sarah, David, Nancy and Anita is called “rum punch”.

We still miss you guys.

Wine tasting

In addition to introducing us to shrimp and grits, Nancy and Dave (FAWKES) also introduced us to wine tasting on Thursdays at Corks & Screws. The deal was that you rented a glass for US$15 and Jos (Engbers) kept it full for the next 2 hours or longer if there was wine left (hic!). The wines differed each week and moved around the world (France, Italy, Spain, South America, USA, etc.), and we always started with a white, moved on to a rosé and then finished with two reds.

CAPE tasting wine with FAWKES, HEYMEDE, PERSEPHONE and MAKAI.

Bottoms up!

Beth

My little girl is growing up quickly now!

Beth and Jacob (ORION) went out on a few dates...

Beth and Jacob.

Bethany: “Get out of the way Mum!”

Beth.

Bryn

My little boy is growing up quickly too... although he’s not old enough to drive a dinghy according to the Dutch Coastguard who arrested him for underage dinghy driving on our last night!

Laid back (don’t let the Dutch Coastguard catch you doing that, Bryn!).

Joining in with the band at El Toro.

Bryn: “Get out of the way Mum!”

The Dutch Coastguard is on the lookout for Bryn Smith (aged 13 years) for crimes relating to underage dinghy driving. DO NOT approach this person, he is armed with a guitar pick and an outboard engine kill cord...

The arty bit at the end

Just for a change from sunsets...

This figure head had the look of a Barbie doll about her; the realistic hair was a bit frizzy and obviously in need of a trim to get rid of those split ends.

Only 4 months behind with the blog now!