Saint Martin

Nickanddenisesailing
Thu 19 May 2016 15:39

After a hard nights sail we arrived in Saint Martin. It was great to get near some land after feeling a bit sea sick all night. We had decided to stay in Simpson bay which is the hub of massive luxury yachts in the Caribbean and therefore a well supported yacht area with good services (this was espically good considering the long list of jobs we had ended up making over the crossing). To get into Simpson bay we needed to enter through a swing bridge, so we anchored up outside and waited for the bridge to open. Interestingly, although we had had the boat for nearly 2 months we actually hadnt anchored at all yet. So new experiences all round! We sucessfully anchored and waited. A yacht came in really close to us and I felt that we were getting too close to them as we were swinging on the anchor so we decided to up anchor and motored around for about 15min waiting for the bridge. As the que started forming (including a barge, super yachts, catamarans etc) we all shuffled for possition (taking care not to crash into each other). I decided to be polite and give the barge and expensive super yachts some space. Then as I moved into our slot in the que we edged forward and just as we got to the narrow passage before the bridge they closed it on us! I was gutted! After a long night of feeling pretty rubbish I was looking forward to it all being over. So we headed back out to the rolly anchorage to anchor up and try again in a few hours. I thought this would be a great time for a quick nap and headed down below.
I woke up to the others calling out for me and popped my head up to find 4 armed men and one woman in uniform sitting in the cockpit. They explained that they were from customs and needed to search the boat. Nick showed them around while I filled out the paperwork. Luckily so large stashes of drugs/guns were found and we were allowed on our way.
Second chance at the bridge approached so we got oursleves into possition vowing to be a lot less polite this time. We muscled our way in and managed to get through the bridge. Once inside it wasnt quite clear where a good place to go was, so I decided to follow a boat our sort of size and see where they headed. They promptly anchored up and I spotted one of the Volvo Ocean boats (Brunel) and knowing that they have massive keel I thought we would be fine anchoring right behind – then we ran aground. We scurried around trying to get off, sails went up, engine was revved, until 2 guys kindly came out in their dinghys and pushed us off the bank. Tensions were high as we then went to anchor again – the first time dragging and then finally good on the second try.
We ended up spending about a week in Simspson bay, this included many trips to various chandleries and hardware stores. Lots of work to do on the boat so days were long and busy. Nick and I managed to squeeze in an evening surfing with Tom (my French friend from NZ who I stayed with on my way through Saint Martin the first time). Tom and Coline had very kindly stored a whole lot of our gear for all the time we had been in the BVI’s so we were super grateful.
Once we were feeling a bit happier about our readiness on the boat we decided to head a bit closer to Tom and Coline and move around to Oyster Pond. This is a super sheltered anchorage on the east side of the island. On the sail over we found a few more ‘fun problems’ to fix which meant we wouldnt be able to leave Saint Martin quite as soon as we had hoped.
Around this time all four of us (Ann, Dean, Nick and I) made the decision that we shouldnt carry on with the trip together. As it goes with living with any good friends sometimes it works well but sometimes less well, but doesnt mean you cant still be good friends. So Ann and Dean left Nick and I and went to join an Aussie couple who we met in the yard in Virgin Gorda. Great that we left on such good terms with those guys and we left hoping that we might catch up with them again in Bonaire.
Nick and I stayed on in Oyster Pond finishing up jobs and we managed to fit in another great surf with Tom. A full 4 hours in the water at a really nice reef break with nice size waves and a right too- so perfect for me and the 2 goofy footed boys still had fun.
Our last night in Saint Martin was spent in Marigot bay. We headed down that way to go and potentially pick up a new dinghy but decided against it in the end (a last min paniced dinghy ride to immigration and a bit of a telling off there put me off dinghy shopping a bit…). After a big goodbye to Tom (who we will meet again in the Pacific) we went to bed hoping for a 4am start to get us on our way south to meet up with the amazing Jo Swanell (a windsurfing friend of mine from my time in Egypt) in time in Guadalupe.