Sint Martin

Sint Maarten.

Position 18°01N 63°05W

A 7:30 start with a vile swell yet again, the sea legs threw a wobbly so Don once again took care of the trip alone again. Since then the remedies are close at hand and have worked (more later on that)

Transiting between the islands can be described sometimes either good, bad, boring or frantic, this trip was a real mixture with some winds, a swell then motor sailing which is noisy, one noise definitely not what we wanted to hear when I was below and heard a thump, Don was at the helm he heard it too and we thought one on the propeller blades had broken off, when we checked the stern we could see a thick rope streaming behind us so we think it was around the propeller. So skipper tried everything he could to free the rope without going into the water with the swell being high, the solution was to raise the main sail under power (very worrying) which meant steering into the wind and turn the boat back towards St Kitts. With Dons skills and someone must have been watching over us after a little while the rope untangled itself and went back to trap another unsuspecting yacht.

We have often thought about fitting a rope cutter but no way would that have cut up that thickness.

Saint Kitts to Sint Maarten, no its not a spelling mistake, took 9 and a half hours. 

We first anchored in Simpson bay outside the town as the bridge only opens at specific times, once inside there are lots of marinas some with super-yachts and other marinas smaller dotted around the bay. As we needed to chill for a while and visit the "boys toy shop for boaters" we checked into the Simpson Bay marina. 

How did you catch that lot

We walked back over the bridge to check in with customs and immigration then had lunch walked back to find  the chandlers. The following day I sorted out the tidying up and the washing and Don went to 2 chandlers to buy containers for both petrol and diesel not wanting to run short of fuel again.  

  

People having fun

Another yacht came alongside, the skipper Rob and his wife Sue, we had a few drinks a couple of nights and shared cruising stories. They did say cruising is "like a floating village" its true you do see the same people as you travel to different places. 

The busses run frequently and we caught one to Philipsburg the capital, again the port is full of "tourist trap shops" 

selling just about everything, diamonds, designer clothes, sports cars, in fact it looks like a shoppers paradise.

Old Street

The island is "duty free" and the prices are quite good so we did re stock on the rum and get a replacement for the Nikon camera that died together with a GoPro video camera which is waterproof so when we have practised a little you will see more photos.

BFN

Agua Therapy

Don and Glenys