British Virgin Islands to Sint Maartin

Hi everyone,

We're now anchored in Simpson's Bay in Sint Maartin.  The passage was unlikely to be fun given it was directly into the usual trade winds.  We appeared to have a weather window which would see moderate ESE winds swing ENE.  In the event they did pretty much the opposite!

BVI departure

Enjoying Soper's Hole

Here's our track and graphs..

Track

Graphs

Here are the vital stats for the passage…

    • Distances/Speeds

        • Route Distance = 120nm

        • Logged Distance = 124nm

        • GPS Distance = 126nm

        • Duration = 28h

        • Average boat speed = 4.4 kt

        • Average speed over ground = 4.5 kt

        • Minimum boat speed = 4 kt

        • Maximum boat speed = 6 kt

    • Weather

        • Minimum wind speed = 6 kt

        • Average wind speed = 10 kt

        • Maximum wind speed = gusts to 22 kt

        • Apparent wind angle range = 20 to 80

        • Seas up to 1m

        • Swell up to 1m

        • Bands of clouds with regular rain showers.

    • Engine

        • Total = 20h

We had a marvellous sail from Soper's Hole across the top of Tortola to Anageda in SE winds.  At Anageda the winds turned abruptly NE and lightened to 6-8 knots.  That left us in a sloppy sea and little wind.  So the motor went on.

The rest of the passage was motor-sailing with the wind about 20 degrees off the port bow.  The wind slowly veered, eventually to nearly SE.  We had to keep a sharp lookout for fishing pots in all shallow water - there were a lot of them!

Simpson's Bay

It was good to arrive in Sint Maartin and turn off the engine.  Before departure we had completed online EHAS applications and received pre-approvals.  Both being vaccinated and boosted no Covid test was required.

Checking in was simple.  The police/immigration office is on the W side of the channel to the lifting bridge into the lagoon.  We secured our dinghy between two ferries immediately short of the bridge.  From there it's a 50m walk to the office.  Two forms to fill out, show the emailed EHAS pre-approvals, and pay the anchorage fees (US$20/week) and you're in.

Since arriving we've revisited Lagoonies bar and discovered the Port de Plaisance resort.  At the latter US$20/week buys use of their dinghy dock, pool, gym, showers and wifi.  Guess where we are right now!

Trust all's well where you are.