Sint Maartin

Hi everyone,

We spent nearly four weeks in Sint Maartin.  Don't know where the time went!  Tis a very social place and boasts the best chandleries in the Caribbean.  It's also duty-free.  We had a great time.

One of many superyachts at St Maartin

We spent most of the time anchored in the lagoon.  Doing so gets you out of rolly Simpson Bay but the wind funnels around the hills to produce gusty conditions.  It's also a plane-watcher's paradise as aircraft from little bug-smashers to Boeings and Airbuses thunder 500' overhead all day.  A trip to Maho Beach to have them do the same at 100' is a must!

Entering the lagoon

Passing St Maartin Yacht Club

Our time was split between boat jobs and socialising.  The boat jobs included getting a quote for a holding tank.  Sounds easy but took a fortnight and then the quote was twice the price of the original verbal estimate.  So no holding tank for a little while longer.  We did manage to arrange shipment of 5 years-worth of engine consummables (filters, impellers, V-belts etc) from the UK.  No Craftsman engine dealers in this part of the world.  The UK dealer Cheshire Marine found a means of shipping via Fedex at half the nominal Fedex rate.

The package arrived within a week at Business Point in Lagoon Marina.  Business Point is a DHL agent and accepts all parcels for cruisers for a small fee.  Very good service.  The Lagoonies bar & cafe nearby is a popular rendezvous point for cruisers.  It has a dinghy dock which is very convenient for visits to Island Water World and Budget Marine, although both chandleries have their own dinghy docks.  Lagoonies is also close to electrical equipment store Electec.

View from Lagoonies Bar & Cafe

Other popular rendezvous spots for cruisers are the St Maartin Yacht Club next to the lagoon bridge and the Soggy Dollar Bar about 200m W of the bridge.  Both have dinghy docks.

Fuel and water are available at Island Water World.  IWW hosts cruising talks every few weeks with free beer and t-shirts.  We attended talks on marine diesel engines and fishing at sea.  The latter also featured demo inflations of several liferafts.  Water can also be delivered to your boat in the lagoon by Bisqetin (aka "Biscuit Tin").  The cruiser's net at 0730 on VHF 10 announces all these events and services.

Island Water World and Budget Marine seem to stock complementary brands in some areas.  For example one stocks Harken and the other Ronstan.  Budget Marine's building also hosts a Raymarine agent which seemed quite well stocked.

Sunset in the lagoon

Another place with a dinghy dock (kinda) is Port de Plaisance, a resort on the N side of the lagoon, just E of the causeway.  They offer weekly visitor passes at US$20/person which gives access to their gym, pool, showers and wifi.  We visited the pool several times a week which was indeed pleasant.

One aspect in which Sint Maartin is poor is internet coverage.  The local carrier is very expensive.  The French side carriers are more affordable but their coverage of the Dutch side is unsurprisingly poor.  We signed up for a Digicel contract which is supposed to cover much of the eastern Caribbean, unlike their pre-paid SIMs which are said not to roam well.

The pool at Port de Plaisance

During our stay we spent time with Aussie sv Kynic at Lagoon Marina.  We met them in Antigua where they purchased their boat.  They came to St Maartin to have more work done on the boat to prepare for their voyage home.  Gave them a hand with their SeaTalkNG (NMEA2000) network, AIS, VHF and SSB, plus a demo of SignalK capabilities.  We also met Aussie svs Expedition, Celeste, Medea and Double Shot - mostly at the Soggy Dollar!

Also during our stay our friends on New Zealand sv Cerulean visited for a few days.  We took them on a tour of the island which was a lot of fun.

Kiwi sv Cerulean arriving

The Kiwis are coming!

Exploring the island

Sidestreet in Philipsburg

Philipsburg Courthouse

With the departure of the Ceruleans and the arrival of our engine spares we needed only to wait for a weather window for our last windward passage of the season.  Happily one came along a week later.  The afternoon before departure we cleared out and left the lagoon to spend our last night in Simpson Bay anchorage.  Very rolly but it allowed us to dive on the boat to clean the prop in clearer water prior to departure.

Lined up to exit the lagoon

Our time in St Maartin felt like a holiday.  Anchored in flat water and lots of socialising.  Now to explore more of the eastern Caribbean!

Trust all's well where you are.