 |
| Leaving Leverick Bay |
Hello Again
Thursday 21st June. 0600 We up anchor from Leverick Bay, Virgin Gouda
in the BVI’s, and motor on out passing between Prickly Pear Island and Necker
Island, the Island owned by Sir Richard
Branson. We are heading out across the Anegada Passage to St. Maarten, a leg of
about 80nm, but with our familiar E. and E.S.E. winds we know the trip will be
longer.
 |
| Sunset Anegada Passage. Virgin Gouda behind |
 |
| Bridge opens into Simpson Lagoon |
It is not until after
1100 the next day with 156nm passing under the keels, that we drop anchor in
Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten. The following morning we enter the lagoon at the
11.30 bridge opening and drop anchor in the rather murky waters. There are not
too many boats in here now as we are in the low season (hurricane season) and
most have moved on to destinations further south. There will be no swimming in here. As it is now
the weekend we will have to wait until Monday to see about getting our boat
jobs started.
 |
| At anchor in lagoon |
 |
| Barge removing wrecks |
First off our standard rigging is to be replaced. On Tuesday
morning we move SHAMAL over to the FKG work dock. During our time here we work
on other jobs while the rigging boys are at work. We have chandeliers within a
short walking distance on either side of us which is a great help. Alec has
decided he will upgrade our 5hp out-board motor on the tender to a larger one.
Then a rather funny incident happens. Our tender is in the water tied on to the
side of SHAMAL as we have been using it to cross the lagoon as we look for
parts, and doing other jobs. One evening after work the boys in the rigging
yard are kicking a ball around – we are now leading up to the finals of the
World Cup and we have some want-a-be players out there. Well in their
exuberance one kicks the ball over the top of the fence and into the water. A
VERY big boy comes bounding down the dock and asks if he can jump into our
tender to retrieve the ball. We are sitting on the back having our sun-downers.
We say yes, but, he throws himself in. Oh help, the aluminium floor parts from
the inflatable tube at the rear end on one side where it is glued together,
causing water to come in. The guy just sits there. I thought he was going to
end up sitting on the lagoon floor, but no he hops out with the ball and walks
off to finish his game as if nothing had happened. The following day Alec is off in search of
someone to re-glue it for us. After many a conversation we are told it is not
worth the while. The tender is made of PVC, and the glue does not hold out
after continuous years of use in the tropics. This now means we will have to
replace the tender as well as getting the up-grade outboard motor.
 |
| Hurricane damaged boats in Lagoon |
 |
| Sunk Super Yacht |
But the story does not end there. There is a day charter
boat parked on the dock in front of us. We have now pulled the tender out of
the water and have it sitting on the dock. One of the guys from the charter boat
shows some interest in the tender, and after a couple of days negotiating with
Alec, he wants to buy it but without the outboard motor as 5hp is too small for
him. Alec explains over and over about how it will need to be repaired, and
that the repair job may only hold together for a short time. No, he will take
it thanks. They lower it into the water and as it has now been sitting in the
sun for a few days the inflated tubes are nice and tight, so it floats
perfectly – no water comes in!! He is
happy, and off he goes with it tied to the back of his boat. We have not seen
him since! We have kept the outboard for the time being.
 |
| New Tender |
We now are the owners of a new hypalon 3.2mt tender,
slightly longer and wider than the old one, and a Tohatsu 9.8hp out-board which
gets us up on the plane nicely. We are now zooming around the lagoon now we
have done the hours to run it in.
It is now just over a week we have been on the rigging dock,
and that work is complete. We had to wait for a part to be flown in from
Florida. Tuesday July 3rd and we have a “weather system” developing
out in the Atlantic to the east of us. Sitting here and seeing all the damaged
boats around us from hurricane Irma last year, is enough for one to start
feeling very uncomfortable!!!! By Thursday p.m. our system has formed into a
hurricane –“ Beryl”. It looks like it will pass to the south of us, somewhere
around Dominica or Martinique. Still one can never tell their final direction
until they are almost upon you. Time to move off this concrete dock and anchor
out in the lagoon with plenty of extra chain on the bottom.
We sit out in the lagoon over the weekend. At 0100 on Monday
9th July Beryl passes over Martinique having been down-graded to a
Tropical Storm with wind gusts of 60kts. We get the rain here, but wind not in
excess of 40kts. We can now breathe
again and get on with the next major job.
 |
| Boys working on water tank |
 |
| Job well done |
This time we park SHAMAL on the Lagoon Marina Dock so the
boys can fix our leaking water tank. This involves cutting a hole in the saloon
floor to access it. It is a major job, but done so professionally. We are able
to use our original flooring again. Alec and I are so impressed with the job
done by Thomas and his team. The cost of the job was also extremely reasonably.
The next major job was to replace our water maker membranes.
They had done a great job for the last 10 years, but had come to the end of
their life. The hitch we had with a jumpy chart plotter and some instruments
that only wanted to work at times, was solved by an electrician when he upgraded
our AIS and GPS. We have both receiver
and transponder now. We also decide to replace our anchor chain while sitting
at the dock.
 |
| Hurricane damaged Seawind |
While sitting on the dock we are visited by a guy who is
looking after repair work to be done on another Seawind 1160. It was damaged
during Irma, but he says how strongly built they are, and the damage was
limited to the mast coming down and debris flying about. A broken saloon window
allowed water in which also caused damage. We went and had a look. Other boats
in the yard definitely had substantial
more damage, but it is sad to see any boat wrecked.
There are still a few smaller jobs to complete. Well
actually one learns very quickly in this field, that your list is never
complete. You cross a job off the top of the list, and add two to the
bottom!!!!
 |
| Mads, Alec, Larry |
 |
| More Damage |
During our time here it is not all work. We catch up with
good friends we first met in Mexico, then on the Rio in Guatemala. They have
their boat “Blue Pearl” anchored on the French side of the Lagoon. We do a trip
by local bus to Philipsburg – Dutch side – to take a look. We also take the
tender across the lagoon to the French side for visits. Some shopping, some
site seeing. Crossing the lagoon one is passing still so many damaged boats,
but also a work barge, who is lifting boats to be used as landfill somewhere.
We are told that just after Irma passed through, the site was unbelievable. So
many lives were lost. One sad story was of a couple and their baby who stayed
on their large mono yacht. The yacht sunk and both parents were drowned, but
they had put a lifejacket on the baby who was found alive on the beach the next
day. The government actually made an announcement for people not to talk about
the true numbers of deaths as it could have a bad effect on tourism. Alec read
online that 35 people had died, but a local Doctor told us that there were
hundreds. It was not only from boats, but people were sucked from their hotel
rooms as windows exploded with the tornados that were within Irma.
 |
| Philipsburg |
 |
| Markets in Philipsburg |
After all the major jobs are complete we move SHAMAL back
outside the lagoon to Simpson Bay. Here the water is clean and we can swim
again. Also we can get the water maker up and running. SHAMAL has grown a bit
of a “garden” on her hulls from sitting in the lagoon which we can now remove.
Alec now hopes since we have done the majority of major jobs
on SHAMAL, like replacing the sails, solar panels upgraded, rigging done, new
water maker membranes etc. We should be good for another ten years. We just
need to re- anti foal the hulls again before we leave the Caribbean for the
long haul across the South Pacific.
 |
| Simpson Bay |
 |
| Marigot, French Side |
As it is the summer holidays in this part of the world, many
locals are leaving for their breaks, but also the Island is having its share of
visitors. The big Cruise Ships are still
calling in here. The bar on the beach in front of us has a band each night, but
my ear plugs work well!!! The other night was karaoke night. Help I sincerely
hope the majority of those people do not give up their day jobs!!!!
 |
| Australian owned yacht |
 |
| Fort St Louis |
Our days are still busy, and we watch the Atlantic weather
like a hawk each day, ready to leave here at any time if the need arises. It is
now our last weekend on St. Maarten. We decide we will circumnavigate the lagoon
in the tender. It is so much bigger than we thought. As we pass under the
lagoons major bridge we spot the yacht owned by an Australian which was washed ashore
during Irma, and is now high and dry right at the airport runway end of the
bridge. What was odd was the guy was living aboard still, with his family. It
was removed a few days later - after nine months. Not the most ideal spot for a
cruiser to spend any time a board. We stop on the French side for coffee, then
climb the hill to Fort St. Louis. The view is spectacular. We can see across to
the Island of Anguilla, all around Marigot, the capital of the French side, and
over the lagoon.
 |
| View of Marigot &Lagoon |
Our next destination is St Bart. It is only about 15nm to
the S.E. of us, but it will be nice to be on the move again.
This is The Admiral and The Commander signing out for now.
No comments:
Post a Comment