Log 43U Saint Martin-Sint Maarten and St. Barts

Written at:Little Bay, Montserrat, June 23, 2007

A Short Geography Lesson

Southeast of the B.V.I. is a group of islands referred to as the Renaissance Islands (at least in our Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands by Chris Doyle), namely Anguilla (see Log #43T), St. Martin, and St. Barts, geologically older volcanic islands that have been eroded on the shorelines to below sea level, then acquired limestone and coral, transformed over thousands of years to provide long white sandy beaches. These islands form part of the northern group of the Lesser Antilles called the Leeward Islands, arching southeast and southwards from the B.V.I. to include St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Guadeloupe and down to and including Dominica. The group south from Martinique to Grenada are referred to as the Windward Islands. The term Lesser Antilles refer to all these smaller Caribbean islands while the Greater Antilles include only the four largest Caribbean islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti & the Dominican Republic), Puerto Rico, and Jamaica. Incidentally, several people have asked, "Where are the Spanish Virgin Islands?" They are the group of islands belonging to Puerto Rico off its east coast, consisting of Vieques and Culebra (our favourites), and their smaller offlying islands such as Culebrita (see Logs #43 l, m, and p).

Saint Martin [ map ]

From Road Bay on Anguilla, it was only 13 miles to Marigot on the west side of St. Martin, a pleasant passage during which we actually were able to sail for an hour of the 2½ hour trip, anchoring (18 04.12N, 063 05.59W) about a half mile offshore in 12 feet of water. There were many boats (about 30) in the anchorage and we didn't want to go in too close. We debated whether to go into the Lagoon after checking in. Fortunately we decided not to and stayed at anchor off Marigot for the next six days. It is a good location, with a dinghy dock adjacent to the ferry dock and customs office, and to the centre of town next to the market.

Saint Martin-Sint Maarten is a single island, with the southern 1/3rd (Sint Maarten) belonging to the Netherlands (Holland) while the northern 2/3rds (St. Martin) is a department of France. According to a local anecdote this division came about when both France and Holland were colonizing the island, and being very civilized countries decide to settle the border without bloodshed. Instead, a Frenchman armed with a bottle of wine, and a Dutchman armed with a flask of gin at opposite ends of the island were to march towards the middle, and where they met would be the boundary. The French ended up with a bit more as the wine was not as strong as the gin.

There is a large Lagoon on the western edge, about 2 ½ miles east to west, and one mile wide, through which the border between the Dutch and French sides runs. There is an entrance through a lift bridge which opens only three or four times a day from Marigot Bay on the French side and a similar lift bridge with similar limited opening times on the Dutch side at Simpson Bay. We were initially going to anchor in the Lagoon after checking in on the French side, but were happy we stayed in Marigot Bay on the French side, as we would have had to go through Dutch customs to exit at Simpson Bay. The lagoon is shallow and unappealing for swimming. It has several boatyards and shipyards, chandleries, restaurants, and marinas as well as hundreds of sailboats and a few dozen ships at anchor. We could access these facilities by dinghying into the Lagoon as we did several times.

There is a cruiser's net six mornings a week from Shrimpy's, a bar/restaurant/marina/laundry/repair shop located in the lagoon. We did not have to check in with Dutch customs if we were dinghying into their territory, or going by bus, taxi, or even walking; only if we went with Veleda. We dinghied in several times to go to Shrimpy's (for a bilge auction and laundry) and Budget Marine, both located on the Dutch side where the official currency is Netherlands Antilles Guilders or U.S. dollars (surprisingly, the Euro is not official, even though the Netherlands uses it). Several places gave equal value to dollars or Euros even though the Euro is presently worth more than the dollar. Things seemed a bit more expensive on the Dutch side. The island is a duty free location with good prices from large chandleries such as Island Water World and Budget Marine. There are many sandy beaches and Philipsburg in Sint Maarten has a large cruise ship dock to accommodate the hordes of tourists. In St. Martin alone there are over 250 restaurants and 700 duty free shops.

In the "Small World" department we met several boats we had encountered before, including Honiara, a Canadian boat; a Belgian boat we knew from the East Med Yacht Rally in Turkey in 2001; and Magic, with Owen, still single handing, whom we met in the Cape Verde Islands in January of 2006 and again last fall (2006) in Grenada. We took a maxi cab (minivan bus) to Philipsburg on Simpson Bay in Sint Maarten for an afternoon to see the Eagle, the U.S. Coast Guard sail training ship. On our way we stopped at an electronics store where we were able to purchase a new WiFi booster adaptor (properly called a Wireless LAN USB 2.6 Adaptor), although equipped with its own small "pencil" antenna, we can connect it to an external antenna to bring in WiFi from farther away. With it we were able to access for only 5.00 Euros a day a WiFi connection from inside the Lagoon. Happiness is ... E-mail and surfing the net from the boat in an anchorage.

St. Barts [ map ]

We had a couple of nice meals ashore in seaside French restaurants of Marigot on St.Martin, and Judy got up at 0630 each morning to dinghy in to get fresh warm baguettes and croissants from the boulangerie. As pleasant as it was, we still wanted to get on towards Antigua, then down the islands to spend the summer and fall in Grenada and Trinidad for the hurricane season, as it was now the middle of June. On we went June 14, the 24 miles southwards to St. Barthelemy, better known simply as St. Barts, another French island, purchased from Sweden in 1878, to whom the French had given it in 1784 in exchange for port rights in Gothenberg. To help the economy the Swedes made it a duty free port which it is still today.

The harbour at Gustavia is a shallow indentation on the west coast, filled with local boats and mooring buoys, leaving little space for anchoring. There was a swell and wind which made us unhappy about the area. As we came towards the inner harbour, we saw a free red mooring buoy and decided to pick it up. We had to have it on a short line due to all the other boats on mooring buoys close by. However, we were sheltered (17 53.96N, 062 51.18W) and went to clear in with customs. No Problem and we got an in and outward clearance as long as we did not stay more than two days. Oh yes, the buoy we were on is a private one and we would have to move!

We did not feel comfortable in trying to anchor anywhere in the harbour area, and so left town and went back up to secure to a free mooring (17 55.55N, 062 52.21W) in Anse de Columbier, a picturesque well sheltered bay on the northwest arm of St. Barts, part of a Marine Reserve, formerly owned by the Rockefellers who still have an estate in the area. St. Barts is an island for the rich and famous, considered as the Riviera of the Caribbean, though not as populated. In the bay we enjoyed a couple of nights on the mooring buoy, hiking the peninsula and strolling the white sandy beach (as far as the Rockefellers' estate), and snorkeling from Veleda the shoals on the north arm of the bay. We did not bother to go back to Gustavia, but left on June 16 for St. Kitts, a 45 mile passage.

 

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