Our departure from the BVI would take us roughly 80NM to Sint Maarten, over the Anegada Passage, another stretch of water we’d been told to be wary of if the weather was unsettled. As it happened our journey would be once again in pretty calm conditions as since the storms of the previous week the wind and swell had dropped significantly making the passage possible. We decided to do the journey overnight as the wind and waves would be almost non-existent and this would give us a good arrival time and chance to check in to Sint Maarten, early morning and enjoy a full day. At this point I think I should mention how little we’ve actually sailed since we got to the Bahamas last year. The wind, swell and storms since then have all been against us in many ways, either with so little wind we wouldn’t move or so much it would be unsafe. Getting to these leeward islands we had high hopes that we could get the flappy things back out and sail, but once again it will all depend on Mother Nature who’s having an unsettled time herself.
It’s whale migration season and we were hopeful of spotting some of these incredible creatures on our journey along with catching some mahi or tuna to fill up the freezer once more. Fishing was to be a dud but we did see Humpback whales, which was truly special as they gracefully glided past us about 50m away oblivious to my excited squealing onboard. Not long after that we were also treated to a display of the speed of a sailfish as one circled Blue Mist on the surface, Ross hoping it would take the fishing lure for a bit of sport. About an hour before nightfall, I got a hit on my reel but whatever hit it was significantly large enough to simply cut the line and take the bright green and pink lure which had previously been so successful.
We arrived around 3am, in the darkness with a full moon it was easy to see the anchoring area, all the other boats and when we dropped the hook we could clearly see the sandy bottom and anchor chain in the moonlight, no need to swim the anchor as it was so clear I could see how well she’d dug into the sand 6m below us. We slept for a few hours on deck until the sunrise woke us and we up-anchored and moved forward in the anchorage so we were much closer to the beach and bridge into Simpson Bay Lagoon. Once reset we prepared to drop the dinghy back into the water and head into the customs dock to complete official paperwork and pay for entry into the Lagoon.
On our way into the customs dock we stopped by our friends Pattie and Gary on Earindil, arranging to meet again later for dinner so we could catch up properly on all our adventures since we’d last seen them in the Bahamas.
It didn't take long to check in and along with our buddy boat we walked up the main road to find coffee and a Phone shop so we could get a SIM card. We’d been keeping an eye on the weather as Simpson Bay would be untenable if the wind switched south and this was in the forecast for later in the week. We planned to enter the Lagoon the following day so as to be safe inside and settled into getting our bearing on the various stores, cruisers bars and services we needed.
That evening we had a wonderful time with Pattie and Gary, catching up on all that had happened and discussing future plans. They are planning to head to Panama and through the canal in May when we’d be heading home to the UK. We’re not jealous at all, honest!!
The first inbound bridge of the day was 9.30am it didn’t take long to head towards the entrance channel along with several other boats around 9.15am, radioing the bridge operator to advise of our inbound plan and waiting for the green light to proceed. We were nervous of the lagoon as our keel depth meant we needed to be careful as the charts and recent cruiser info suggest sand and mud banks were all over.
Not far through the channel there was a space opposite the cruiser bar called Soggy Dollar, we did try to go a bit further in but did run afoul of the mud banks, reversing off the mud we glided off easily (luckily) and ended up in the first spot we saw. Settled into a spot we waited an hour to check we’d set well, it wasn’t feasible to swim the anchor in the lagoon, too many boats moving around.
The lagoon is separated between the Dutch and French sides by a auseway bridge. We spent many hours enjoying watching the various boats and bridges, comings and goings of the massive superyachts and small cruisers boats during our time in the lagoon. It was incredible to see the superyachts particularly squeeze through the Simpson Bay Bridge by mere inches .
Our week in the lagoon was filled with the usual boat jobs, fixing small issues and a mountain of laundry. We also caught up with friends from Bonaire on board Watoosh, joining them and some other cruisers for a few drinks at Lagoonies Happy Hour which was lots of fun.
As it was time for the 6 Nations Rugby once again we found a small pub which was showing the matches and enjoyed the first two weekends of matches surrounded by Irish, French and the Welsh fans who all appear to be on the island in abundance. It’s a great atmosphere full of cheering and banter, even the Guinness isn’t too bad, making for a very happy Captain.
Exploring the islands two different sides required transportation so with Sail La Vie we hired a car and took off for two days of exploration and adventures. Day one we drove up to Orient Bay and had a wonderful walk along the golden sand for a lunch stop at a rather expensive beach club. Beware the allure of Instagram… It can be costly, but the food and location was excellent.
After lunch we crossed over the island to Grand Case, wandering through the streets and boutiques of this French town. You can definitely see the difference in investment between the French and Dutch sides, there's something slightly run down about the French areas of the island. The food, drinks and people are lovely but it’s definitely not as well kept as the Dutch side of the island.
After dessert on the beach of the most amazing
pavlova, we hopped back in the car and made our way back towards the airport in the hope of seeing the amazing Maho Beach, made famous as a tourist attraction as you can stand in the blow back of the airplanes taking off and landing. An exciting and somewhat dangerous experience that I was happy to watch from the bar.
After a few happy hour beverages at the Soggy Dollar (1$ a beer) we made plans for the next day, for a chilled out adventure to Loterie Farm. A resort in the center of the island, surrounded by forest (it wasn’t exactly surrounded but close enough), some hiking trails, fresh water swimming pools and a treetop adventure course with a zip line and we’d been told the possibility of monkeys.
It was a lovely day, sipping champagne (we got a bottle with our gazebo), jumping in and out of the pools and enjoying the sunshine, some of the more adventurous of us took to the trees and zip lines and some hiked some of the trails. Alas no monkeys were seen but we had a very fun day.
The weather had improved and we craved a chance to swim off the back of the boat and a little peace from the lagoon, which is pretty loud and something is always on the move. We left the Lagoon on the first bridge lift of the day and anchored behind the small reef, trying to get as much protection from the swell. There was a little roll but it was nice to be out in the bay, this would be our spot until we departed for our next destination St Barth’s.
In our final few days we managed to catch up with Pattie and Gary on Earindil and provision for our next 10days or so as we’d been anchored out for the most part.
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