Bermuda bound

Position: 18° 08’N 63° 11’W
Wind E10-15 knots

Today, the 16th May, we set off from Simpson Bay Marina, St Maarten for Bermuda. In the morning there wasn’t enough wind to sail but at the moment we are sailing along as happy as Larry. I have made a massive achievement I haven’t been sea sick! This is the first passage including day sails when I haven’t felt awful. My advice if you get sea sick ,like me, is to have something like gum to distract you and plenty of coke. The reason I’ve started using gum is because it gives my mouth something to do and if there is something in your mouth you are much less likely to be sick. I’m enjoying this sail much more than the first days of the Atlantic crossing as I am determined not to be sick. The sail to Bermuda is 1 week and then after we arrive, we cross the Atlantic again and we’re on our way home! I hope all is well we will keep you updated.

Dora

Hurricane survival tips from Dora

What to do in a hurricane.
What to always have in your house
If you live in a country or on an island which are hit by hurricanes here is a list if the things that you might need:
A portable radio. This will be useful to find out the force and damage of the hurricane.
Stay inside at all times and keep away from windows, outside doors etc.
Never go outside the protection of your home or shelter until the storm has passed.
Make sure you always have a torch with fully charged batteries, safe drinking water in case your water supply is cut off and lots of food that doesn’t need cooking also don’t use your phone you never know if you are going to need to call the emergency services also have a card if all the important phone numbers in case of an emergency.
If you have a house made out of strong concrete your house will probably be alright but if your house is made of wood or tin you might have a few things to repair. The main thing is make sure your house is sturdy and keep checking the force of the storm on the radio. Make sure you also have a medical kit with things like sterilising cream, bandages, plasters etc. This will all come in helpful if some one gets ill to stop the germs spreading.
What you don’t want to happen
The most important thing to do if you’re an adult is to stay calm so that, if you have children, they will be calm and won’t be so scared. You should also make sure everyone is eating enough so they will calm down. Play games like 20 questions and story games to distract and stop people thinking about what’s happening. If no one is speaking it will scare people and make them panic just relax and read a story book for every one to enjoy. 
Building houses to survive hurricanes
If you are buying a house in a country that can have hurricanes you should buy a house with a square, hexagonal or even octagonal floor plan and a roof with multiple slopes.
Make sure your house is built in a flat surface and that there aren’t any overhangs underneath your house because if there was an overhang your house might be blown down if the overhang shifts from the wind. Concrete and brick are the most trustworthy resources for building a house make sure that you get a house with storm shutters so the windows won’t smash when the wind is blowing. Make sure you live on high ground so your not to close to the beach and won’t be swept away by a tidal surge.

Woof woof from Sint Maarten?

Reflecting on St Martin/Sint Maarten I am reminded of one of my favourite bits of dialogue from the BBC adaptation of Wolf Hall…

Henry: “When I went into France, I captured the town of Therouanne which you, in Parliament, called…”

Cromwell: “A dog hole, majesty?”

Henry: “How could you say so?”

Cromwell: “I’ve been there.”

Well, perhaps that’s a bit harsh but the wonders and charm of Statia, St. Barts and Anguilla throw the tackiness of Sint Maarten’s casinos, seedy bars and strip clubs into sharp relief. The state of the French side nearly two years after hurricane Irma is shocking. President Macron might well ask “where did the money go?” On the upside, there’s an international airport, a peerless yacht chandlery and its been nice to sleep on a yacht quiet and safe in a lagoon not rolling about in reflected swell but all in all St. M is a place to get fixed up and fuelled up before heading off somewhere more agreeable.

To that end we’re all astir getting ready for our next leg, 860M or so N to Bermuda. The weather outlook is somewhat uncertain, suggesting light to moderate E trade winds for Thr/Fri (good) but large calm patches over the weekend (less good). Anyway, we’re determined to be off so we’ll have to put up with what’s provided.

I had a nice moment chatting to the owners of Morpheus, a handsome cruiser-racer from San Francisco, suddenly realising that we’d sailed together before – in Tonga in 2002 when Morpheus was brand new and Jim and Debbie were sailing with their sons who were the age Daisy and Dora are now. Happy memories. Jim is something of a master blogger as this https://morpheussailing.wordpress.com/2019/04/06/yesterday-was-a-shitty-day/ description of a less than perfect day in Deshaies shows. I hope this goes some way to dispel the myth that live-aboard cruising is a non stop round of turtles, white beaches and sunset cocktails!

We’ll try to do daily updates as we head North, T.

Hurricanes on Sint Maarten/St Martin

Since the mid-1990s, St.Martin has been hit by no fewer than 9 major hurricanes. Some of the most catastrophic include Hurricane Luis (1995) which was the strongest hurricane of the 20th century. 14 people were killed and thousands of the population were left homeless. Some of the worst hit places include Marigot, Simpson Bay, and Philipsburg. In Simpson Bay alone, 1300 boats were sunk or destroyed.
Another hurricane, Bertha, in 1996 severely damaged constructions. In 1999 Hurricane Lenny killed 13 people and caused large-scale destruction to south facing-areas such as Simpson Bay and Marigot. Gondola in 2014 caused numerous properties, businesses and water works to be ruined. The last hurricane, a year and a half ago, caused serious electrical problems and building destruction.
Because of the constant batterings due to hurricanes, the island has struggled to recover over and over again. The island is still repairing from 2017, this is visible when you look around either side of the island. When crossing the lagoon bridge you can spot half sunk boats, masts sticking up from the water and yachts simply abandoned on the side of the road due to the tidal surges. When we went vegetable shopping we passed a secondary school who’s roof has still not been repaired, wires dangle by the side of the road dangerously and restaurants are boarded up at every angle.
The problem with this is that if another disaster was to strike, then it would be doubly dangerous because nothing has been fixed making more things a liability.
Effects on the island include unemployment due to businesses closing down, which leads to poverty and a low standard of life. The Dutch side is trying to avoid this by building new resorts and funding casinos to pop up everywhere. I realise while I’m writing this that instead of restoring and making houses more suitable against destruction, cheap, unstable buildings are appearing which I can bet aren’t going to survive even a Category 3 Hurricane.
Thanks for reading!!!!!
Polly note. It’s really interesting that French St Martin bears far more scars from the twin hurricanes (Irma and Maria) that hit these islands in September 2017 than any of the other islands we have visited. In Anguilla they told me that St Martin was still a wreck because they have to wait for the government approval from France before any reconstruction can happen. Dutch Sint Maarten seems full of verve and energy in its attempts to rebuild but there is a feeling of dejection over the French side. We were told that President Macron visited recently (though I think this was in fact last October) and was furious to see the state of St Martin – wanting to know what on earth had happened to all the money France had sent. This article appeared in the local paper at the time.
If France really did send €500 million, as stated in the piece, then it is even more tragic to see the main Lycee in Marigot with its roof incomplete.

Prickly Pear Cays

Prickly pear🍐

On the 7th of May we went to an island off the coast of Anguilla called Prickly Pear this island is beautiful with gorgeous white sandy beaches and crystal clear water.

To get to Prickly Pear we had to sail there in the morning with some friends of ours on their boat. As we were anchoring, I saw a lovely green sea turtle poke his head up then dive back down. Prickly Pear is a deserted island off the coast of Anguilla. You are only allowed to stay there during the day as it is a marine park. It was rather funny because the people at customs said we had to pick up a mooring ball but when we arrived there weren’t any mooring balls! It was such a lovely little island in the morning there were 2 party boats but in the afternoon we were the only boat and people on the whole island and I had a lovely snorkel with our friend Edi. If you want to here more about the snorkels read on…

I did two snorkels on Prickly Pear, one was amazing I was swimming quite far out on a reef and the fish were amazing there were parrot fish, french grunts and many more small tropical fish. The water was lovely so refreshing and just to watch the fish and be so close to them was incredible. My dad and I spent a while just snorkeling next to the coral just observing the lovely fish. That was my first snorkel. My second snorkel I saw less fish but we had a few little snack crumbs so I gave them to the french grunt who seemed to really enjoy eating them. We went out for less time and the water was much colder but shockingly there was much more french grunts than the first time I guess they enjoy the cold weather. We’ve been having a lovely time and are enjoying St Maarten before we have our next passage up to Bermuda.

Polly note: Pics will follow! This was the most incredible place and we would have missed it if it wasn’t for our lovely friends on Honalee who invited us to go along with them. Their kindness and hospitality was beyond wonderful, What a perfect end to our two months in the Caribbean.

 

Anguilla to St Maarten

A very short 18miles or so but anything can happen at sea….

I was watching the girls doing their Ordnance Survey quiz book….

When I heard a loud noise behind us….

And this fellow came swooping overhead…

To skim the sun hats off the sun worshippers on the beach…..

Just type in plane landing at Princess Juliana airport to google for more up close shots.

I will also confess that shortly after this Tom and I realised that the bright orange mooring buoys we’d just passed probably marked an exclusion zone (not mentioned on our chart). All’s well that ends well!

Anguilla.

Anguilla is our last ‘holiday’ island in the Caribbean. Often overlooked, especially in the UK, this small island has the most stunning beaches and sea that we have seen anywhere. On top of that, the people are hard working, fantastically straightforward and beyond helpful.

A strange photo you may think but first impressions as we arrived. Customs and immigration on left of pic, all clearly signed and keeping to their stated hours. And public showers to the right – clean and virtually unused except by us. Joy!

It seemed a fitting end to our Caribbean interlude to visit an island with turquoise waters and white powdery sand that are conjured up in the travel brochures. We based ourselves in Road Harbour, a lovely sweeping bay full of visiting yachts and local fishing and tourist boats. Dora and I would go ashore in the late afternoon for a swim off the beach – which mainly involved me watching her underwater gymnastics display. Every day we saw the same seagull at the water’s edge, the same dog doing it’s evening rounds, the same two old ladies gingerly making their way in for their daily swim (make that daily gossip whilst submerged hopping gently from foot to foot), the same French couple taking their stroll along the beach, the same lady putting out the tables and chairs in preparation for the evening at Sunset Bar. And of course we became part of that afternoon routine – to me one of the pleasures of being longer term visitors is that opportunity to become part of the landscape.

I don’t know why Anguilla is overlooked by tourists from the UK. Those that have heard of it are likely to have done so because it was absolutely clobbered by Hurricane Irma in September 2017 (at about the same time that Maria was wreaking havoc in Dominica). My friend at the Watersports Centre, who I spent a happy morning with whilst the children scrabbled about on giant inflatables in the bay, told me about the damage (we were the only punters for the entire morning!). At the watersports office, she showed me where whole walls had been washed away and she explained that most of the the beach ended up in what remained of the building. Apart from putting the roof back on, she hasn’t rebuilt it to its former self. All around the island roofs were blown off and there are still many missing. There was little flooding this time but the island was without power (or ‘no current’ as my friend referred to it) for 3 months. Anguilla tidied themselves up pretty quickly, not having to wait for government approval back in Europe which has apparently hampered the efforts in neighbouring St Martin/St Maarten. They are a no nonsense people who mucked in and helped each other in order to get themselves up and running for the crucial start of the tourist season in Mid December.

Fortunately water based crime (and any crime in fact) very low in Anguilla.

This footage from our anchorage. Hurricane damage.

Beautiful as our bay was, we did want to do some exploring. All the other anchorages are a designated marine park for which one has to pay US$150 for the pleasure of spending the day there. So, other than Prickly Pear Cays, which Dora will tell you about, we rented a car and explored by land. No volcanoes to climb here, so we undertook an unforgivingly unshaded walk to Captain’s Bay, a remote beach in the far north with a swanky house at one end but otherwise deserted. Sea and beach insanely photogenic. We passed various villas perched on the cliff on our way, some inhabited but many still suffering from the ravages of Hurricane Irma.

Not a volcano in sight….

But the quality of the sand made the journey worth while. When wet it is like liquid velvet. I’ve never seen or felt the like before.

We spent a happy day at Shoal Bay, with its boutique hotels and beach bars where all was uncrowded serenity.

Apologies for bizarre pic. But my toe nails matched the colour of the water so perfectly…. that’s Dora coming out of the sea

Anguilla likes a party as much as the next Carribean island and we had an entertaining evening at Elvis’s Beach Bar, having a beer and playing oversized Connect 4 and Jenga, whilst people watching at the bar. Group from New York – lady in long floaty dress and straw hat “Why don’t we have something like this in the Hamptons?”. Later, a completely bonkers 60 something year old woman in pineapple sunglasses who even the children realised wasn’t entirely with it. Then a little 2 year old on holiday with her family who came to play Jenga with Daisy. What was lovely about the place was that all these characters were more than welcome and rubbed along happily enough.

Beach Jenga at Elvis Bar

I’ll let the girls fill you in a bit more on Prickly Pear Cays and hurricane Irma but if I could only come back to one island, it would be Anguilla. Despite the lack of volcanoes! An amazing place to end our extended Caribbean adventure and the sudden realisation that we turn for home next week and there’s a lot of miles to cover.

Road Bay, Anguilla

Thoughts on Anguilla from the skipper’s perspective…

Approach: We sailed N. from Ile Fourchue (NW of St Barts) past the E coast of St Martin to round the NE corner of Anguilla through the Scrub Island Channel, an unsurprisingly lumpy experience given the shallowness of the water (20-30m) and the long fetch of the trade wind waves (3000M). Scrub Island channel is worthy of respect being open to the SE, only 2 cables wide and 7m deep. We surfed through gratefully, close to the cleaner N side in beautiful turquoise water. Indeed, there may be lovelier looking island in the Caribbean than Anguilla but the waters around it are second to none. Turning E and then SE down the Anguilla coast requires close attention as there are plenty of fishing buoys as well as unmarked (tho’ well charted reefs). Road Bay is approached from the W with no off-lying hazards and gently shelving depths.

Anchorage: The bay is three quarters of a mile wide by half a mile deep and open to the W. During our stay while the trades were blowing hard there was no swell at all. Anchor on either side of the (informally) marked approach channel to the Roro dock. Most people will choose to be on the N side to be closer to the dinghy dock. Depths are between 3-4m on the N side, 4-5 on the S side. Holding is excellent on soft sand. The bay is an active place with ships calling at the Roro dock most days…

…supply boats ferrying out supplies and tourists to the outlying islands and ‘party cats’ coming and going from local bases and St Martin. Plenty of turtles are to be seen and the dramatic wrecks on the S shore remind you that this isn’t a place to ride out a hurricane.

The beach is of the most beautiful white powdery coral sand, the water gin clear.

Formalities: Customs and Immigration are to be found immediately in front of the dinghy dock (which the local kids love diving off in the evenings) where notably friendly officials are to be found between 0800 and 1600 daily. If you want to take your boat anywhere other than Road Bay you’ll need a Marine Park Permit. These are not cheap and are priced according to GRT thus:

Under 5: US$28/d

5-20: US$56/d

Over 20: US$140/d

If you buy six you get another, seventh, day free. The permit allows you anchor (or pick up a mooring if you can find one) anywhere round Anguilla and its outlying islands but you can only overnight at Crocus Bay (ie you have to come back to either Road Bay or Crocus Bay each evening). One might be tempted to ignore the rules but we had the strong impression that the authorities keep a keen eye on visiting yachts and would be highly unamused by any violations.

Services: Road Bay has a number of excellent beach side bars and eateries – but cheap it ain’t – expect to pay at least US$20 for a burger and chips. Elvis’ is particularly lively and fun, live jazz at Jonno’s on a Sunday afternoon was mellow. Road Bay doesn’t have a filling station, a grocery, much less a chandlery. If you hire a car (which is easy and not too expensive by Caribbean standards) you can visit the Best Buy supermarket which has a pretty good offering, but it goes without saying that Anguilla isn’t a place to stock up. Like most islands that are short of water laundry is expensive and of questionable quality.

Things to do: Lolling about by a beautiful beach glugging rum cocktails will suit many but elsewhere we enjoyed driving up to the N to walk round to (another) amazingly beautiful beach at Captains Bay.

Our children loved the water park not lest because they were the only visitors that morning. Shoal Bay was also a favourite. We joined friends to take their yacht over to Prickly Pear Cay which was, surprise, surprise, even more staggeringly lovely than everything we had previously seen on Anguilla. The colours really have to be seen to be believed – US$140 might seem a bit steep for a day anchorage but in this case it was a bargain.

All in all: Anguilla is lovely (if expensive) but the best thing about is the quite extraordinary friendliness of everyone we met. People getting cynical about the Caribbean should make Anguilla their next port of call.

St Barths – where even the goats are well fed and glossy haired….

Dora has told you about the turtles we met on St Barths – they were truly amazing. We hadn’t originally planned to visit St Barths , not fancying anchorages packed full of super yachts and assuming it wouldn’t be quite our cup of tea, but we met a lovely couple in St Kitts who’d told us of the amazing turtles in Anse du Colombier. So off we went.

Superyacht with real yacht on deck. The yacht she is carrying is probably about our size!

Even before we met the turtles I was actually quite taken with the place, from our 3 hour pit stop in the capital, Gustavia. The port office were delightful and friendly. The supermarket wasn’t too hideously expensive by Caribbean standards – they even sold take away sushi! The showers ashore were clean and plentiful and there’s a great ice creamery. I had to ignore the Gucci, Hermes, Bulgari that line the dock. As does everyone else it seems, to my surprise!

Once checked in and stocked up we headed round the corner to Anse du Colombier where we spent a heavenly three days on a mooring. The turtles feeding feeding patch was about 20m away and we snorkelled above watching them feed and glide up and dive down, waving their little flippers at us. It was just enchanting I have to say and, for me, far more delightful than even the most colourful of fish.

Anse du Colombier from above. I’m sure you’re all v good at spotting us from on high now! That’s Ile Forchue in the background at St Martin in the far distance.

Other activities were limited to scrambles ashore across rocky paths to the nearby villages. There’s a lot of villas and boutique hotels, all exceptionally tasteful and lots of Chemin Privee and Access Interdit signs. The most prominent being at the entrance to a dilapidated 70s house originally built by the Rockerfelllers, but now abandoned. I’d have loved to sneak about but was scared of stumbling into an episode from The Night Manager. Love any further information on that one if you can find it….

No such signs for boats though and we felt very welcome both in Colombier and then in Ile Forchue, where we stopped off on our way out. Both quite reminiscent of Scotland. Or Greece perhaps. Apart from the glossy goats.

Next stop Anguilla

Ps. Thank you to Laura for update on the Rockefeller house. See comment below. She also sent this picture. The weird tower structure has gone and windows all blown out now but otherwise very recognisable.