St Barthelemy

Named after his brother, Bartolomew, Christopher Columbus landed here on his second trip to the new world. Somehow the French took it over from the Spanish in the 1600s and then they gave it to Sweden in exchange for port rights in Gothenbrug, Sweden.  In the 1870s-ish, the French bought it back from Sweden.  Confused?  Basically - it's tres French with a Swedish feel.

This island is clean, fun and tres riche!! After looking around the crowded anchorage in Gustavia and trying to find a spot between the mooring balls (moorings and anchors don't mix) we chose to move over to Anse de Colombier and pick up a free mooring. It is more protected from the east and we don't have to worry about others dragging on top of us. The beautiful beach and views are just a bonus.

We plan to spend almost a week here celebrating Baxter's birthday hiking, snorkeling and St Barth'ing.

Navigating around the mega yachts into Gustavia.

Port de Gustavia

French islands don't mind les chiens.

With prices like this, we will live on baguettes alone.

Since we are a considerable distance from the port, we needed gas for the dinghy.  This boat delivered it to St Barth's who then delivered it to us.

Breakfast in the cockpit is the best!

But a snack of croissants & nutella at Le Bar de L'oubli (The Forgotten Bar) is pretty tasty

Le Select - serving the original "Cheeseburger in Paradise".  Rumor is Jimmy Buffett just sometimes randomly shows up.

Sunsets on the water can't be put into words.

Très Riche!  Docks of mega yachts.

Our neighborhood - Terrapin over Baxter's left shoulder in back.

Ile Fourchue

When we left the Dutch lagoon through the Simpson Bay Bridge on St Maarten, we were on our way towards St Barth’s with a plan to stop over at the deserted island of Ile Fourchue, accessible only by boat.  We beat into 27 kt winds and 9-foot seas, trying everything to get through it – tacking back and forth, looking for another destination, and finally submitting, for four hours.  

We were happy to pick up one of the two mooring balls on Ile Fourchue that were empty.  We soon realized that the three strand line on the pennant only had one strand left and the mooring would probably fail in any big gust.  Fortunately, one of the day chartered catamarans from St Barth’s dropped their ball right before sunset and we maneuvered over to pick it up.  After close inspection, we decided the new one was acceptable, which is good because it blew hard all night with several torrential down pours. 

We hiked around Ile Fourchue for some great views of the Atlantic Ocean, St Barth’s, St Maarten, and beyond.  Kala was very excited to have a beach to run and play – which she hasn’t really had since the BVI.

The next day called for a bit of boat maintenance.  Since we could finally see the bottom of Terrapin again, we scrubbed the growth and barnacles off the prop.  Baxter also checked the zinc grounding plate bolted to the bottom of the hull that literally disintegrated as he touched it.  With the “dust” of the zinc floating around, a 5-ft barracuda decided to check it out and see if there was anything interesting he needed to know about.  I quickly jumped in the dinghy and offered to get the new zinc for Baxter which he then bolted to the bottom of the hull (all of this underwater, of course.) 

We recognized another boat in the mooring field from St Maarten and dinghied over to say hello.  We made plans to get together later for sundowners and we were so glad we did.  Jim and Cheryl on SV Ptarmigan, hailing from Breckinridge, CO, have been cruising for over 34 years and have so many great stories to tell of their time in Alaska, the South Pacific, Thailand, South Africa and hundreds of other places.  They have been in the Caribbean for four years and had great information about some of their favorite islands and ports.  They also have a cute little Yorkie named Buster, who is their third dog aboard Ptarmigan since they set out in the 80s.  They even used to have a bird. 

Today’s winds are supposed to increase, which means the seas will increase also – but we are fortunately in a place where we have hiking, snorkeling and protection from the weather to hide out.  We don’t have internet access, but we will enjoy that for a short time as well.  Off to explore another reef…

The line waiting for the bridge to open.  If you lag behind, the bridge will close without notice and you can't leave for another 6 hours.  Notice that most boats are "treading water" fighting wind and current waiting for the traffic to move.

There is usually a crowd of landlubbers at Simpson Bay Marina whose only view of the megayachts is as they pass through the bridge.  We took pictures of them - they took pictures of us.

Il Fourchue.  Are you for hiking, Reuben?

Wind and waves as Kala and Baxter admire the power of the wide open ocean.

View from Ile Fourchue facing west - Terrapin is in bay on right.

St Barth's - five miles from Ile Fourchue.  Would you swim across if you had to?

Sunset on Terrapin (second boat from right)

On a deserted island with no patisserie, I am left to my own devices to make pancakes.

Double rainbow makes any bay amazing!

When in France, expect to see a lot of naked people….booze cruise of naked people - and they were not shy.

Happy Terrapin

Beautiful Day.

Kala happy to be playing on a beach again.

He must not have checked his mooring ball.

Time for a hike! 

Make sure you hydrate.

Happy girl.

Gillespie Selfie!

How To Pull Up Anchor - Mega Yacht 101

Terrapin is anchored in the Dutch side of the lagoon on St Maarten, not purposefully, but coincidentally, in front of the mega yacht docks at Palapa Marina (there are bigger yachts on Snoopy Island, where Steve Jobs' boat was moored, but these are still mega – as in over 150+ ft.)

When the mega yachts anchor here, it is “med-moor” style, derived from the method of anchoring in the Mediterranean Sea where they tie their stern to the dock and then put out a starboard anchor and a port anchor.  This helps get as many boats as possible in the smallest amount of space. 

This morning, while we enjoyed our breakfast of fresh croissants from the local patisserie, Baxter, Kala and I watched closely as the mega yacht “Seven Sins” pulled up their anchor.  

Step 1 – Hire two divers and a dinghy.  This could be included in the dockage fee at the marina but we can’t be sure.  Maybe this is a negotiation point.

Step 2 – The diver team marks the anchor chain with white buoys.  If a small boat is in the way – tell them they need to move.  Terrapin was close but we lucked out.

Step 3 – Diver team ties an inflatable buoy to the anchor on the bottom to mark the anchor.

Step 4 – They use an air tank and inflate the buoy to mark the anchor location and lift it off the bottom.

Step 5 – The divers signal the crew on the deck of the mega yacht (via loud whistle) to turn on anchor wash pumps (hopefully this is sea water) and start pulling up the chain.  The divers then hold on as the buoy slowly moves towards the yacht.

Step 6 – Important:  Avoid crossing the opposite anchor chain(s) of the mega yachts next to your yacht.

Step 7 – Crew resumes pulling up the anchor until the mega anchor is stored tightly on the bow with now only lines (aka ropes) holding the yacht to the dock and the boats next to them.

Step 8 – Wait for the bridge to open as you are essentially “trapped” in the lagoon except for the 6 times per day the bridge opens.

Step 9 – You are free to enjoy the day until you find another marina in a couple of hours.

This is similar but very different to how we pull up our anchor, though we usually move our boat forward to meet the anchor – they can’t do that or they would take about five other mega yachts with them.  To tell you the truth, I’m not sure it’s worth all the trouble of owning a mega yacht.  We’ll just stick with Terrapin – since we have the same views anyway.

Diver team attaching white buoy to indicate anchor chain line.  This is for the boat fourth from the right.  Kala supervising and noting their proximity to our boat.

Inflatable buoy indicating anchor

The signal to start pulling in anchor.  Again, Kala ready to rally if they get too close.

Straightening out the other chains - don't want a cluster.

All clear - leaving the dock for the 10:30 bridge opening (they started pulling up the anchor at 8:15)

Panorama

After working hard on the boat for ten days straight, we were looking forward to getting out of the boat yard, off the boat, and doing something fun - a little exercise to get the blood flowing would be good too.  Mark on S/V Sea Life organized 14 cruisers to go on a "Hike from Hell.  Five hours of great, mud-sliding, stinging nettle-avoiding, spectacular viewing was just what we were looking for.

We met so many people from all over the world, including South Africa, Bermuda, Germany, Israel, and Australia.  In fact, we were the only cruisers from the U.S.  This sailing life really offers perspective in how we may all seem different but in the end, we are all very similar.

We walked through the streets to get to the trail.  Notice we are all very good single-filers.

We climbed up...

We climbed down...

And back up again...

Until we were sure the planes could see us (this really is a beacon for planes - see next airport photo to see how steep the climb out is from the runway)

We left the dock this morning and are now currently anchored right at the end of the runway above Baxter's right shoulder.

Mission(s) Accomplished

We arrived in St Maarten knowing we would be at the dock for approximately 10 days and we would have numerous projects on the to-do list.  We have been here for nine and will probably be casting off the lines this weekend.

We are proud of the teamwork we put forward and all the items we crossed off the list (with the help of others, of course…)

To mention a few of the projects:
*  All chain plates removed, replaced, and reinstalled.
*  New standing rigging.
*  New staysail furler (this is a HUGE difference for our offshore sailing plan - adding a smaller (staysail) sail for heavy weather conditions.  The benefit of the furler is we will not have to go forward on the bow to raise the sail - we can do so from the cockpit.
*  Changed the luff on the staysail from "hanks" to a bolt rope so it can be put on a furler.
*  I made spray cloths for the life lines.  These help keep salt water out of the cockpit while offshore.  Our previous spray cloths were old and still had an outline of old racing numbers.
*  A print from Trellis Bay, BVI framed and hung on wall to make the cabin feel cozy.
*  Pins replaced in main furler (huge repair as we have had issues with this and were nervous about it in heavy weather.)
*  New dorade box made and wood maker gave us a new dorade - for free (usually about $600.)
*  Hydraulic back stay seal replaced and tested for tension.
*  Rigging inspected and tuned.
*  New mast boot.
*  Grab rails on deck sanded and re-varnished.

BEFORE:  Old spray cloths (above the name.)  You can see the racing number (321…)

AFTER:  New "Molly-made" spray cloths.  Not perfect, but better.

BEFORE:  Old chain plates removed and ready for inspection.

AFTER:  Ohhhh Shiny new chain plates.

BEFORE:  Deck grab rails with peeling varnish and exposed teak.

AFTER:  Deck grab rails after 5 coats of varnish.  

Lagoonies - the bar next door to the boat yard where beer is $1 - Diet coke is even more than that.  

North Sails St Maarten - Tropical Sail Loft (just happens to be above Lagoonies).  They helped us out with the staysail conversion and extra material for the spray cloths.  They also offered very valuable free advice.

Our home for the last 10 days - FKG dock.  We moved around a few (5 times to be exact) times but the same general area. (Steve will be happy to see the a/c running!!!)

New polished chainplate (right side of frame) and print we picked up in Trellis Bay, BVI which we had framed in St Marteen.

We still have some clean up to do on the bedding and stantion but we love the shiny look of the new rigging!