ST-MARTIN / SINT MAARTEN

Just prior to arriving in St-Martin, we did a lunch stop at Île Tintamarre.  Approximately 28 years ago, I sailed here with my step sister Kellie on her sailboat, 'Mystic VII'. At the time, we had the island all to ourselves however now, unfortunately, it was crawling with tourists. 

Several mooring buoys have been added and most were taken when we arrived.  We got away from the crowds by walking across the island to the windward side.   It was delightfully peaceful.  

ÎleTintamarre is a small island approximately 0.8 square kilometers.  It is only 2 miles from Saint Martin and is administered as part of the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin. The island is now uninhabited however between 1946 and 1950, it was the base for the airline Compagnie Aérienne Antillaise.

THE BEAUTIFUL BEACH ON ÎLE TINTAMARRE

This is our second time here in St-Martin (French) Sint Maarten (Dutch) with Alpenglow.  Our previous blog on this area is dated March 30, 2015 if you’d like to view that.  Since we visited the island last year, this year we concentrated on spending time with friends and preparing ourselves and the boat for our passage to the western Caribbean starting in Bonaire. 

Many people ask us what we did to prepare for our sail to Bonaire and beyond.   Here’s a short list:    Check flare expiry dates, add a night light for the auto pilot, check rigging tensions, provision, laundry, teeth cleaning, receive new t-mobile phone, refill soda stream canisters, fill up tank with fresh water, top off diesel and gas, purchase new camera, purchase boat parts, verify ditch bag, test epirb,  go over emergency procedures and more….

It’s a real pleasure taking the local buses on the Dutch side.  Not only are the fares cheap, everyone says good morning or good afternoon while entering the bus.  How nice is that?  So, we made a trip to cruise ship town called Philipsburg to purchase a new camera.  We also made a long trip to the Dutch Quarter by bus to get our soda stream canisters refilled.  Believe you me; it’s not easy finding a place, anywhere to get CO2.  I was very pleased because it’s hard to find tonic for my G&Ts and we don’t have to carry loads of cans from the grocery store.  The only issue now is what do we do when we run out of the liquid to make the tonics and coke?  Note to self:  ask visitors to bring soda stream tonic and coke.

LOOK WHAT WE FOUND AT THE CHINESE GROCERY STORE NEAR PHILIPSBURG

We had lots of fun doing happy hours, shopping, participating in a lady’s luncheon and just hanging out with many cruiser friends old and new; Veronique & Philip, Bob & Gigi, Janice & Dave, Brita & Jason, Sally & Peter, George & Jan, and Catherine & Henry.  The day before we left more friends arrived but we just couldn’t stay any longer as hurricane season will soon be upon us and we have many miles to go. 

One of our special days was celebrating Gigi’s birthday on board.  I made a delicious Mahi mahi dinner that we caught.  Also on s/v Mowzer, Catherine & Henry hosted a birthday party for Jason & Gigi.  Catherine was amazed she got 12 people on board :)  Thanks for Janice for an amazing chocolate cake !

BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR GIGI AND JASON ON S/V MOWSER.  JANICE MAKES THE MOST WONDERFUL CAKES

One of our favorite spots for lunch or dinner is called ‘Little Jerusalem’ on the Dutch side.  They serve delicious Shawarmas and the owners are so friendly that it’s almost useless to order food since they’ll just tell you what is best (maybe because that’s all they have?).  For $8 to $12 you can get a plate which is so huge, you can definitely share it.  A shawarma is a Levantine Arab meat preparation, where lamb, chicken, turkey, beef, veal, carabeef, or mixed meats are placed on a spit (commonly a vertical spit in restaurants), and may be grilled for as long as a day.

The Heineken Regatta was being held while we were there.  For 4 days, there are parties, music shows and lots of boat racing.  We participated in their daily activities and watched the races from our dinghy right at the pin.  There were approximately 185 sailboats racing from bareboats to Volvos. 

In front of each race is a boat with a biologist on board who watches for whales.  If a whale is spotted, the race is automatically canceled since the baby whales cannot dive yet.

One of the fun things to do is hang out at the Yacht club bar and watch the boats come in under the bridge after a day’s race.

THE DINGHY DOCK WAS ALWAYS VERY BUSY DURING THE REGATTA

JASON, TIM, CATHERINE, SUSAN, JANICE, DAVID & HENRY  HAVING FUN AT THE REGATTA

TIM & I DINGYED TO THE PIN TO WATCH THE RACES

JUDGES TIM & BOB AT THE YACHT CLUB

GIGI, BRITA, CATHERINE & SUSAN AT AN OUTDOOR CONCERT

RACING BOATS COMING IN AFTER A DAY'S RACE

On our last day, I thought I’d take a picture of our view, called the Witche’s tit where we are anchored. 

Next destination:  BONAIRE !

INFORMATION FOR CRUISERS:

Marigot bay can be very rolly.  If so, just go into the lagoon for protection.  The water in the bay is much nicer than in the lagoon so you may want to make water outside !

Fuel & water & laundry:  It was really simple to fuel up and take on water at the Port St-Louis marina.  You don’t have to be a guest there to do your own laundry, however small.

If you want to fill up your Soda Stream CO2 canisters you have 3 choices:

1   1.  This is what I did:  Take the bus to Philipsburg but ask the driver to let you off where you can take a 2^nd bus to the French Quarter.  Once on the French Quarter bus, ask the driver to drop you off in the Dutch Quarter at the McDonald’s.  TROPIGAS is directly behind McDonald’s.  It’ll take you about 45 minutes to get there.  TROPIGAS was able to fill 2 types of canister fittings that I had, namely N207 and D207.  It costs $5us each canister.  I had to wait approximately 2.5 hours.  In the meantime, go to McDonald’s for free wifi.  TROPIGAS SXM telephone # is:  (721) 588-6363.

    2.  Go to GAS KING.  It is a 2 minute walk from Budget marine in the Simpson Bay lagoon on the Dutch side.  They will bring your canisters to Tropigas on a Wednesday and return them the following Wednesday.  A cruiser friend was charged $9.99 a bottle.  GAS KING’s phone numbers are (721) 542-0355 and/or (721) 544-3138.

    3.  CARIBEAN INDUSTRIAL GASES, 7, Parcelle Normand, Rue de Cul de Sac (near Palm Court at Orient Beach hotel) in Grand Case on the French side.  Phone # 0890 39 10 24.  I was never able to contact anyone by phone.  Update:  A cruiser said this place is no CLOSED.

Immigration:  You can now check in and out on the French side at Island Waterworld on the waterfront street near the Capitainerie for 2 Euros.  Yup, I said 2 Euros, versus checking into the Dutch side where they charge you to go thru the bridge and a daily charge to anchor.

Self serve Laundry: 

1  - The one near Shrimpy’s is now closed. 

   - There is one however to the left of the Super U grocery store next to the        parking lot on the French side (past the bus terminal).

    - Park your dinghy near the capitainerie on the French side.  Walk in front of the restaurants to the corner where you can walk to the street.  On the first street, turn right and walk 5 minutes.  It’s on your right side.  It’s big and very clean.  They have only been open for 7 months.  I used this and liked it.

Laundry service: 

1. Shrimpy’s on the French side near the bridge.  They have a free dinghy dock. If they are busy, you will only be able to get your laundry back the next day even if they say they have same day service.

2. Many people use the laundry service on the Dutch side behind Lagoonies however a cruiser friend of ours had one of their laundry bags stolen or lost.

Cruiser’s net is on channel 10 at 7:30, Mondays thru Sundays.

Hailing channel is channel 10.

Groceries:

-         PRIME store on the Dutch side is near Budget Marine.  It’s like a Costco. 

-     LE CARREFOUR is a huge, beautiful, expensive grocery store on the Dutch side near Port De Plaissance.  Park your dinghy at PDP and walk to the street and turn right.

-         SUPER U on the French side is past the bus terminal and it’s a huge, well priced grocery store with the best wine prices around.  Across from SUPER U is a bakery.

-        SIMPLY is a convenient, small grocery store 2 minute walk from Shrimpy’s.

Good wifi:  Shrimpy’s for $3 all day.  They do have drinks for purchase.

SINT MAARTEN & SAINT MARTIN

SIMPSON BAY LAGOON:  We anchored in the Simpson Bay Lagoon, on the Dutch and French side.  It is a large bay with lots of room, and it's a calm anchorage !  The downside is that the water color isn't the nicest, thus we never swam off the boat.  We could of anchored at Marigot Bay on the French side or at Simpson Bay, before the bridge on the Dutch side however the anchorages are very rolly.  So, really, it's just a trade off.  Both have good dinghy access.

We walked up the Fort St-Louis for a view of Marigot Bay.  It's not the most well kept fort but the view is awesome.  I felt right at home here in a French country.


















MARIGOT BAY.  PHOTO TAKEN FROM FORT ST-LOUIS

GRAND CASE BAIE:  Grand Case Baie in French St-Martin was one of my favorite places in St-Martin.  It's very quaint, has lots of French restaurants, and has a nice beach.  It's a good place to just chill for awhile. 



ONE OF THE MANY NICE RESTAURANTS IN GRAND CASE



THE BEACH AT GRAND CASE

CALMOS CAFE AND RESTAURANT BY THE BEACH

KIDS BIKED OFF THE DOCKS INTO THE WATER FOR FUN

TIM, SUSAN, DARIA, SCOTT, KEVIN,

Our Commodore from our Lake Dillon Yacht club, Scott Snyder and his family and friends were chartering in the area.  I'm glad we were able to visit for awhile.

MELISSA & DAN ON S/V SLOW DANCING AND CLIFF & KATHY ON S/V NAVIGATOR

PHILIPSBURG:  We took a local bus for $2 to Philipsburg.  This is where the cruise ships are.  As far as cruise ship shops go, it's one of the nicer places I've seen, but still, it's all geared towards large cruise ship tourists. 

On the beach you can find cheap beer and there are several restaurants.  Just beyond the cruise ship stores, you can find real bargains !  The beach here is pretty long and actually, quite nice but busy with tourists.

CRUISE SHIP SHOPPING AREA

MAHO BEACH:  At Maho Beach in Saint Maarten, the airport is the main attraction.  No place in the world can people get so close to places that they can almost touch the fuselage as the planes fly over the beach and come in for a lading at the Princess Juliana International Airport.  A thin, 2 lane street separates the beach from the runway.  Thrill seekers flock to feel the jets take off and see them land.  Near the end of the runway, the Sunset Bar and Grill is packed with people.  Each morning, they write the flight schedule on a surf board and broadcast air traffic control instead of music. 

But, there's a real danger.  The massive jet engines can easily produce winds of more than 100 mph, blowing people and sand into the water.  There are signs everywhere warning people of the danger but in my mind, I just thought the signs were overrated....I was wrong.  Tim and I stood on the other side of the street near a jet getting ready to take off.  When the engines started, I was sand blasted so badly that I ran into the water in pain.  It really hurt !  THAT WAS SCARY !  I'll never do that again.  In fact, there were people right up against the fence !  It's quite something to see, but please, stay away from the jet engines. 

There are several youtube videos about this.   www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2IB54jb3tc

Hints for cruisers:  (Things may have changed since we've been there...)
1 - On the Dutch side, there's a store somewhat like Costco called 'Prime store'.  It's located near the huge ACE hardware store.  They do not have fresh fruits or vegetables.
2 - There are cruiser happy hours at 'Barnacles' on the Dutch side.
3-  If you like naked beaches, to go Orient Beach which is near the Butterfly farm.
4 - In St-Martin, there's a big grocery store called 'U Store' which has everything including cheap wine, cheese, ect... Across the way is the Bakery, get your fresh baguette's there and other sweets.  The 'U Store' is near the bus terminal.
5 - While we were there, there were numerous dinghy's being stolen from either boats or dinghy docks.  Lock 'em up !
6 - If you clear in at 'The Capitainerie' on the French side, it's cheaper than clearing in at Marigot Bay.
7 - Calmos restaurant on the beach at Grand Case Baie has live reggae music on Sundays.
8 - There's a cruiser's net at 7:30am on  VHFchannel 10 from Mondays to Saturdays
9 - On the Dutch side, if you like Shoarmas, there's an outdoor Israeli restaurant near Barnacle's.  They are really good and not expensive at all.  The owner is extremely friendly and he'll give you samples if you'd like.