Sailing in the Caribbean St Barths, St Martin and Aruba
Saint-Barthélemy
This Island had been on our wish list for a while. We were almost there, having motor sailed for the last 6 NM we were starting to plan our anchor strategy when we heard a noise and the engine stopped for half a minute and then started again. We were slowly going forward, but we had the feeling that we dragged something. After a minute we could increase the speed. We thought about jumping in the see directly to check the propeller, but we were so close to the anchorage, that we decided to wait.
There were at least 200 boats in the anchorage, and we had to search for a while before we found a spot. Nilla jumped in the water to check the propeller and found that it was tangled in by a long rope from a lobster trap. Anders put on his diving gear and equipped with a knife, he started to cut off the mess. After 45 minutes and an empty tank, he had managed to cut half of the nest and also cut himself on the blades on the propeller shaft, which normally cuts the lines. A shark came bye to inspect our methods. Luckily Anders could stitch the deep wound on his right hand with his left hand.
We went ashore to fill up our tanks and were lucky that the local diving company could fill two tanks for 20 dollars. This and a good haircut were some of the cheaper things on Saint Bartholomey. During the last ten years, the island has become a playground for toys in the luxury class. We could park our dingy between mega yachts before we strolled on the picturesque streets with wooden houses, almost feeling like on Marstrand in Sweden. The restaurants were fabulous with quality service and attention to customer at the level we haven’t been spoiled with recently. Almost too good to be true. The experience was as exquisite as the cocktails, but the Caribbean feeling had got lost somewhere in all perfection.
Before sailing off to St Martin, we stayed for a night on anchor in Anse du Columbier. Where we snorkeled among turtles. We found some nice corals, but years ago fishing with dynamite was a custom with a terrific effect on the corals. Luckily some corals have survived the radical fishing tactics.
Swedish handcraft from the 18th century. Made in St. Barths.
Sint Maarten
St Martin was our next waypoint, as we had heard, it would be the best place in the area to get our hydraulic system fixed. On a Friday in Valencia, more than a year ago, we had a leak on the hydraulic tubes to the kick of the boom. The tube had been replaced in 2015, but the sun had been reckless. It was a Friday before long holidays, and we found a company that could help us. Unfortunately, they could only make a steel connection (not stainless), which had to be changed in a year. We changed this connection later in Cadiz, but now the connection inside the boat had started to leak. The hydraulic oil container was almost empty.
The Island of Saint Maarten and St Martin is divided in two halves between The Netherlands and France. The oldest treaty in effect in the Caribbean is the treaty of Concordia. It was signed between the French and the Dutch for the partition of St Martin in 1648.
To reach the berth we had to be there right in time for the opening of the bridge. An agent came out to us to give us advice. We got the right timing and motored stoically in the line of boats slowly passing the bridge and the biggest parking lot of superyachts we have seen. We are directed to our berth beside a fisher boat and a catamaran on the Dutch side of the island. The Marina is nice, but as lively as the reefs in St Barths. It is interesting to indulge with the different cultures on either side. The French have the good restaurants and supermarkets. Really everyone on the Dutch side recommends us to go there. On the Dutch side we find all spare parts and electronics we need.
Dingy dock at the local marine store.
This is how the old hydraulic hose looked like.
The upper cover of the hydraulic hose was brittle, so we decided to change the 10-meter hose. This took quite a while because some of the interior had to be removed. The new hydraulic tubes are installed within three days, and we are already planning our next longer sail down to the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) close to the boarder of Venezuela. Our hope was to sail to Bonaire, because our Swedish diving instructor said it would be the best diving spot in the world. But we were not that lucky. The mooring balls are too small for Yaghan’s 33 tons and the Marina was occupied by a fishing competition and anchoring is forbidden to protect the corals. We set course on Aruba instead.
Sargasso weed on the way.
Aruba
We left the Lesser Antilles from Sint Maarten Friday morning on the 12th of January for a 530NM crossing to Aruba – the A in the ABC islands for a first stop over on our way to Panama.
After 72h and close to 600 NM we arrived on the morning of the 15th January in Aruba. After a bit tricky docking were we touched ground in the very shallow Barcadera Harbour for clearing customs and immigration we could move to very nice and modern Renaissance Marina.
We can now enjoy resort life until a decent weather windows opens to continue to Panama
Aruba, also known as “one happy island” is the perfect spot to relax while it has any convenience you would wish for.
It was impressive to see flamingos walk by stoically between al the sun bathers on the beach.
Every second day two to three new cruise ships arrived to Aruba, making more than hundreds of new tourists happy.
We had to stay in Aruba a bit longer than planned due to one of those Columbian low pressures which often causes stronger than desired winds in the western part of this sea. So we got time to check the rigg with professional help. Luckily all is well.
The sailing community is very active in Aruba and it was great to have time to learn to know other sailors and share experiences. Most of the other fellow sailors were sailing to Panama. Toni and Anna on the Oyster Ahlam from Spain became very good friends and we were both checking the weather systems thoroughly and decided to sail together to the San Blas islands in Panama.
It was time to set sail for Panama!
Leave a Reply