St Maarten and Anguilla February 2009
Okay, geographically this is part of the Leeward’s, but this felt like a new chapter…
We set our course for St. Maarten, thinking it would be a quick stop for us as we were to meet friends and Big Bear neighbors Bob & Pat in the BVI in a week’s time…or so we thought, and then we heard it… that engine noise, the choking one that says “help me I need fuel”, and then confirmed by a look at the dropping rpm gauge…”no no no no no, don’t you dare you miserable piece of %&$#@ “- stop that thinking Jo, breathe, center - “I take that back, you lovely wonderful, fantastic hard working engine - I know you are fine, all is well”…rumble rumble….”oh crapola!- pleeeese don’t stop!” Ade slowed her waaay down and she stabilized. She would not allow us over 1000 rpm’s. Our floating pit crew, Ken on DW and Les on V were there hovering, helping us call marinas to see if there was a Cummins mechanic on the island and where we should go. For usually lucky people, our luck ran out on the mechanic…the one and only Cummins guy was at the airport and on his way off island for a class, and yes, he was taking his diagnostic computer with him…won’t be back for a week. But we didn’t have a week - guests were coming - they already had their airline tickets…to St. Thomas!
To enter Simpson Bay, where we definitely wanted to be, and where we were able to secure a slip at IGY, we had to pass through the cut, which has a drawbridge that opens on a limited schedule. Thankfully we got that far, dropped the hook and hoped that she would start up again when it was time to pass through. She did, and we had Les & Rose in their dink, the IGY dockhand in another and then Dreamweaver close behind just in case she decided to stop mid transit. Our own little parade. As we passed thru the drawbridge, we got our first taste of what this Dutch side of the island was all about, the deck at the SMYC was jammed with happy hour enthusiasts shouting out a warm welcome. We were escorted to a slip in the lovely Simpson Bay IGY marina. Phew!
Ade, Ken and Les figured out what they thought it was, and a call to Hatton Marine in Seattle confirmed that it sounded like a fuel pump problem. We did not carry a spare, cuz apparently ‘IT NEVER GOES OUT’ - oh yeah? There were no replacements on the island, but thankfully Hatton had one in stock and would FED EX it to us, but with a very haphazard air schedule, we learned we would not have it for several days.
Okay, well now, what about dear friends on their way. I was heartsick, what do we tell them, we might make it to the Virgins? We might be stuck in St. Maarten for a few days or a month? We didn’t know for sure if it was the pump, and if not, then we would be stuck until the St. Maarten mechanic returned, and then, who knows?
I bring this up because it is a very real problem that we all encounter while cruising and meeting guests. Stuff happens, plans don’t always work out. Well, there is a perfect solution. Pick great, understanding, ‘we are in it for the adventure’ friends and no matter what you throw at them, they are game! Such are our friends. Bob & Pat took their original flight to STT, then purchased a one way to St. Maarten and met us there. They said they’d figure out how to get back for the return flight from wherever we were. Aren’t they terrific?
That settled, and we in a more accepting place on the current engine glitch, we realized that we were “stuck” in a wonderful place. It is filled with more Mega Yachts than we have ever seen, even in Ft. Lauderdale, St. Bart’s, Antigua or Seattle, those big babies were all in St. Maarten in February. Jimmy Buffet’s beautiful Wedgewood blue and modest by comparison “Continental Drifter” was there, as well as the huge “Limitless”, which apparently belongs to the owner of the Limited. We peeked in her “garage deck” and if you can imagine this, she carries two pristine Chris Crafts along with several jet skis and other water craft. I think Wandering Star could fit on her decks.
We’d figured out how to get into the exclusive other IGY at Isle de Sol where they were all berthed. We announced to the guards that we were going to the public “Sand Bar” restaurant and after they made note of our passports, etc., they allowed us to pass into this rarified gathering of the world’s best yachts. We quickly realized that there were very few owners aboard; it was mainly idle crews having a wonderful time. In fact, these boats are seldom used by the owners-especially these days, and the charter business is way off. So we mingled with the impossibly young crews. They are from all over the world, have great stories to tell, and are so darn cute. We all wished we’d known about these jobs when we were 20!
Simpson Bay is a great location. Jimbo’s restaurant was right there at the Marina and was our internet gathering space. Dottie and Ken were there most days clicking away, when he wasn’t helping out with various mechanical issues. The boys found fantastic marine stores with everything (but Cummins fuel pumps), great supermarkets, even another really good hair dresser, a first class movie theatre, top notch restaurants and bars with live music, and a really helpful and friendly cruising community. We danced like we’d not been able to since Mexico. Lagoonie’s was crazy on 007 night. We wore sort of costumes and sipped apple martinis, but Les and Rose really got into it with circa 1960’s groovy James Bond outfits. Other than a tree falling on me and knocking me to the ground, (a huge free standing teak trunk) while I was boogying - and let the record reflect that it was a stranger that danced into it, thus pushing it ON ME, it was a fun night.
Bob & Pat arrived in good spirits on Thursday night. The next day we took the dink over to Marigot Bay on the French side to spend some Euro’s and enjoy a nice sidewalk café lunch. It was Ken’s birthday and we’d cooked up plans for a great celebration at a few of the local haunts. The pump finally arrived and Ken and Les came over to help out with the installation. Apparently Les has also been a diesel mechanic and was limbering up to climb into our engine room and take it on.
Bob decided to escort us girls to downtown Philipsburg for a look around. We poked around the shops and craft/artist stalls and wandered the almost deserted beach. We came across an adult toy store and left poor Bob on the steps for an hour…he refused to accompany us inside- good thing, we were in hysterics looking at the “toys”… do people really use…oh, never mind.
We returned to the boat, and to our great relief heard the engine purr once again-it was the fuel pump - yippee. Thank you guys! Trip On! We had a weather window and so the intrepid three once again made plans to move onto the BVI, via Anguilla.
Anguilla is just a three hour run and it was a beautiful day, so we waited for the 11AM opening and headed out into the Caribbean Sea. It was a Sunday afternoon when we arrived and all the little beach shack restaurants were busy. A great bluesy group was playing at Johno’s and they were fantastic. We shared a few of the local dishes and the non-skippers had a few beers. The music and people watching was great. Wish we had more time here…but a weather window must not be ignored in these circumstances…maybe we will be back! As the sun set, we were off again.
