Simpsons Lagoon

We are still in St Maarten. It has just been over two weeks since we arrived back from Mexico and time has flown. It has been two weeks of hard work getting Woodsia in ship shape for her voyage. Our days start at 8am and are lucky to finish by 6pm. It has been hot sweaty work but we are slowly getting there. Achievements to date include;
• Install of a new hot water system
• Cradle for our 10 man life raft (bloody heavy)
• Steel work for solar panels and radar (we can also use to winch dingy from the stern)
• Install of solar panels and solar controller (we now have enough power to support a small country)
• Radar
• Extra Battery

We have made some great friends that have made the experience bearable. Lyn and Bruce kindly adopted us on the first day and took me provision shopping and were a wealth of knowledge. Jeff and Merlyn are skippering a 66' Oyster to New Zealand (they also did the trip last year on their own boat) and Greg who has been an extra hand.... also a regular at the dinner table. Greg is also heading to Oz and is thinking of doing it solo so we will be most likely do the trip in convoy.

Des and Liz Lord arrived in St Maarten last Sunday (9th March). As expected they where a great help. Unfortunately we didn’t get to sail to St Lucia. They hired a car and got to see some of St Martin. They took us to a lovely French restaurant in Marigot. We also went out with our neighbors for some wicked Indian in Simpson Lagoon and spare ribs another night. We escaped for the weekend and anchored in Friars Bay (on the French side) for some relaxation. The weather was gorgeous and we had a lovely sail. I even made bread which turned out to be a great success.

We dropped Liz and Des off at the dock on our return and bid a sad farewell. We will probably be here for another week organizing a spiniker pole, hatch covers, service auto pilot and anchor.

We are thinking of changing our route and heading north west to the Virgin Islands (British and US)for a couple of weeks before heading south to the Panama where we want to explore the San Blas Islands. They are beautiful and unspoilt. The decision is partly due to safety (less risk of pirates, speed (lost some time getting stuff done) and we can also pick up our deflag paperwork on the way.

St Maarten

We got in about 10.30pm to St Maarten. It was a long day. We got to out hotel at about 11 ish only to find no one at reception. Just as we had made other arrangements to stay at a hotel in Philipsburg, someone showed up (about 12.30am). The next day we got to Oyster Pond around 1pm. Woodsia was waiting for us. We reviewed all the work that had been done and found that a number of the hatches still leaked and some small maintenance type stuff not completed. One our first night we met six duchies sitting in the bar. We got talking and found out that they had arrived for the Regatta and that their boat would not be ready until the following day. So Si kindly offered them to stay on our boat. Normally it would not be a problem except that we had stuff from one end of the boat to the next. With our recent homeless experience we moved stuff around and found enough beds - two outside, two on the saloon and two shared a bunk. A bit squashy but I know how it feels to think you have no where to sleep. The next morning they took us for a lovely breakfast.

That afternoon we took Woodsia out for her sea trial. We had a skipper with us thankfully as the swell was huge. She sailed really well, a lot easier to steer than Figaro. I was sick for the first time in a long time. Hopefully this is not going to be the norm.

We got back and I had to go and find some provisions as we didn’t even have toilet paper. I finally found this little shop that was undergoing renovations. I begged my way in the door and managed to get some basics…water, toilet paper, wine and beer. I came back and found the duchies having a drink with Phil and crew. Some lovely Americans who we drank wine with and sang Karaoke with (Hotel California with never sound the same again). Phil kindly gave us our first Jimmy Buffet CD along with a case of red wine and beer. It was greatly appreciated.

We then had dinner with the Duchies who kindly embarrassed me by being dragged onto the dance floor (in the middle of the restaurant), they thanked us for our hospitality and sang me happy birthday. It was a fun night with lots of dancing and laughs.

The next day Si found water leaking in the bilge so he spent the morning with his head in the bilge. We decided that we needed a new hot water system. We went to a lovely French restaurant up on the hill over looking oyster pond. The champagne, wine and food was sensational. We had the restaurant to our selves and enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. Little did I know that it was to be the last relaxation I would have for some time.

We set sail for Simpson Bay early Monday morning to pass through the bridge that opens at 9.30am and lets you into the Lagoon. We sailed across with only the head sail. The swell was a lot less. I was at the helm most of the way and found her very easy to sail. We made it to the lagoon without incident. We past all the super yachts that put the ones at Royal Perth annex to shame. We have a great dock mooring out the front of FKG who are doing the steel work for mounting of the wind generator etc. We will be here for a week getting steel work done, electrical work eg radar etc, and the rigging checked. Si has replaced the hot water system and I have been bleaching the saloon covers. There is so much to do. Did I mention cleaning? Bec, I need your expertise with a match stick. 

There are a lot of boats here for the Regatta that starts Friday 7th March to Sunday 10th March. I think there are about 250 entrants in varying classes. Now that we have a dingy, we will go over to watch the start of the race. We are fortunate that we have a dock mooring as anchoring amongst all those boats would be a nightmare. Also it is meant to get windy so we are nice and protected. There are some big parties organized over the next four nights so we are looking forward to watching some local bands and soaking in the atmosphere. Des and Liz will be joining us on Sunday. At this stage, we hope to be away Wednesday (13th March) morning.

St Maarten

We arrived in St Maarten on the 1st Feb 2008 after being in transit for 50 hrs. We stayed on the beach outside of Marigot for three days allowing us the time to visit Woodsia and get some admin out of the way.

Beautiful island though it is very much Europe meets 3rd world. On first inspection, the mix didn't feel right. But like all things you become accustomed to the culture and after a few days you wonder what all the concern was about. We did find it very expensive as the french side uses Euros rather than US$. Just getting to the other side of the island was costing up to US$30.

We went and visited Woodsia on the second day we arrived. While Si crawled all over the boat (literally), I sat on deck thinking what the hell have I got myself into. She is not as roomy as Figaro but I think it is the love that is missing. Once we start putting our energies into her, I am sure that she will start feeling different. Thankfully Corrado (Moorings liaison) agreed to fix most of the items identified in the survey. Here is hoping that most of the items are fixed on our return at the end of the month.