Leaving St. Maarten through the Simpson Bay Bridge
Getting towed back in through Simpson Bay Bridge.........keep reading!!We stopped in St. Maarten after leaving Anguilla to top up provisions and then head south. As we sailed out we decided the wind would be taking us to St. Barts, so off we went. There is a tiny, uninhabited island that is part of St. Barts called Ile Fourchue and since we didn't stop there on our way north we decided to stop there this time. We sailed into the tiny bay in late afternoon and found one mooring ball open so we approached it slowly to pick it up. Shortly after we tied up to the ball, things were looking so perfect........until we wrapped a line in our prop! Ouch!!!
Jon quickly jumped into the water to assess the damage and release the line from the prop. He was busy for a long time and things didn't look so good when I suddenly saw fuel floating all around him in the water. He came on board and opened the engine compartment to reveal the real damage. We found that we were taking on water and we knew the engine was out of commission. Just about that time, here comes Peter Pan! Actually is was Chris in his boat "Peter Pan" whom we had met while in St. Maarten. He anchored in the middle of the bay, and after he was settled, we called him on the radio and asked him to come help us assess the damage to our boat. After some discussion, we realized that we would have to sail somewhere to get our engine repaired and we knew that it had to be St. Maarten where the services were available. So.....all night long we timed the bilge pump that was removing the water leaking into the boat....every 8 minutes it went off.....every 12 minutes......every 10 minutes.....It was a looonnng night.
The next morning the wind was blowing from the Southeast. That was perfect for sailing back to St. Maarten, but without an engine we had to be towed out of the bay so we wouldn't be blown into the rocky shore. Here comes Peter Pan again! He towed us out and once we were clear of the bay and rocks awash we headed back to St. Maarten. It took 2 1/2 hours to get back with the brisk wind. Once back, we sailed into Simpson Bay, dropped our anchor, and sat for a bit while trying to figure out what to do next. The wind driven waves were huge and every time one came in, our bow sprit would dip into the water (not good since our bow sprit is about 5 feet up out of the water!). We knew we could not stay out in the bay that night with no engine. We could easily drag anchor and end up on the beach behind us.
So, our next step was finding someone to tow us in through the bridge, into Simpson Bay Lagoon and to Bobby's Marina where we would have our engine repaired. After a few hours we were connected with someone and they came out shortly before the bridge opening and towed us in....Whew!
The next morning the people at Bobby's boat yard lifted our boat out of the water to be repaired. We found all the right people to do the necessary repairs but it quickly became obvious that staying on our boat while the work was being done was not going to work out. We were told we might be able to rent a room at the Red Cross next door to the boat yard, so off we went to check it out. They had one room available so we were able to stay in it while repairs were taking place. The rooms are primarily used for volunteers or staff, but when not in use they rent them out. We were so grateful to have this room...it even had air conditioning!! Eleven days later we were back in the water, anchored, and floating.
We have been watching the weather and preparing to leave again and it looks like the time has come. The nasty cold front off the Eastern Coast of the U. S., and a stalled frontal trough has been making it difficult to leave, but it appears that it may be settling a bit. Now the winds have shifted north/northeast so we will be sailing to St. Eustatius (Statia) next, then St. Kitts and Nevis. Carol is in search of some wild monkeys!!!
Jon quickly jumped into the water to assess the damage and release the line from the prop. He was busy for a long time and things didn't look so good when I suddenly saw fuel floating all around him in the water. He came on board and opened the engine compartment to reveal the real damage. We found that we were taking on water and we knew the engine was out of commission. Just about that time, here comes Peter Pan! Actually is was Chris in his boat "Peter Pan" whom we had met while in St. Maarten. He anchored in the middle of the bay, and after he was settled, we called him on the radio and asked him to come help us assess the damage to our boat. After some discussion, we realized that we would have to sail somewhere to get our engine repaired and we knew that it had to be St. Maarten where the services were available. So.....all night long we timed the bilge pump that was removing the water leaking into the boat....every 8 minutes it went off.....every 12 minutes......every 10 minutes.....It was a looonnng night.
The next morning the wind was blowing from the Southeast. That was perfect for sailing back to St. Maarten, but without an engine we had to be towed out of the bay so we wouldn't be blown into the rocky shore. Here comes Peter Pan again! He towed us out and once we were clear of the bay and rocks awash we headed back to St. Maarten. It took 2 1/2 hours to get back with the brisk wind. Once back, we sailed into Simpson Bay, dropped our anchor, and sat for a bit while trying to figure out what to do next. The wind driven waves were huge and every time one came in, our bow sprit would dip into the water (not good since our bow sprit is about 5 feet up out of the water!). We knew we could not stay out in the bay that night with no engine. We could easily drag anchor and end up on the beach behind us.
So, our next step was finding someone to tow us in through the bridge, into Simpson Bay Lagoon and to Bobby's Marina where we would have our engine repaired. After a few hours we were connected with someone and they came out shortly before the bridge opening and towed us in....Whew!
The next morning the people at Bobby's boat yard lifted our boat out of the water to be repaired. We found all the right people to do the necessary repairs but it quickly became obvious that staying on our boat while the work was being done was not going to work out. We were told we might be able to rent a room at the Red Cross next door to the boat yard, so off we went to check it out. They had one room available so we were able to stay in it while repairs were taking place. The rooms are primarily used for volunteers or staff, but when not in use they rent them out. We were so grateful to have this room...it even had air conditioning!! Eleven days later we were back in the water, anchored, and floating.
We have been watching the weather and preparing to leave again and it looks like the time has come. The nasty cold front off the Eastern Coast of the U. S., and a stalled frontal trough has been making it difficult to leave, but it appears that it may be settling a bit. Now the winds have shifted north/northeast so we will be sailing to St. Eustatius (Statia) next, then St. Kitts and Nevis. Carol is in search of some wild monkeys!!!
