Sweet St. Maarten
- tonileebeaton
- Nov 4, 2021
- 6 min read
Hello friends and family! It’s been a whirlwind two weeks back here on St. Maarten. We’ve been absolutely spoiled by old friends, and our hearts feel so
happy and full.
Although we haven’t had any opportunities (yet) to supply teach, we’ve been keeping plenty busy with boat maintenance. We knew that St. Maarten was going to be the place to do it, since materials and labor are much more affordable here than in Curaçao or Bonaire. Good thing we’re only a 30-second dinghy ride away from our friendly neighbourhood Budget Marine! Here’s a couple of projects we’ve been working on so far:
Teak decks: Of course… this almost goes without saying!! We’ve decided to create ‘Teak Deck Tuesday’; this way we can stay on top of the maintenance without feeling overwhelmed. So far since we’ve been back, we’ve redone the two bench seats in our cockpit. They needed a lot of love (and a bit of wood glue), and the seats are looking good as new. We also redid our transom; with it being the wettest area on the boat the caulking was getting pretty goopy. Still on our to-do list are a few areas in the cockpit (upper level) and there’s a few areas on the foredeck anchor locker starting to get a bit goopy. However, it’s starting to look and feel like overall there’s more that we HAVE repaired than what we haven’t gotten to yet. The teak is looking really, really nice!
V-berth: We’ve given a lot of love and attention to the V-berth since moving aboard. Back in Curaçao, we started a big project on the ceiling upholstery that we blogged about previously. Since then, the wooden supports underneath the two mattresses broke off completely and needed some serious TLC. After measuring and purchasing new wood from the local hardware store, Paul was able to rip out the old compressed wood and install two heavy duty wooden pieces. Lots of wood glue, clamping, and screws were used to reinforce multiple spots in the V-berth. It’s looking good and feeling much more comfortable!
Cockpit: There were a few things missing from our cockpit for us to ‘qualify’ as proper sailors. I remember having our friend Leon on board (Leon being a Captain of a 150ft. + gorgeous yacht) and him joking along the lines of… “You’ve got drink holders, but you haven’t got winch holders? What kind of sailors are you?!” He was so right! Winch handles are such an annoyance to have bouncing around the
cockpit, and if they happen to fall overboard that would be a costly replacement. So we installed winch handle holders, and I must say they are pretty convenient. We also replaced our broken, rusted out inclinometer with a new one so that we can actually measure how much our boat heels while underway. The cockpit is looking much, much better.
Starter battery: When we left Bonaire on October 14th, our engine started perfectly. We haven’t had any issues with battery power since installing our new house batteries back in May. However, it seems like sometimes things on the boat work one minute, and then they stop working the next. After leaving our mooring in Bonaire and sailing away from the north coast of the island, we readied ourselves to start the engine around sunset. As we only have solar power as our main source of energy, we have to run the engine at night for the alternator to power the systems we require for night sailing (like our chart plotter, navigation equipment and lights, and auto pilot). We went to start the engine, and… nothing. AHHHHHH! PANIC! No, not panic, but serious concern… after a bit of troubleshooting, the engine ended up starting ONLY when we turned absolutely everything off. So, yes, problem “solved” momentarily… but replacing the starter battery was at the top of the SXM to-do list! We purchased and installed a new starter battery that replaced the old one (which was purchased in 2011, to be fair) and now the engine starts like a dream… relief!
Mast light: There’s a few instances where mast lights are pretty important living on a boat. While you are on anchor, you should have an ‘anchor light’; a white light at the top of your mast indicating your position in the water. While sailing at night, having a navigation light (green on starboard; red on port) is helpful if there are any other vessels also navigating nearby. Well, these lights weren’t working on the mast… so, not ideal! Paul went up the mast and saw that the mast light was completely broken, and it appeared that someone that tried installing and re-wiring a new lightbulb on top of a broken one. Basically, it was a mess! We invested in a solar light that has many different settings – for while sailing at night, while on anchor, SOS, etc. – and Paul installed it at the top of the mast after disassembling the old light. We have a little remote control (and a second backup one) that turns the solar light on and off, and changes the setting. We love that it’s solar powered and so convenient; plus – safety first!
In addition to checking items off the maintenance list, we’ve also been able to spend a really good chunk of time catching up with old friends. We’ve also been absolutely spoiled, having home cooked meals and sleepovers at our friends’ houses. In addition to the joy of catching up and company, it’s been a real treat sleeping in big beds with air conditioning, having showers, and doing laundry! Ahh, the little joys in life. We've really been enjoying having our boat in the lagoon as well. It's a beautiful place to watch the sunset!
We had an excellent sail to Anse Marcel on the French side of the island. Gorgeous weather yielded a stunning sail; we were able to have full main out and full headsail for most of the trip, with a reasonable amount of heel after turning the southwest corner of the island for Anse Marcel. We had seven people on board, and the cockpit was full, but the sail was so smooth! Interestingly enough, seven
seemed to be our lucky number for fishing. In the year and a half since we’ve owned the boat, including the five months that we’ve now lived aboard full time, we’ve caught a grand total of two fish – one of which, a Mahi Mahi, got away, and the second of which, a barracuda, was bycatch. On this sail to Anse Marcel, Paul caught FOUR fish in under four hours! The first catch was a gorgeous Mahi Mahi. Paul reeled it in by hand right up to the transom, and it was right beside the boat. Unfortunately, at the last minute I failed in the ‘gaff technique’ and the fish got away. Paul was super understanding though, and we’re hoping that third time’s the charm for Mahi Mahi in the future. Less than a minute after tossing the line back in again, Paul caught the second fish of the day – a Kingfish. All went well reeling it in (no gaff required)! It was a perfect size, and made really nice sized fillets. The other two fish that Paul caught were both big barracuda. We ended up letting those free, as we’ve heard that ciguatera is an issue in barracuda here around St. Maarten. However, after discussing with some locals and friends, they couldn’t believe we’d let such delicious fish go! I guess we may have to try it out next time.
Here's a video of Paul catching a barracuda - with some special sound effects by myself and our friend Sabz!
Paul ended up making beer-battered kingfish with homemade dill tartar sauce and potato wedges for supper. I’m not just saying this because he’s my husband – but that was honestly some of the best fish n’ chips I’ve ever had!
Anchoring at Anse Marcel went really well. We were a bit worried about using the anchor, as we hadn’t used it since Curaçao back in July. However, the anchor held
first try and we had no dragging all night long. The bay in Anse Marcel is picture perfect, and our company enjoyed jumping off the boat, swimming, using the SUP boards, and enjoying a taste of boat life. We also met up with friends (old and new) on the beach for lots of visiting and chatting. A wonderful afternoon!
We’ll plan on staying in St. Maarten through the month of November, and possibly into December if we are able to get supply work in at our old school. Our next planned stop is the BVI’s for Christmas! Thanks for checking in, and we’ll touch base soon. Sending hugs your way!
Toni & Paul
P.S. Here's a few videos of our "St. Maarten treats"!
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