Passage preparation
Leaving St Martin on passage to Bermuda.
We arrive in St Martin at the beginning of May. We are now in passage preparation mode and not really thinking of being tourists. St Martin is not a particularly large island yet it is managed by two overseas governments, France and Netherlands. We anchored on the French side, in Marigot Bay, having discovered the ease and economy of the French immigration formalities. Once established we are able to visit the Dutch side with no issues, so there is nothing to be gained by paying more for the privilege of anchoring on the Dutch side.
Marigot Bay, St Martin showing the lagoon over to the bridge and the Dutch side.
The town of Marigot spreads along the length of Marigot Bay. Behind the narrow spit of land there is a large lagoon which can be accessed through a drawbridge. The water inside the lagoon on the French side is very shallow and not suitable for our 6ft draft. It is however fine for the dinghy, and we were able to zip over to the Dutch side with ease to access the big box stores and larger chandelries that they had. Perfect for our mission of passage prep.
We spend most of our 10 days in St Martin making trips to the various grocery stores. Walking around town was interesting, but not particularly scenic. There were some colorful murals and the central market was always lively with stalls selling souvenir dresses, T-shirts and the like to the visiting tourists. They were not aimed at us penny pinching cruisers.
Fort St Louis looms over the northern end of the bay and gives fine views of the area. We enjoy meeting some other OCC (Ocean Cruising Club) members for happy hour and pizza and we exchange notes of upcoming weather and ports we have enjoyed. Soon it is time to leave, there is a weather window that will take us safely to Bermuda, but we have to go and sail fast.
We leave St Martin May 12th 2023 under grey skies. The first day sailing we were on the lookout for squalls, using the radar to determine their path and plot avoidance strategies.
The six and a half day passage gave us some beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
Our passage was quite fast, we averaged 167nm a day. The fishing lines went out during the slower periods and we caught a nice Wahoo which fit perfectly in the freezer, after enjoying a fresh fillet for dinner.
Toward the end we slowed down intentionally to arrive during daylight hours. Bermuda is surrounded by reefs and the passage into the harbor is narrow and potentially very confusing in the dark. Trying to distinguish between navigation lights on the buoys, mast head lights and lights on shore when sleep deprived is not easy. We therefore arrived at 8am motoring through St Georges Cut and straight onto the customs dock to check in. Our timing was perfect. That evening the winds climbed as a strong weather front crept down from the north and settled over Bermuda. We will be here a while.
