We needed to polish up our rusty sailing skills. It had been some time since our last sail, and we were eager to be back on a boat again. So we decided to go to Sint Maarten in the Caribbean, a popular sailing destination. Sint Maarten is part of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean Sea. It is really 2 separate countries, with the northern French side of Saint Martin, and the southern Dutch side of Sint Maarten. While they share one small island, they each have their own distinct flavor. As we saw it, the Dutch side is bustling with shops, industry, and casinos, while Saint Martin has a laid back island charm with many excellent patisseries where we could get our fill of croissants and pastries.
View of Port de Plaisance from a hill in Koolbaai, Sint Maarten
Wall murals in Marigot, St. Martin
Captain Frenchy restaurant in Grand Case, St. Martin
In the sweltering heat of June, we arrived in this beautiful island and made our way to the Port de Plaisance marina. Our bareboat charter was a Nautitech 40 Open Catamaran named Helios. This was a week long charter and holding our hands, for the first couple of days until the rust fell off, was skipper John. John as it turns out is of Indian heritage- his grandparents moved from Nainital to the Reunion Islands many moons ago. But that’s another story. The day before our charter we spent the morning provisioning for our trip. The local supermarket Carrefour is very well stocked with just about everything you can think of including Indian Samosas and Chicken Tikka Masala!
The following day we quickly made our way out of the marina to catch the second bridge opening at Simpson Bay bridge, with Sunil at the helm and me offering encouraging commentary (don’t hit that boat and stay off the sides of the bridge walls) Soon we were off – our destination for the day would be Grand Case on the French side of the island. I had polished up my French language skills the night before on Duo Lingo and felt confident about ordering lunch and finding my way to the nearest toilet.
Faster than we could say “Raise the main and unfurl the jib”, we were in Grand Case where there was a huge beach party in progress. The whole town was out on the waterfront celebrating World Oceans day. We followed John to one of his favorite dives, one of the several shacks that were full of locals and tourists enjoying the days fare of lobsters, fried fish, and barbecue meats. We joined the melee and were soon digging into our lunch.
Back in the boat, we planned to sail towards Anguilla with the wind on our backs. Helios is a light and fast catamaran. She sailed well even in light winds, but the winds that day were strong. We were doing 10 knots in 20 knots of Wind. Anguilla loomed in the distant haze caused by the Saharan dust storm. These large dust clouds are an air mass of very dry air, filled with desert dust that forms over the Sahara Desert during late spring, summer, and early autumn and travel west across the Atlantic Ocean. Just when we had a good close look at the Anguillan shores, we turned and tacked our way back to Grand Case where we were to stay the night.
The sail back was beating into 20 knot winds with 3-meter seas. As we clawed our way back, I sent up a silent prayer- “please let my lunch stay down”. Grand Case danced in the distance with each rising and crashing swell. As we got closer, we began to prepare for anchoring. We worked as a team, furling the solent, dropping the main sail, checking depth on the charts-like an efficient sailing machine. We dropped our anchor and it held strong. It wouldn’t help me sleep though- I am the anchor drag worrying kind, so I took out my Anchor drag app and set an anchor alarm. We were beginning to feel good about gaining back our skills.
After dropping John off for the night, Sunil showered on deck after a quick dip in the ocean. It was a quiet evening as we prepared dinner and watched the sun set across the bay. Dinner on the boat was a simple affair. We slept in the cockpit to the sound of waves lapping on distant rocks.
Next morning, we took the dinghy across to Sunset Café. There is a boardwalk that wraps around the cliff face that provide unobstructed views of the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea.
We planned to go to Tintamarre island a short distance away and then for our boat clearance at Anse Marcel before anchoring for the night near Isla de Pinel, a small uninhabited island with a restaurant.
If Tintamarre is ever in your travel plans, consider staying here for at least one night or definitely more than the couple of hours which we spent here. The name comes from the Spanish “tinta mar” meaning color of the sea. We moored our boat in the bright crystal-clear water and snorkeled our way to a white sandy beach looking out for sea life. Once ashore we climbed our way to the top of a dune where we saw remnants of an old stone wall. Tintamarre had been inhabited before and if you spend any length of time visiting the island, you can see the old airfield, and ruins of an old plantation on the islet.
Lots of cool things in Pinel Island
Isla de Pinel or Pinel Island is another such island off the north-east coast of St. Martin. For most visitors it’s a day trip with a short ferry ride from Cul de Sac. We anchored near the island and took the dinghy to the beach. A short hike took us to a rise from where we could see Anguilla and St. Barths. It was late in the day and the beaches were empty. The restaurant on the island is only open for lunch and during high season can be very busy. But this evening, we had the island mostly to ourselves and the sand critters that scattered at our footsteps.
Another night on the boat, and we were getting used to the sound of it swinging with the wind and rocking with the waves. The next day we would be leaving St. Martin for St. Barthelemy where we would say adieu to John. More on our St. Barths trip later…
Sailing Jajabor 