Sailing in St Maarten/Anguilla

[KW60]

Thanks all for the info. We are chartering a 45ft monohull with Moorings out of OP the last week of March. Got the Leeward Islands Cruisers Guide and wish we had more time! Brad, good tips for checking out the boat off shore power and we will bring binoculars -- it's always good to have an extra set anyway. If provisioning from Grande Marche on the way from the airport, do they also sell libations or is there a liquor store close by? Also how's the fishing around SXM/Anguilla -- and do you know if you need to apply for a license in advance?

Getting excited!
Kirsten

[2Hulls]

Originally Posted by KW60

If provisioning from Grande Marche on the way from the airport, do they also sell libations or is there a liquor store close by?

Yes, all the groceries sell beer and liquor. SXM is no place for recovering alcoholics as the prices are so cheap.....

Dave

[FecklessDolphin]

Can you tell me how to get a good weather forecast for St. Maarten. Specifically I would like to know current conditions and forecast for tradewinds and ground swell? We will be chartering with children ages three and five, (both very comfortable on our sailboat) from St. Maarten yacht charters on the French side from March 25 to April 4. We would like to make it down to St. Barts but would like to choose our weather window.

And back to an earlier comment, we spent a week at anchor in Anguilla on a charter when we found out two weeks before our trip that she was pregnant. We loved Road Bay, anchored there the entire time and met some locals


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[Highland Fling]

Passage weather and windguru

Sailing Weather - Marine Weather Forecasts for Sailors and Adventurers - PassageWeather


WindGURU: Sint Maarten - Sint Maarten

Chartering on the French side...go north about to St Barths. Stop at Grand Case overnight there then sail over to Ille Fourchue. Grab a buoy (free national park) and overnight there then pop over to Anse Du Colombier spend a night on the buoy (also free NP) there. Then round to Gustavia to check in then back to Anse Du Colombier to enjoy St Barths

Going north about you will probably motor (sail) from Grande Case into big sea/swell till round the corner and abreast of Tintemarre then it will be a reach or a fetch to Ille Fourchue. There will be big seas /swell as you are ocean sailing but an easy sail really.

We just raced in the Heineken I was helming a Lagoon 420 for some 'new friends' we had BIG BIG seas and BIG BIG winds lots of fun... and we got on the podium with a third place too ... but certainly not cruising weather.

enjoy

[upstateny]

Anyone have suggestions for St Martin bareboat charter company for monohull 45 to 50 foot that is not Sunsail or Moorings?

Nothing againts either Moorings or Sunsail. Just want to know what other options there are.

We have 35 days monohull bareboat experience on a 45i in BVIs and want to try St Martin.

[FecklessDolphin]

We chartered from St Martin Yacht Charters two weeks ago. We were very pleased with them. One of the owners did my orientation and had lived himself on a boat for 2 years. My wife says she thinks he was genuinely interested in the quality of our vacation there. We were a family of four with kids 3 and 5 on a 2006 Sun Odyssey 40. The boat was fine--no significant problems and clean.

[Seaguy]

I chartered through Dream Yachts in Marigot a couple years ago. The downside was that the boats are inside the lagoon and the Marigot bridge openings are more sparse than the Dutch side. We couldn't get boat paperwork done until the evening (after customs had left) and then couldn't clear customs in the morning soon enough to get to the 9AM bridge opening. Next bridge opening was early afternoon. We were headed to St Barts so ended up going across the lagoon and out the Dutch side. That was right before they finished the new bridge across the lagoon so we only had the one bridge to contend with. If you charter out of Marigot, make sure you plan ahead for customs/bridge opening.

The Dream Yachts boat was OK but not quite up to Sunsail/Moorings level. It was less expensive so we got what we paid for. We had no issues with the boat. I had chartered a couple years earlier with Sunsail out of Oyster Pond and if I were to do it again, I would opt for Sunsail/Moorings in Oyster Pond.

[upstateny]

Seaguy, thanks. yes I was looking at the bridge times from Part La Royale Marina.

For the French side the Sandy Ground Bridge open times are really bad on Sunday with just 08:15 and 17:30. Other days of the week its 08:15, 14:30 and 17:30.

For the Dutch side exit, I see there are now two bridges to exit from Dutch side using Simpson Bridge. There seems to be a rather long swing bridge across the bay that has a 19.7 foot clearance.

[KW60]

We chartered from Moorings out of OP a few weeks ago -- the boat was great -- clean, everything worked, and high performance on the water. Relatively new Jenneau 45 with electric heads -- we felt quite spoiled. It wasn't cheap but not the highest cost we saw for that size and type of monohull. The beam is a little wider on the model we got which made it seem quite roomy up top -- didn't seem to affect performance. Great customer service, thorough briefings, they escorted us out as it can be tricky when the wind is up and gave us the choice coming back in which ended up being fine. We called the base a couple of times with customs questions and got real-time real-person responses. Highly recommend.

[ALAIN97133]

Originally Posted by KW60

We chartered from Moorings out of OP a few weeks ago -- the boat was great -- clean, everything worked, and high performance on the water. Relatively new Jenneau 45 with electric heads -- we felt quite spoiled. It wasn't cheap but not the highest cost we saw for that size and type of monohull. The beam is a little wider on the model we got which made it seem quite roomy up top -- didn't seem to affect performance. Great customer service, thorough briefings, they escorted us out as it can be tricky when the wind is up and gave us the choice coming back in which ended up being fine. We called the base a couple of times with customs questions and got real-time real-person responses. Highly recommend.

Any pictures ?

[upstateny]

Originally Posted by KW60

We chartered from Moorings out of OP a few weeks ago -- the boat was great -- .

Yes in past years in the BVIs we went with a 45 monohull before from Moorings and Sunsail. I agree nice boat and the larger beam helps a lot compared to 41 or 42 foot.

You got a trip report on where you went and what was your experience going through customs?

My group has zero experience with going through customs while bareboating. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Zanshin]

Originally Posted by upstateny

...For the Dutch side exit, I see there are now two bridges to exit from Dutch side using Simpson Bridge...

The new bridge is the "Causeway Bridge" and its opening times are linked to the opening times of the Dutch bridge. It opens 15 minutes before outgoing and 15 minutes after incoming openings of the Dutch Simpson Bay Bridge.

[upstateny]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

The new bridge is the "Causeway Bridge" and its opening times are linked to the opening times of the Dutch bridge. It opens 15 minutes before outgoing and 15 minutes after incoming openings of the Dutch Simpson Bay Bridge.

Thanks for that information. I was wondering about that. Wow that actually makes sense.

[upstateny]

I have a few basic questions about customs on St Martin.

What Customs laws should I be concerned about while traveling on land between the French and Dutch side of St Martin?

We arrive at SXM airport on the Dutch side. I assume we go through any customs at the SXM airport. Traveling by taxi from SXM airport some of us may stop at a Dutch side market to get provisions while the rest of us continue on in the taxi to take all the luggage to the marina on the French side. Any customs issues with this plan I should be aware of?

[upstateny]

Also how much Shipwreck rum can we provision on the boat when leaving St Marten. Its not really for export. Its for consumption. Does the export regulation of 1 litre of spirits or liqueurs of over 22% for each person apply while sailing around the islands in St Marten do sailors get a special dispensation on rum? Trust me, will be sailing for 13 days and will need more than 1 litre of rum per person. Seriously the last thing I want to do is to break some customs law.