St Martin

[AiniA]

We are heading to St Martin in a few days. Was wondering what the situation is like for anchoring in the lagoon. I understand that sunken boats are marked with buoys but is there enough unbuoyed area to accommodate the anchoring demand? Apparently both bridges are open but is the channel from the French bridge inward marked? What draft is there in this channel?

Thanks for any help.

[Shiny_sxm]

Plenty of space on both sides of the lagoon and in both bays. French channel now much better marked, and for your draft, should present no problems at all. Avoid cutting corners at the lagoon end of the French bridge channel, and at the final marks before turning south from the French channel.

[Shiny_sxm]

Just went through the French side bridge entrance today. With the south winds (and frankly quite often regardless of the wind) there are a couple of boats the channel inside the lagoon from the French bridge channel. Do not try to cut the corner here. Just continue up to the boat anchored in the channel before turning. I attach a little sketch chart with the approximate channel in blue and the anchored boat in red.

[AiniA]

Originally Posted by Shiny_sxm

Just went through the French side bridge entrance today. With the south winds (and frankly quite often regardless of the wind) there are a couple of boats the channel inside the lagoon from the French bridge channel. Do not try to cut the corner here. Just continue up to the boat anchored in the channel before turning. I attach a little sketch chart with the approximate channel in blue and the anchored boat in red.

Thanks for the help. We are now anchored on the Dutch side not too far from the Causeway bridge. We were going to go to the French side but the Causeway bridge did not open at the expected time (15 minutes after the Dutch bridge) so we just stopped where we were. If you want to get together for a beer we are on Ainia, a grey sloop near the Causeway bridge.

For those not in SXM, it is a pretty sad place. If you love boats it is hard to see so many boats wrecked, sunk, or dismasted. We went for a walk on the French side it was as if a disaster had happened, which it had of course.

[Matt Johnson]

Originally Posted by AiniA

For those not in SXM, it is a pretty sad place. If you love boats it is hard to see so many boats wrecked, sunk, or dismasted. We went for a walk on the French side it was as if a disaster had happened, which it had of course.

We're outside the lagoon on the Dutch side. I've been amazed by how fast the Dutch side has rebuilt to conditions similar to when we were last here in 2015. Roofs are still getting rebuilt on a lot of buildings, and a few boats have been raised and are getting ready to be crushed, but almost every business is open and they now just needs more tourist and boaters.

Matt