We left Jolly Harbour for the sail to St Martin our passage was a little slow due to lighter than forecast winds so we took a stop in Anse de Colombier on St Barts overnight. The following morning we jibe sailed over to St Martin for the bridge opening.
Once we were in the lagoon we saw lots more evidence of hurricane Irma, lots of boat damage throughout the lagoon and marinas.
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| A mega yacht sunk at the dock |
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| Yachts piled in the shallows |
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| More yachts in the shallows |
Sadly we didn't know they changed the bridge times so we made the 11am opening to find there was swing bridge opening for 4 hours! So we anchored in the lagoon to wait. We eventually got anchored on the French side around 4pm for sun downers.
Looking around in the dinghy and walking through town or riding on the bus you can see lots of damage to buildings everywhere. We were amazed at the beach property destruction, whole hotels ruined with ground floors washed out and roofs missing. It is hard to estimate the percentage of properties destroyed but it was very significant. The government are providing wage relief for a year to some staff we understand but with so much to rebuild its difficult to know how long it will take to recover or if it ever will.
The cruising community is just coming back to life, large numbers of boats have avoided SXM this year due to the hurricane damage or perception of it. We were glad to see almost everything the cruiser needs and enjoys about SXM is still there. Liz attended the ladies luncheon on Wednesday to catch up with other admirals. We both attended dominoes on Sunday at Little Jerusalem with a good turn out despite the Heineken regatta still happening one weekend.
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| Ladies luncheon |
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| Little Jerusalem for dominoes |
We also attended the boat jumble at Time Out Boat Yard (TOBY) were often you meet up with lots of other cruisers. We met some new folks and a few old faces but attendance was noticeably less. We did find a very sad sight when we looked at our friends lost catamaran that sunk in Irma. They left the boat tied in a marina slip and took refuge in a hotel. Their story is heartbreaking and very frightening and a lesson to always sail away from strong hurricanes if you can. The new owner is hoping to repair and re-float the boat, much more work than we think its worth but good luck.
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| They sold the boat for 1 dollar and walked away |
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| Very badly damaged stern |
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| Multiple holes in the sides |
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| Both bows were sawed into by the dock like this |
We rented a car to collect our parts and supplies as well as to visit many of the local hardware and grocery stores to stock up for our own boat projects. We really appreciate Avis for having a new dinghy dock we could use close to our boat and didn't mind a little extra for the privilege. All the marine chandlers are open and so are almost all other marine services so we are easily parted with our money.
We had a few Happy Hours with Morgan on Nirvana64 with several of our mutual friends and just before we left SXM, Karmen returned to the boat for our last Happy Hour session.
So it was with sad hearts we left another Hurricane ravaged island behind, its really sad to see this much damage and especially when a lot of folks cannot afford to rebuild. We wonder how it will play out for St Martin as they need investment to attract tourism back and they need that to bring back jobs. Its not easy to solve but we hope over time they can.
We hope to be back in SXM in the future as we really like the island, we have our own haul out and that means we will probably miss it next year.
So Antigua and racing is calling again. We have volunteered in the Classics Regatta again this year so we wait for a window to go up wind and get back.
Hope all our friends are doing well.
