Statia to St Martin

[Maryanne]Since our last leg to Sint Maarten from Statia was a longer one (40 miles) compared to what we’d been used to, we needed to get up early to ensure we could check in at customs before they closed at 3:00pm. I set an alarm on my cell phone for 4am which went off promptly at 8:40!!! Fortunately, by then I’d already been up since I noticed daylight – we got ready in short order and departed the mooring under sail (always feels good – 2nd in satisfaction only to anchoring under sail). We ghosted in the lee of the island towards the oil terminal. Along the way we noticed (and heard) Ivan and Gulliver having their breakfast at Kings Well – we honked a farewell to Kings Well on the hailer. Within a minute or so Linda called us on the radio and said goodbye, and it was nice to meet. Linda and Will promised to visit us in Sant Maartin and to bring Maryanne some of her secret salad dressing (Maryanne had pestered unsuccessfully for the recipe, so a good supply would be the next best thing!).

We weaved our way through the tankers and outside of the restricted zones. Out of the lee of the island, we ran smack into heavy chop and head winds – Auggh! How I hate head winds. We had to quickly reef the sails (well - Maryanne did anyway), but were able to maintain pretty good speed anyway. Once we were further away from the island the wind veered and we had a nice fast beam reach to Sint Maarten in bright sunshine. On route we passed both the island of Saba and St Bart's, but unfortunately we'd already decided we would not stop (Save them for another time). We actually had enough speed that by the time we approached the island it looked like we would make it to customs about 10 minutes before they closed.

We started the engine, & put down the sails as we entered Sint Maarten, and motored up to the customs dock just outside the Simpson Bay drawbridge – it’s a very shallow dock (basically a dinghy dock) and not good for anyone drawing more than a couple of feet – we had to raise one of our rudders to be on the safe side (but hey, we were in a hurry). I rushed into the customs office, breathless, while Maryanne finished tying up Footprint, and began filling out the paperwork. Maryanne soon joined me and turned in the first few forms I’d completed while I continued. She discovered they were not closing at 3, so the pressure was off (but we still didn’t find out what time they would close).

Once done with customs clearance we had about an hour and a half before the drawbridge opening time for inbound boats. We were a little cheeky and lingered as long as we could at the customs dock, thus avoiding having to lower and raise the anchor for such a short period. I’m not entirely sure it was a good idea after all, as most of the power boats (and jet skis) left a good wake and bounced and jerked us around. The bridge opened for outbound boats at 4:30pm and we noticed that watching the exiting boats seemed to be a bit of a tourist attraction. About 15 minutes to go, we untied an left the dock for the inbound procession (and there were plenty of us) – again anther tourist attraction for the local bars and yacht clubs.

Bridge opening from Dutch side of Island into Simpson Bay
Once we entered the bay, our goal was to anchor as close as possible to the airport. We swung north and then west to get as close as possible to the airport terminal; this part of the bay was practically deserted (only one other boat anchored nearby). This was not surprising as it was a LONG way from anything useful (laundromat, stores, etc), and was also probably the least attractive part of the bay. It was getting dark so we anchored anyway. – We were safe at least for the evening. It took us 3 tries to get the anchor to hold fast (poor Maryanne was at the bow doing most of the work with our manual windlass). By the time we were done, it was too late to care about much other than eating dinner and going to bed. The one plus we found was it was really exposed, and with all the wind, the batteries were fully charged by morning. Later, Maryanne found a free internet connection with an antenna hoisted up the mast!

The following morning (Monday), all we really intended to do for the day was to make sure my flight to work was OK (space available); if not I’d have had to rapidly make alternative commute plans, and also to move the boat to prettier part of the bay with more facilities for Maryanne. We were both pretty tired from our week and found ourselves taking our time over things (I read a book, we worked on the blog). Eventually we moved the boat just outside the no anchoring zone off the departure end of the runway, much closer to the facilities, although the walk to the airport will be longer! While checking for the nearby dinghy dock and possible airport shuttle (before anchoring), we asked directions of a passing dingy – and found it was Fergus, a fellow Gemini owner (same boat as ours) – small world!

[Maryanne]It’s hard to say what our first impressions of St. Martin are since we just arrived. Our guidebooks have pages and pages of information, however it’s mostly listings for bars, night clubs etc. There are lots of casinos and “gentleman’s clubs”. All beaches are topless, and quite a few are nudist. Without really seeing the place, I’m thinking Spring Break in Cancun – not really my cup of tea. Once Kyle heads to work, I’ll explore more and hope to find the gentler side of the island. The only time we’ve set ashore was to clear into customs, where the notice board informed us that it is DANGEROUS to sight-see and hitchhike anywhere on the island (Hitchhiking I can understand, but the lady collecting our port fees, assured us that sightseeing too was dangerous). Indeed, it suggested whenever you visit a new town to check in with the local police as a courtesy visit and to be alerted to any particular areas to avoid. The guidebooks stress that rental cars are routinely stolen from (or thieves even deliberately bump into so they can hijack you! – the books advise NOT to stop at the scene of such an accident)… Yeah, not sure really how worried to be, but not too happy so far.

Statia - Day 3

Footprint in Statia
[Maryanne]We were both feeling pretty rested, and relaxed. Knowing there really was not that much to do on Statia, and having set aside the day to explore Oranjestad, we decided on a lazy morning aboard Footprint before leaving around 11 to hit the town.

Sights of Lower Oranjestad - Gin Hotel and Harbour
Big mistake. It was the weekend. The tourist office was closed (so we could not pick up the self guided town walking map). We made our way to the fort for more photos and stunning views, and then on to the Museum - just as it had closed (only opens on the mornings over the weekend) - Doh! The museum seemed one of the better of the Caribbean, too! So our short itinerary for the Saturday just got a lot shorter.

Sights in Upper town - Church, Fort, and government offices
Still, it really is a pleasant place to stroll and we enjoyed the views. IN the upper town there is the fort, the government buildings, the ruins of the old Jewish synagogue, and the outside of the museum. In the lower town there is the old Gin building (now a posh hotel) and of course the harbour itself. Statia is famous for its diving and we found at least 3 dive shops all in the lower town (Kyle actually splashed out on new swim shorts!).

Once finished in town, we went off to relax further in the Kings Well pool, taking up the kind offer of Laura and Win from the night before. We came armed with books too, just to be sure of the ultimate relaxing pool experience. We found we had the place to ourselves, and after a few races, and much messing about in the water, we retired to our lounge chairs to dry off in the sun.



Relaxing Sights of Kings Well
After our swim we returned to the bar to enjoy feeding time for the Macaws (and a beer or two). Win offered to make us something "special" if we wanted to eat, and we quickly agreed. Laura insisted that WE make the "Footprint" cocktail after dinner, this way we could always say we were once a Caribbean bar tender, and even invented the "Footprint" cocktail (If we ever wanted a job).

Statia - Day 2 - Enter the Volcano

[Maryanne]Lying in bed trying to decide if we really wanted to get up this early or not, we heard a knock on the hull and someone calling "Footprint". I called out a "just a minute" and hastily dressed and rushed out to the cockpit, where I found the Marine Park attendant collecting his mooring fees. He was very nice and explained he starts early as so many people try to leave without paying, he also directed us to a closer mooring which would reduce our rowing effort. Oh well, now we were up we decided to get started with our day of sightseeing.

My main goal for the day was to climb the Quill, which to be honest I'd thought of before I'd seen how big and steep it looked. Nevertheless, I'd already decided, so off we went. We rowed ashore, cleared customs (very little paperwork or interest), and then on to the Park Authority store (excellent book swap, information, internet connection, maps, and friendly help) to collect our hiking permit tags and a great trail map. The volcano has not erupted for 1700 years (around 400 AD), officially its name is Mount Mazinga, but everyone knows it as the Quill (after the Dutch kuil, meaning 'pit').

The very very first part of the journey took us on a steep trail with switchbacks from the lower level (old town) up to the main town atop a cliff a few hundred feet above sea level. Once at the top of the cliff, we followed the well marked route to the foot of the Quill; a steep shadeless trek through the outskirts of town, which we trudged up, still a little sore from our Nevis adventures. I was beginning to doubt this was a good idea, and the mountain didn't seem to be getting any closer, but really, what else did we have to do?

Once we got onto the trail proper we started to find shade, and spotted various animals along the way - notably more soldier crabs and the local red-bellied racer snake (although we were really looking out for the rare Antillean Iguana). Maryanne tried to gently move a branch out of the way so as to make for a better photo of one snake in particular I was trying to photograph. It startled and headed straight at her. She tried jumping out of the way, which started one of those hilarious scenes where you try and pass someone in a hallway and keep getting in each others path. Eventually they were both able to escape without harm to each other (although my sides hurt from laughing). After reading this my mother, who says there is no such thing as a harmless snake if it can cause a heart attack, can be pretty much assured of never visiting Statia.


There were several (well marked) trails on the mountain, but the rangers had suggested to us the Quill trail to get to the rim, and then the crater trail that went down into the crater and the panorama point trail for the rim view (to do any more we should have started earlier or would have to go back another day).

As we neared the rim of the crater, the trail steepened The park service had done an great job with the trails; excellent signage, good markings and borders along the well graded trail - so you knew how difficult it might be, and even included ropes in the steeper areas - and boy we needed them in places. We had a brief rest at the crater rim and then went into the volcano on the crater trail. The bottom of the crater being almost half the distance back to sea level from the rim. The trail down into the volcano started out very steep; first with actual stairs, then transitioning into steep, hard-going rocky areas where we made use of the fixed ropes to descend safely. Already fairly tired, we were wondering about the effort to get back out, but we wanted to see the bottom and so we carried on. Since the trail was so steep it didn't take that much distance to start leveling off near the bottom.
Kyle Hikes, Maryanne Rests!
The ecosystem inside was rich and vibrant, having been untouched we assume since the volcano began its dormancy. There were huge old growth trees everywhere, most notably the Giant Cotton Silk Tree (Kapok tree - Ceiba pentandra), but also gum trees and wild bananas, and many we could not name. At the crater floor, the trail turns into a loop, passing some interesting rock formations as well as lots of lush jungle style vegetation. We knew we were the first to hike the trail for at least a few days as the trail was crisscrossed with substantial cobwebs.

Once done with the crater loop, we found ourselves staring up from the base of the rope trail leading out of the crater. It was a long slog back up, and we quickly forgot to look for wildlife while we were busy watching the placement our hands and feet and avoiding snakes. After another rest at the rim (complete with more drinks and a snack), we headed up the almost equally steep Panorama Point Trail. Where there were no ropes. We pulled ourselves up with tree roots and trunks. Eventually, we made it to the top, which had great views of the rim and descending cliffs surrounding the crater as well as the island of Saba in the distance. The viewpoint was also shared by a red aeronautical beacon and its associated footprint.

On the way back down we laughed about how all the lower parts of the trail, which had seemed so steep on the way up, now seemed so gentle compared to the steeper slopes we found later.

Once back in town we took a quick look around, stopping especially to take pictures of Fort Baai, the old church, and the cliff walls. We were mostly stalling for time before visiting the Kings Well Resort restaurant for dinner. Kings Well was reported in our cruising guide to contain two things I really liked: food and parrots! When we got there, the sign outside said they would not be open for an hour more. We sat outside the gate dejectedly for about 15 minutes before remembering our guide said the bar was always open on an honor system basis - help yourselves and don't forget to pay! When we entered the bar, and the balcony overlooking the bay, we found Laura feeding the parrots (they have at least 6 macaws). Laura treated us like family (at least she seemed not to know were weren't related); she welcomed us, sat us down at her table, offered us a drink, and told us of course we were more than welcome to stay for dinner (even though the sign outside said reservations only).

Ivan the Macaw hangs out by the Kings Well restaurant balcony
We sat watching the parrots eat and play, enjoying our drinks as Win and Laura (the owners) told us stories about how they'd met in their pre-island lives, eventually moved to Statia, and built their resort themselves. The two parrots we were sat at the table with were free flighted outdoor birds and would alternate between digging through their dish for food and flying back and forth along the beach in formation. Once the sun set the parrots went "to bed" and the food arrived. Win is an excellent chef, with German dishes and seafood options on the menu (although he gave the impression he'd make anything we wanted). Other guests had canceled, so the 4 of us sat together enjoying stories for the evening, listening to the surf and enjoying the animals. Laura and Win had also at one time owned a catamaran, but had lost it to a bad mooring, and it smashed into the Statia cliffs. After dinner we could not decide on a cocktail, so Laura asked what kind of things we like and went on to invent a new one for us - and named it Footprint: Kahlua, Brandy, Chocolate sauce, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and ice - all in the blender - delicious. Oh and there is no measuring in the Caribbean just a good slug of alcohol!

Overall we had a wonderful evening spent with warm and wonderful people (and their pets). This small and personal resort offers hotel rooms for any cruiser looking for a change of scenery, and also long term studio and small apartments - perfectly geared for a retirement life, or even a writer's get-away.

As we finally left for the evening, Laura invited us to use their pool the next day if we were interested - a nice fresh water swim! We were positive we'd be back.

On to Statia

[Kyle]For our next leg, we got up at a reasonable hour (not dark) for the 30 mile trip along the west coast of St Kitts and on to Statia just beyond. Never heard of Statia? Its full name is Saint Eustatius, but everyone calls it Statia; beween St Kitts and St Barts, it was once the busiest port in the Caribbean, but is now a sleepy island with a population of 3100 (that seems to be growing), and famed for (geologically speaking) the world’s most perfect volcanic crater.

We had been interested in Statia because it was reputed to be “off the beaten path” - no cruise ships, no ferries, just a small aircraft shuttle between the local islands. It is steeped in shipping history, and was the first nation to return the salute of an American Naval ship in 1776 (never mind it was an accident, the governor had thought he was saluting a merchant vessel).

Our sail to Statia had been uneventful - nothing much to speak about (which generally is good news). It was a fast downwind sail along the St Kitts’ coast with a few gusts off the mountains of Nevis, but for the most part, a fast and steady sail.

Visibility was about 20 miles, so rather than receding over the horizon to our stern, Nevis gradually lost contrast in the haze until it vanished altogether. The opposite was true of the slowly approaching Statia which took on more detail and color as we neared.


First Views of Statia and its volcano the Quill
The Quill, the Statia volcano (long since extinct), was impressive, rising steeply out of the water to the rim of its crater on the East side of the island.

We sailed around the South side of the island, passed the White Wall (a huge slab of limestone on the south side of the volcano) and on to the "harbour" at Oranje Baai. The harbour is really less of harbour than just a spot on the leeward side of the Island next to the city Oranjestad. There is very little protection from the swell. Several of our guides report it to be the most rolly anchorage in the Caribbean (and this is certainly what we experienced). The other thing that made the anchorage notable is that further North on the island were several oil tankers. Statia has long made its living acting as a middle man between countries otherwise not talking to each other. Today it achieves this with a huge oil storage terminal.

We picked up a mooring ball (as required by the local park service) and since we were too late to check in I took a quick swim to check on the mooring (very sturdy) and we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening on Footprint, where we enjoyed dinner with a bottle of "Faraway Bay" wine given to us in the States before we left, by our sailing friend Ron - thanks Ron!