Hurricane Earl tidbits

I've been looking around the great world wide web for information on boats in St Martin and the Virgin Islands in regards to how we fared against Hurricane Earl. I haven't seen too much so far but maybe that's because a lot of people still don't have power and/or internet service.

Here's a post on the Cruisers Forum from St Martin that has a short video and two photos of boats in Simpson Bay Lagoon. If they can't remove the wrecks, they really need to secure them so they will not move in future storms and cause further havoc.

According to Hans Meevis' Jewelry Blog, Dutch Sint-Maarten experienced 165 power failures last year. That adds up to 3 weeks of total downtime. Good old GEBE... He has a few good photos of hurricane damage.

I mentioned the photos from The BVI Beacon yesterday that has various photos from Tortola BVI.

I was surprised to see video and photos from Frederiksted. Much nastier over there than here in Gallows Bay, Christiansted.

• St Croix Source Photo Gallery
• St Croix Source Video

Here's a video taken at 6pm from the Holiday Inn on the Charlotte Amalie waterfront. He says a few things that are inaccurate such as it is a category 4 and could even be a 5.  Also, the brown water is crap that comes out of the "guts" or drainage ditches that empties into Long Bay. Quite often this trash is blamed on the boaters but just look at the ditch behind MacDonalds in Frenchtown that is waiting for a good rain to be washed out into the sea. (This is one of my pet peeves... can't you tell?) this part of Long Bay is especially bad when the swell comes in because they are reflected off of the wall.

Here's a video of a plane landing at the St Maarten Airport. It is a great tourist attraction.

Here's a 5-minute video of Hurricane Earl and St Croix USVI. I haven't been able to watch it because my connection just got really S..L..O..W...

NEW (SEPT 2): Here's a story on Latitude 38 'Lectronic Latitude with pictures from Tortola

See my previous Hurricane Earl posts.

I have a bit of a rant to do but don't have time right now as we have to get ready catch the 10:30 bus to go shopping.  But first, we have to drag that catamaran's mooring away so we won't get tangled in it.

So It Goes...

St Thomas Sunday - Promenade is here!

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to the local K-Mart and bought a few things, then we went to the fuel dock at the Yacht Haven Marina.  They are open until 4:30pm on Sundays so that was useful.

We got a couple jerrycans of water ($0.20/gallon) and some gasoline ($3.37/gallon). This time we asked for a receipt :)

We also went to Wendy's because we wanted a Chili & Cheese baked potato.  Again, they didn't have chili... I don't know about potatoes :)

Just as we were returning to So It Goes, Bob sees a schooner and then he recognizes that it's the trimaran Promenade... COOL!

My camera was having problems, but you can still make it out OK

They were anchoring right behind us so we told Lisa who had just dropped the anchor (of course) that DPNR made us move from there and they should move up a bit. I hoped they didn't think I was trying to get rid of them :)

Later, Lisa & Rich came over in the dinghy.  Buffy was very friendly and played with Lisa.  Willow even got up the nerve to come out a couple of times and check things out.

By the way, Promenade is still available for New Years!

PROMENADE (trimaran)
10 guests maximum
Open for New Years on or after Dec.28th through Jan.4
Rate: $15,990/wk for up to 10 guests - Lowered rate!
Brochure: http://www.viewyacht.com/promenade/

This low rate is also in effect for open dates in January 2010.
Contact Paradise Connections for details.

We are out of Simpson Bay Lagoon HURRAY!

This morning we left the Simpson Bay Lagoon (St. Martin) at the 8:15am opening of the Sandy Ground (Marigot) bridge.

We are back at our spot in Marigot Bay and what a difference both Bob & I feel.  Freedom!  The water is such a light, clear blue and such a nice breeze.  Just feels clean and fresh. HAPPY!!!

If you are entering the lagoon, we are on the right side of the channel to the bridge, all by ourselves.

No problem seeing the chain.

We plan to sail to the Virgin Islands tomorrow morning to attend the St. Thomas charter yacht show. This is the way to St. Thomas...

Got a few more things to do and then it's time to go swimming!

It's snowing somewhere? Not here!

We just received an email from a charter client who told us her husband was delayed in the Denver snow storm.  It is difficult to imagine a snow storm when you look outside and it looks like this...

I just took this photo and decided to post it for all of you who might be wearing socks :)

Enjoy!

Special opening times Dutch St Maarten bridge Nov 6-14 2009

This morning's newspaper announced that the Dutch-side bridge to Simpson Bay Lagoon, St Maarten will be having a special opening schedule between November 6-14, 2009. Basically, it will open at 6:30am and 6pm, except for the Sunday which will be normal times.

You can see the article online or read below:

THE DAILY HERALD, Sint-Maarten Netherland Antilles

Bridge repairs resume Nov. 6 (2009)

~Road traffic not affected~

SIMPSON BAY--Repairs and maintenance on the Simpson Bay Bridge will resume on November 6 and continue until November 14, announced Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation (SLAC) Managing Director Russell Voges this week.

Vehicular traffic will not be affected, but maritime traffic will have to work with two opening times daily during the work period. Openings will be at 6:30am and 6:00pm for outbound and inbound vessels.

The bridge will be opened for short periods of no more than 15 minutes during the late evening hours to finalize the conservation of the underside of the deck.

For Sunday, November 8 only, the bridge will open for the three regular hours: 9:30am, 11:30am and 5:30pm for outbound and inbound maritime traffic.

From Sunday, November 15 until Monday, November 30, the bridge will open during the three regular hours.

As of Tuesday, December 1, the opening times will go from three to six per day for the high season which runs from December 2009 to May 2010.

The daily seasonal openings will be: 9:00am outbound, 9:30am inbound, 11:00am outbound, 11:30am inbound, 4:30pm outbound and 5:30pm inbound.

Contractor Hofman Sliedrecht NV will be carrying out the maintenance that entails the strengthening of two main girders and subsequent conservation of the structure; the repair of the bridge fenders, finalization of the electrical circuits and the standardizing of the traffic lights for maritime and vehicular traffic.

Motorists are advised to pay extra attention while crossing the bridge. A bucket truck will be parked on the sidewalks of the bridge deck and motorist should exercise caution when passing.

Considerable investments have been made to the bridge and everyone has a role to play in the longevity and safety of the bridge structure including those who transit in and out of the lagoon, according to SLAC.

After all repair and maintenance are completed, representatives from the Dutch Ministry of Water Management will inspect the works that have been executed and prepare a report for SLAC.

By the way, last we heard, the French-side bridge is only opening at 8:15am & 5:30pm until mid-November. See post.

French St Martin Sandy Ground Bridge October 2009

We went to get some water at the Marina Port La Royale this morning (French-side marina inside of Simpson Bay Lagoon) and asked if the bridge is working again.

Yes, but no mid-afternoon 2:30pm opening, like the Sunday schedule... He thought it would probably be this way until November 15, 2009 as they are working on the road.

The Sandy Ground Bridge is back together and opens at:

• 8:15 am (outbound traffic first)
• 5:30 pm (outbound traffic first)

Rejoice!

Shopping in St Martin - Cat Blogging Friday

The US Import supermarket (Sandy Ground near Time Out Boat Yard & the French bridge) seafood display was really pretty today so I took a couple of pictures.

The salmon is on sale for 17€90/kg

 Click photos to enlarge

Gasoline is still 0.85 euros/litre on the French side.

I must do a proper post on prices in St. Maarten / St Martin.  When we were at the Grand Marche the other day, I was really surprised to see that their regular, plain, young Gouda cheese was three times more expensive than it was a couple of years ago. I used to buy a chunk for about 9.50NAF per kilo (guilders) and now it is 29.95NAF/kg.  1.80 guilders = $1.00... it is always the same rate, unlike euros. A 300% increase in 3 years for cheese seems a bit steep to me... but it is what it is... so it goes...

I'll have to go through and price the staples like rice, sugar, eggs, Bounty paper towels, toilet paper, cat litter, etc. Must make a list.

Our friend Kerry, owner of the charter trimaran Promenade, told us that in St. Thomas USVI they paid almost $8/gallon of milk and about $4 for a loaf of white bread.

Buffy & Willow say butterflies are free (doesn't Elton John say something about that, too?) and plentiful.

Willow brought the butterfly inside and Buffy is there providing backup in case it gets away :)

Going to take laundy over to Yvonne's at Bobby's Boatyard (Lagoon) this afternoon.  That's $9/load for wash, dry & fold.

TGIF

Gray, winter-looking day in St Martin / Maarten

Another gray and rainy day.  Looks like winter somewhere up north and not an October day in the Caribbean.

Where's the typical blue sky and puffy white clouds? No butterfly hunting for the kittens this morning.

But, one year ago today we were preparing for the category 3 Hurricane Omar, so I'm really NOT complaining.
:)

EVENING UPDATE:

Well, it has improved... Here's a picture I took at 5:45pm.

Have a good evening!

Earthquake in Sint Maarten / St Martin / SXM October 5 2009

Wow, here we are at anchor in St. Martin in the Simpson Bay Lagoon near Explorer Island and at about 12:30pm AST the boat started shaking.

What's that?  Are we dragging?  Is something pushing us?  What's that vibration? An explosion?  No "boom" so probably not... An earthquake?  Never felt an earthquake at anchor before.

Looked outside and everything is OK.  Our neighbor is also looking about, so obviously he felt it too.

Called the radio station (Island 92) and he said that their building (FedEx) was shaking. At 12:52pm the radio station had to go on generator power as GEBE must have gone down.

Nothing on the internet yet...

12:58pm AST

Just found this: http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/p.php?pid=200910051651-TJSJ-SECA62-EQRSJU

(which appears to be inaccurate as reports lower down says it was EAST of St Martin....)

918
SECA62 TJSJ 051651
EQRSJU
PRZ012-013-VIZ001-002-052000-

EARTHQUAKE REPORT
RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
1251 PM AST MON OCT 5 2009

AN EARTHQUAKE OF PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE 4.5 WAS REPORTED BY THE PUERTO RICAN SEISMIC NETWORK AT 1228 PM AST...APPROXIMATELY 28 KILOMETERS SOUTHWEST OF CHARLOTTE AMALIE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. THE DEPTH OF THIS EARTHQUAKE WAS APPROXIMATELY 57 KILOMETERS. THE MAGNITUDE IS SUCH THAT A TSUNAMI WILL NOT BE GENERATED AND NO DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THE INITIAL QUAKE.

1:09pm AST
More info... Map
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Maps/10/295_20.php
Odd map... That's not SW of St Thomas... That's southEAST and right on top of St Martin!

So what's up???

1:19pm AST
I think that first report, mentioned above, from San Juan Puerto Rico made a typo when they said southWEST...
This site http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009mjbi.php
lists it as being 18.043°N, 62.781°W and
29 km (18 miles) ESE (102°) from Marigot, Saint Martin, Guadeloupe
30 km (18 miles) E (87°) from Philipsburg, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles

That's more like it :)

Hopefully we won't get tsunami... Kick 'em Jenny???

French Bridge (St Martin) still closed

When we went to get water yesterday, we were told that the French bridge (Sandy Ground, Marigot, St Martin) will be closed through October 15, 2009... Hopefully not past that :)

Aftermath of Tropical Storm Erika

I'm really exhausted. All of this uncertainty about Tropical Storm Erika must have affected me more than I realized.

I got up at 2am and looked at the latest forecast and it hadn't changed much. Storm center directly south of St Martin at about 133 miles or so if I recall.

Last night we had a constant strong breeze with some gusts, some whitecaps and not much rain. Happy about that and now I can catch up on some quality snooze time today.

These photos were taken a few minutes ago at 1:40pm EDT.

It is gray and looks kind of like a winter's day.

We had tomato soup for lunch... Soup & Sandwich just like the old Campbell's commercial :)

Our friend Kerry, owner-operator of one of our favorite charter yachts Promenade (contact ParadiseConnections.com for info) just wrote to us from their hurricane hole. She said that she's "Bored and hot. Hardly any rain so far. Hardly any wind. We have had more on a normal day. Going to go out and look at the seas by dinghy later on this afternoon, as I can hear them."

So, hopefully that's it for Erika. I haven't read anything about the storm but according to the NOAA track it appears to have gone over Guadeloupe with 40MPH winds. Can't complain too much about that.

Tropical Storm ERIKA in St Martin Sept 2, 2009

11:00 PM UPDATE

• After watching a DVD I went to bed for about an hour. Buffy came in for cuddles which was nice. When the alarm went off at 11pm I got up to look at the weather. Tropical Storm Erika is almost directly south of us with the center being 143 miles away with maximum wind of 40MPH. That workboat that was on the wreck's mooring for Ana & Bill came back this afternoon. There has been much in the way of loud voices and cussing for the past couple of hours... Don't know what the problem is but at least there's no gunshots... Buffy & Willow have decided to stay inside tonight as it's a bit breezy. Here's the 11pm map from StormPulse.com

Click image to enlarge

6:15 PM UPDATE

• We've been getting ready for the storm. Charged up 48 volt battery bank for electric motor, cleaned prop, put out 2nd anchor, returned DVDs, taken care of sails, etc. The 5pm forecast has moved Erika more to the south of us. Looks like it has gone over Guadeloupe. The current storm track predicts that at 2:00am that the center of the storm with be 90 miles directly to the south of us with maximum winds of 40MPH and we are outside of that cone. Hurray. We'll keep a lookout.

11:30 AM UPDATE

• We went and got water & gasoline and then went to the French supermarket and bought some wine, pate, brie, and a nice baguette. When we got back to the boat it was time for the 11am forecast. Tropical Storm Erika is really keeping them guessing. They now show that it will pass to the south of us going over Antigua and then St. Thomas, but with a lower wind strength of 40-45MPH. Looking forward to the 2pm forecast. It's a busy day... Oh, the 11:30 bridge open and boats are coming in. Hope they anchor properly.

Click on image to enlarge
From http://www.stormpulse.com/tropical-storm-erika-2009

The 8am forecast (September 2, 2009) for Tropical Storm Erika shows that the center of the storm will be 26 miles away from St. Martin on Thursday at 2pm.

Click image to enlarge

But according to the 5am NOAA Tropical Discussion, they seem to be quite uncertain about a few things so hopefully things might look better later on... We are getting prepared.

TS Erika didn't have a depression

Just checked 5pm NOAA forecast concerning Invest 94L that everyone has been watching. Skipped the Depression phase and went to straight to a named storm... Tropical Storm Erika.

StormPulse.com gives an interesting view of tropical storms

Looks like Thursday at 2am (at least there's a full moon now) it might start to become a bit breezy here in St. Martin.

Tomorrow we'll go and gasoline and water. Top up the charge in the 48V bank and do "The Drill"... hopefully all for nothing... Let's hope :)

I bet we have lots of boats coming in to the Lagoon tomorrow. The Dutch bridge is open but the French bridge was scheduled to close today...

Remember that mooring that I was worried about that the Omar wreck dragged and then we had a workboat tied up to it for BILL? Well, our neighbor has tied up to it... better them than someone else. According to the wind websites, they have us down for zip wind.. We'll be keeping a look out on all of the weather sites.

So It Goes...

Wreck shifted in St Martin Lagoon

We were surprised to see that this wreck which used to be up against Explorer Island in Simpson Bay St Maarten / St Martin and then last year moved across the way when it dragged its mooring in Hurricane Omar, has shifted.

It used to be parallel to the shore but after the night that ex-Tropical Storm Ana passed through, its bow is now angled out away from the shoreline.

There was that workboat that worried us who was moving about and couldn't seem to settle anywhere. After shooing him away from us by turning on our deck lights he went over by the wreck but had moved again by morning. Did he tie up to the wreck and shifted it? The amount of wind was certainly not enough to do so.... I hope it won't go "walkies" in the next big blow we get.

This boat eventually tied up to the wreck's old mooring. They left last Sunday (hurray). Seemed like OK people but we worried about their holding. We noticed yesterday that the line on the bouy has been cut, so hopefully nobody will tie up to it again as it is probably unsafe.

We don't like things that go bump in the night :)

Tropical Storm & Depression ANA

Yesterday afternoon we had a sundowner on the foredeck, it was the best we've had in weeks as the wind wasn't blowing the cheese and crackers off the plate. It was pleasantly calm and we enjoyed our drink, cheesy-whats-its, and of course, quality time with Buffy & Willow. Our neighbor throws out bread for the birds around 5pm and our cats really enjoy the show.

We were surprised to see this sailboat anchor between two wrecks... sort of like they were tying up in the mangroves :) Not a spot I would choose, but then, that's me...

(Click on photos to enlarge)

The wreck on the left dragged there during Hurricane Omar last year. It was previously across the way at Explorer Island. The sailboat wreck to the right, has been there longer than we've been here... possibly Lenny?

This French catamaran (a Punch) came in Sunday afternoon. We've always liked the design and the various ways they paint them. I was happy to see that they were still in the same place this morning.


In the newspaper this morning, they said that 50 boats came into the Simpson Bay Lagoon yesterday to shelter from the upcoming storms. Quite a few workboats were required to leave Philipsburg and came through the 5:30pm bridge. There were many small cargo ships, tugs, and barges that came in. A couple were in our neck of the woods.

I was keeping an eye on this one, and when I looked out at 2:00am he didn't seem to be in his original spot. Between 2am and 3am he was moving about. At one time we thought he was going to anchor directly in front of us so we put on our deck lights to be noticed. He then moved over a bit. Looked like he was directly behind the sailboat between the two wrecks mentioned previously... wonder what they thought about that! But later, he had dropped (dragged?) back and he tied up his stern to the mooring buoy that the Omar wreck in the previous picture had dragged there. I hope it has more holding power than a fish trap :)


Here's another lagoon photo. It doesn't really do justice to the white caps that we were having.


We are very happy to have stayed in the same spot all night.

We hope that Hurricane Bill will follow the predicted path and stay well out of our way. Bill sounds so friendly but...


We didn't sleep very well, and neither did Buffy & Willow. We're taking it easy today, napping & nibbling. It's calmed down so I'll see if the cats want to sit outside with me for a bit.

Staying put in St Martin - TS Ana 2009

We are still in St Martin. TS Ana has gone to the south of us and doesn't appear to be much of a problem for SXM, and Bill is expected to curve and miss the Virgin Islands (and us). We'll be keeping an eye on things.

Quite a few boats are hauling out...


Some have hauled for the season and are in pits.


This morning some workboats came in to the Dutch side of the Lagoon.


How would you like to see this dragging down upon you?


Smile !


(Click on photos to enlarge)

Boats have been streaming into the Lagoon today. I hope we don't get anyone too close to us that we'll have to worry about throughout the night if the wind increases.

Where the heck is that one coming from?

Today we went into Philipsburg and bought a new unlocked, tri-band cellphone as ours was getting rather dodgy, we had a successful stop at Radio Shack where the they had 3 out of 3 things we wanted (hurray!), then we did some provisioning as we are probably going to scoot out of St Martin ASAP. Plus we took our laundry in to Yvonne at Bobby's boatyard in the lagoon. She's doing us a favor and will have it ready for us by 10am tomorrow. She said that we'd have to fold it, but that's not a big deal. Thanks, Yvonne!

We went by the BluePoint computer store and definitely got NO JOY there. Those guys do not understand anything about customer service and customer satisfaction. Enough of them for now. We'll leave that for another day. We do NOT recommend them though.

So, after putting stuff away and having a bit of quality time on the foredeck, we just looked at http://www.passageweather.com to see if there's been any change in their forecast. Looks just about the same as in this morning's post below...

BUT...

Then I scrolled through the next few frames and the last frame (NEXT Saturday, 22nd August 2009) showed a surprise... Another purple blob. Where the heck did that come from????



So It Goes... and goes... and so do we!

St Maarten Dutch Bridge Closes Monday

The bridge on the Dutch side of St Maarten will be closed for two weeks beginning this coming Monday, 17 August 2009.

Many thanks to Gary Brown of Oceanmedia and presenter of the weekly marine broadcast of YachtBlast! which can be heard on Island 92 FM in St Martin, online, and as a podcast, for forwarding this press release to us.

Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation

JOHN SAINSBOROUGH LEJEUZ BRIDGE. - SINT MAARTEN.

PRESS RELEASE.

August 13, 2009.

Bridge to be Closed for Maritime Traffic August 17 for two weeks for repair work

SIMPSON BAY - Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority Corporation hereby announces that as of Monday, August 17 the Simpson Bay Bridge will be close to maritime traffic for a two-week period to facilitate additional repair work.

Boat owners and captains therefore must decide whether they will leave their vessel in the lagoon or in the bay. The last bridge openings will be on Sunday, August 16 for inbound and outbound vessels.

The main contractor Hofman Sliedrecht will work on the replacement of the traffic barrier boxes and booms; installing new traffic lights and installing a new electrical control cabinet for the bridge.

All the repairs to the Simpson Bay Bridge are based on the recommendations made by Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch Authority for Waterworks and Bridges. They are done to ensure the durability and longevity of the bridge structure.

In August 2009 Inspectors of Rijkswaterstaat will once more asses the condition of the bridge after all the improvements and will submit a report to the Simpson Bay Lagoon Authority.

# # #

With the possibility of a bit of bad weather coming our way next week (the system that is behind the now defunct TD2), this might present an interesting situation. I wonder if the people in surrounding islands that come to Simpson Bay Lagoon for storm protection know this.

The French bridge will still be opening twice a day through August and then it is scheduled to be closed for maintenance in September.

Fun in the sun!

Honesty, it's so refreshing!

This morning we went to fill up a few jerrycans of water and gasoline. We arrived at the Port Royale marina at 8 minutes before noon and I was happy that they let us get some water just before they closed for lunch. (76 litres = $2.35)

Then, we went to the Cadisco gas station to fill up two 5-gallon jerrycans of gasoline (essence). We got a bit over 20 litres for $16.75 ($0.82/litre). I paid the guy $17 and started to get back in the dinghy. He told me I had paid him too much. A $20 had stuck to the $10. How super nice... He didn't even think about it, just spurted it out as soon as he noticed. Gold stars!

Candygram... not!

Maybe this shark just tried the Candygram routine once too often...

This was today's special offering at the seafood section of our local French supermarket in Marigot, St. Martin. Quite a startling sight to see when you pop out of the aisle and turn the corner :)

The sign is for oysters (huitres) and not the price for the shark. Note the size of the shark by the lemon that is next to its mouth.

We bought brie & paté instead (which was absolutely yummy, I might add).