Busy In St Martin

Marigot Bay, St Martin
18 04.0N 63 05.4

It was perfect timing - we had about a week’s worth of chores to do and arrived in St Martin just as the weather turned to very wet and windy with frequent heavy showers and lots of grey sky, plus plenty of wind to test our new wind generator. We bought one in Trinidad and it started to make a grinding noise after a month or two, so it was sent back to the manufacturer for repair and we had come to St Martin primarily to pick it up.

After an hour or two mounting it, running the wire again etc etc we sat back and watched it spin and put out lovely amps – then during the night we were woken by ker thunk, ker thunk and the same problem had reappeared! The manufacturer was great, we got a new unit shipped to us for free and after uninstalling the old one yet again, and installing the new one all was well and we could fully join in the “amp wanking” with our cruising mates again.

“Amp Wanking” – this is a term coined to cover the endless discussions held by cruiser over evening drinks about the size of their battery bank, how much power they get from solars, wind gennies etc and how many amps the fridge uses – it’s the cruising equivalent of how well little Johnny is doing at school, what grade at violin he is etc etc.

The rest of the time passed raiding the chandleries, buying wine and cheese in French St Martin, and Heineken, fruit and vegetables in Dutch Sint Maarten. We also said farewell to many cruising friends heading in a different direction from there. So, not the most interesting cruising week but we both feel good about it as Matsu is again in top condition and the cupboards all filled with goodies. By the way, do not throw away your socks when you go sailing in the tropics, they make fantastic shock proof covers for wine bottles!