Sint Maarten to Bermuda

From St Eustatia, we sailed to the Dutch side of the island known as Sint Maarten (Saint Martin is the French side). We kept the boat on the French side last year but the Dutch side is much nicer and safer (in our opinion), if more rolly. From either side you can enter the massive lagoon but we did not as you must pay to anchor and there are strictly limited crossings (bridge openings) in and out. While we waited for our departure date to Bermuda with the Salty Dawg rally, we looked into getting a new outboard for Ginger. The 15hp we have is fine unless we have another person or a bunch of gear and then it just isn’t powerful enough to plane (the fastest, most comfortable and economical speed). Alas, after days of looking at the couple of places that have them, no one had the required engine controls we needed. As it would have been duty free and the labor rate is only $45/hour, it would have been cheaper than what we later got installed in Hampton, Virginia at $175/hour. But then, we were able to get one with electric tilt which we really wanted. So, John stayed on the boat for a week as Tess flew back to visit her parents. He kept busy cleaning the bottom and changing oil and filters in the engines. He found a small leak in one of the heat exchangers but fortunately Sint Maarten actually has boat parts! (And we now carry spare gaskets for this item…) Some friends we sailed with in Central America were on island so we got to see them a few times. John also found his way to Carnival here on the Dutch side for another version of this Caribbean extravaganza. Due to extreme traffic and very limited roads, he ended up walking over 8 miles in the middle of the day. Though the costumes were great and the music loud as ever, it was barely moving forward so he walked the route to see it all and then walked back. Nothing quite like the spectacle of Carnival in Martinique. When Tess returned, John went down to Maho beach, a spot famous for the jet blast of planes taking off. He filmed her plane landing almost close enough to touch and the jet blast from a “heavy” (big jet) takeoff was intense. One of those, “They’d never allow this in America!” things as it could easily knock you down if you weren’t ready for it, never mind the risk of eye damage from flying sand and debris. But it was pretty cool!

Finally, departure day arrived and we set out for Bermuda on May 14, 2026, with our friends Stephanie and Sean of SV SloMotion. The trip took us 5 days, 17 hours and 25 minutes. We sailed essentially all but the last 7 hours when the wind totally died as we sailed to the top of Bermuda. The first day we had very strong winds and absolutely flew, covering 172nm in the first 24 hours. After that we had nice beam reach sailing, played many rounds of Mexican Train dominoes and Wizard, dodged squalls in the late evenings, caught a large barracuda that we released and a Mahi that we ate. With four people we each had a three hour watch followed by 9 hours off which was fantastic. Pretty sure we will always do that for long passages as exhaustion can be really dangerous. Theresa cooked amazing meals every day and had prepared a lot of stuff before the passage. Our only damage was a sail car that lost its nut so was easily fixed in Bermuda. In fact, we didn’t even notice this little problem until after we had arrived. Of course, we arrived in the middle of the night and had to navigate through the tiny cut into St Geroge’s harbour in the dark but all went well with spotlight, night vision and two different charts for reference.

We absolutely loved Bermuda! It is so clean, well kept and charming that we would seriously consider buying a small place there to spend a few months a year when this sailing life is behind us. We spent several days sightseeing and managed to cover all of the main attractions on the several islands that make up Bermuda thanks to an excellent bus service. Tourists cannot rent cars, only motor scooters as the roads are narrow and space is seriously limited. Bermuda is 24 miles long and less than a mile wide with vast reefs around it. Though it was first sighted by the Spanish over 100 years before, it was truly discovered by the English by literal accident in 1609 when the ship Sea Venture, en route to Jamestown, Va, was wrecked on the island during a hurricane. The survivors took 10 months to build two new ships, sailed them to Jamestown and saved the colonists there from starvation. So, Bermuda put the shipwreck in their crest and on their national flag!

We happened to be there for Bermuda Day – a national holiday with a big all-day parade. We did not get inside St Peter’s Anglican (1616), the oldest Anglican Church outside of England, but the churchyard had some interesting finds… The town hall in St George itself is still used for the monthly council meeting with notes taken by hand. Something you notice immediately in Bermuda is that every single building has a heavy concrete roof with water catchment. There is no natural source of fresh water, only desalination and rain. As a result of the roof rule, they seldom have much structural damage from hurricanes. Even bus stops have concrete roofs.

The rally organized a tour of the “Bermuda Radio” post located at Fort George, near our anchorage. Bermuda Radio is sort of their coast guard, ship traffic control and border patrol rolled into one. Any vessel within 30 miles is required to check in with them, give intentions and get instructions. They control access into both of the big lagoons at each end of the country and steer vessels through the vast reef channels. They work closely with the USCG but we no longer have a base there. Apparently there is discussion to bring one back along with a possible US Navy base, which closed in 1995. The US military built much of the infrastructure on Bermuda during and after WWII, including the airport and most of the bridges that connect the islands together. It was really cool to see the technology and all that they can see with their powerful cameras that cover all approaches, never mind the radar and radio stuff. They even have live satellite views of the area. Fortunately, they are far enough away from anywhere else that the drug and illegal migration problems of the rest of the world are rarely seen. Fort George itself is hundreds of years old and was renovated heavily for both world wars and after. It was originally built as part of a series of forts to protect this English possession from a feared American attack after the American Revolution! (Seriously? With what navy?)

Our final stop was the Royal Navy Dockyards in the very south of the island, begun in 1809. No longer in military use, it is now where all cruise ships and large private vessels dock. It was from here, in 1814, that 5,000 British troops embarked on their way to burn the U.S. Capitol and White House. Bastards! Cool place to explore with all the buildings repurposed. Nearby is the world’s smallest drawbridge, Somerset Bridge, built sometime prior to 1620. At 32″ wide, it allows an old style fishing boat mast to slide through between the inner lagoon and the ocean. Still in use, though not many boats will fit and you have to open it yourself.

Next time, we’re off to the U.S. of A!