Boats leaving through the Simpson Bay Bridge.
SIMPSON BAY--With a new Atlantic hurricane season about to start on June 1, many cruising boats are preparing to leave and some have already left the island. Some will choose to sail south to get out of the hurricane belt, some to put boats in storage, and others to make the 3,600-mile crossing to Europe, or sail to North America.
It is a familiar exercise at this time of year for yachtsmen but the COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges to the annual ritual, not least in terms of quarantine regulations for moving from one territory to another.
Island Water World and several prominent persons in the marine community have been facilitating the departure of these boats, after French-side based cruisers requested assistance three weeks ago. The French-side bridge is still closed for repairs.
After several requests were denied, last week the Dutch-side government gave approval for passage through the Dutch-side bridge without clearance papers from the French side so boats could move to the bay of Marigot to prepare for departure.
“With the help of people like Chris Marshall from FKG, Tony Brewer and ourselves we got it all together for the paperwork, got submissions done for bridge clearance that had not been paid, and organised the guidance out of the lagoon to Marigot,” Island Water World Store Operations Manager, Rene Tuerlings explained.
“Our Island Water World store on the French side does customs clearance already but since we have the contacts for the French- and Dutch-side authorities we can assist the cruisers to arrange their departures legally and with approvals. We do not recommend they do anything without prior approval especially in these COVID-19 circumstances.”
Boats that have moved to Marigot are now able to fuel up, take on water, clean their hulls, and complete their provisioning. Tuerlings indicated the problem with the lagoon is that growth collects on the bottom of the boat and some people did not want to run their water makers in case they get damaged.
“Also, they could not get fuel on the French side of the lagoon so they were forced to go to Marigot, he added. “But all these boats will be leaving within the next two weeks. Several boats left yesterday (Wednesday, May 13) and 14 left today (Thursday, May 14) for Marigot to make their preparations.
Tuerlings estimated about 100 boats will be leaving St. Maarten/St. Martin, although a lot have left already.
“Some boats come here temporarily from Puerto Rico, Grenada or Antigua, Cuba and Jamaica to do their final preparations and provisioning, using St. Maarten as a jump-off point. Boats departing is about the same number as any year.”
