The Boat

Barnacle’s Bar and Grill dinghy parking in Simpson Lagoon

While we were at Simpson Lagoon, St. Maarten the main topic of conversation among cruisers and locals was “the boat.”

Marietje Andrea

The boat in this case was the 413 foot cargo vessel the Marietje Andrea parked in the middle of Simpson Lagoon.

Built in 2009, the Marietje Andrea is a Netherlands flag vessel.  Above she is proudly flying the St. Maarten courtesy flag.

Normally ships of this size do not enter Simpson Lagoon.  Instead large cruise and cargo ships unload the complaining and non-complaining cargo in Philipsburg, St. Maarten.  But, this was special cargo.  It was the swing section for the new bridge crossing Simpson Lagoon.

While we watched from our mooring, large cranes were positioned to lift the swing bridge section form the cargo vessel to its new home on the concrete pivot pylon.

After working some long hours, they got the swing bridge in place.

Palapa Bridge

(existing bridge to enter Simpson Lagoon from Simpson Bay) 

The Marietje Andrea was scheduled to depart Simpson Lagoon with a special bridge opening on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 12^th at 7:00 PM.  We took the 4:30 PM bridge opening to depart Simpson Lagoon and anchor in Simpson Bay to stage for a crossing to St. Kitts in the morning.  It would also provide a front row seat to watch the Marietje Andrea navigate the opening.  It’s not everyday you get the opportunity to see a 50’ wide vessel go through a 56’ opening.  Unfortunately, for unknown reasons the departure was canceled at the last moment, so we did not get to watch.

See: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/fr/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=246649000 to track the Marietje Andrea.

Repair vs. Replace

Normal Presentation

Upon arrival in St. Maarten our autopilot died.  By the time we left, I thought I had it resurrected.  But, 10 minutes into our crossing to St. Kitts it went out again.  We hand steered for the next 7 1/2 hours.

The next day:

7:15 AM Troubleshoot autopilot

8:00 AM Decide with 90% confidence the electric motor on the pump is out

9:00 AM On the way to breakfast we ask Charlie, the dock master if he knows where there is an electrical motor repair shop

9:05 AM Charlie doesn't know so he calls Percy, the taxi driver

9: 10 AM Percy arrives to take us to Neil, the electrician

(It's a small island and Percy drives fast)

9:15 AM Neil is not there, but Debbie, Neil's girlfriend/business manager says bring the pump in and he will take a look

9:30 AM Percy drops us off at the coffee shop for breakfast

10:30 AM Return to the boat and remove pump

11:15 AM Deliver the pump to Neil via bicycles

Neil Jeetlall

11:30 AM Neil says the good news is my diagnoses is correct; it's the motor.  The bad news is that it is the armature in the motor is shot.

1:00 PM Neil delivers the armature to Roderick, the only guy on the island that can rewind armatures

3:45 PM Neil picks me up at the marina

3:50 PM Neil picks up Brandon, Debbie's son from school

3:55 PM Roderick demos the rewound armature

(Neil drives faster than Percy)

4:10 PM We return to Neil's shop where he reassembles the motor and pump

4:30 PM Neil drops me off at the boat with the rebuilt pump

Total cost for the rebuild was $200 USD vs. a new pump from the US is $619 + shipping (apx. $120) + customs fees and a few days waiting if we were lucky.

We probably could have escaped customs fees by declaring "boat in transit" and providing the necessary documentation.  However, the locals pay upward to 85% import duty on repair parts.  Therefore, it is cheaper to repair rather than replace.  Might not be such a bad thing compared to US where everything is becoming disposable.

Should you find yourself in St. Kitts needing an electrician, contact:

Neil Jeetlall

1 (869) 668-4444

jet03@hotmail.com