Antigua St Maartens

stevesales

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Any news of our colleague Charles McD who departed for St Maartens (or perhaps St Martins) recently ?
I'm off there next week and he promised me a drink; having a Scottish name I suspect he has gone into hiding to avoid coughing up/pouring out.
Anybody tried English Harbour Antigua for the 'Orrible 'Urricane season?
 

john_morris_uk

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At sea somewhere.
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I have used English harbour Antigua during a hurricane. I can confirm that it did get quite crowded. There are a couple of areas of hardstanding in the harbour that I noticed a few boats stored on. They seemd to survive the Cat 2 Hurricane that I was there for. (Our technique was to stick the bow into the mangrove and make is fast with plenty of lines to the biggest mangroves we could see. Two anchors out the nack end and retire to a very solid stone built hotel while the hurrican passed over.)

Not sure that I would want to leave the boat for long in the way I descibed, but it worked for us at the time.
 

stevesales

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Thanks, both.
Do either of you know anything about the 'yacht committee' at English Harbour which is supposed to supervise/help mooring boats for bad weather ?
I have no choice but to leave my boat somewhere in this region at least until August and I can't guarantee to be around if something bad happens. Unfortunately my attempts to become dispensable haven't worked yet.
It was another Brendan, Brendan.
 

snowleopard

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don't think there's any chance of being able to leave a boat unsupervised afloat in english harbour. falmouth harbour is mainly superyachts but jolly harbour has storage afloat and ashore (they weld the props together on shore).

there are several marinas in the lagoon at st maarten where boats can be left afloat but it's several square miles of water and berthing is stern-to with anchors from the bow so less suitable for leaving unsupervised.

a bit further south, rodney bay on st lucia has berthing between concrete jetties and during the summer you get a double berth to yourself for the same price as a single. the drawback there is that there's easy public access to the marina and there's quite a high crime rate in the area.
 

jerryat

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Hi,

We left our boat ashore in Rodney Bay's marina boatyard for about 6 weeks (in 2003) while back in the UK, and were delighted with the way they looked after her. She had to be moved while we were away to let another boat get closer to one of the facilities, and it was done with great care and very well supported. I didn't hear of any crime in the area, and certainly not in the boatyard, which has a guard on duty at the gate.

I've been there three or four times and haven't heard of a crime problem - yet!! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Hope this helps,

cheers Jerry
 

snowleopard

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During ARC 2001 there were a lot of incidents, mostly muggings, around the Rodney bay area. There are several gangs operating in the area. I don't know whether there is much theft from yachts in the marina, the only instances we heard about were in Soufriere and Marigot Bay.
 

jerryat

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Hi Chris,

Good grief, we must have led a charmed life!! The nearest we, or any of our friends, came to that sort of thing was an 'altercation' with a guy purporting to be a boat-boy as we approached Castries. Will take me 'ard 'at next time, just in case!!

Cheers Jerry
 

snowleopard

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Most of the trouble happens when people walk to Gros Islet for the friday jump-up and get turned over in dark places. There were odd incidents near the restaurants on the seaward side of the marina where there isn't much traffic. A local travel agent pointed out a couple of local crooks at the ARC parties who were known to ply sailors with drink then pick their pockets when they were too drunk to notice. The marina bar got a bit lively at times and one of my crew was beaten up by some locals after a drinking session. Some friends had their boat ransacked while ashore for dinner in Marigot Bay. Their mistake was to book the restaurant by VHF.

The rules for staying safe on St Lucia and the other English-speaking Windward Islands are:

Don't walk at night except in large groups and/or well-lit areas.
Lock up and don't advertise absence from your boat.
Go easy on the booze.
Don't display wealth when ashore (jewellery, fancy cameras).

The ARC is a magnet for local low-life but most people have no trouble at all.
 

stevesales

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Thanks for the advice.
I've certainly had no trouble in St Maartens and have left the boat at anchor in the lagoon there with no problems (but I did pay a guy to keep it 'occupied looking')
The only place I really didn't feel easy was St Croix but it isn't a place anyone would rush to go to anyway.
 

davidbains

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Snowleopard,
It's stories like these, heard from others too, that make me happy to stay in the Med!
I suppose there are a few places in southern Italy which are a bit tense, but we've only
been "robbed" by ormeggiatore! Torre Greco nr Naples if you want to know where.
Cagliari can be a bit unsettling too. Dirty washy harbour and dodgy locals.
The Adriatic is clean and friendly, although I studiously avoid Albania!!
 
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