where to lay up north of Antigua?

[fliti]

Has anyone an interesting suggestion where to lay up north of Antigua but south of mainland USA? is there anything in the BVI? DR? Jamaica? Don't worry about hurricane insurance.

 

[michael_w]

St Martin.

Probably the best boat services in the Leeward Islands. Everything catered for from mega yachts to dinghies. Tax free to boot.

 

[TQA]

Has anyone an interesting suggestion where to lay up north of Antigua but south of mainland USA? is there anything in the BVI? DR? Jamaica? Don't worry about hurricane insurance.

Define 'lay up'.

Do you mean out of the water in a boatyard.? One of the yards in Puerto Rico would be my choice but there are yards in the USVI and BVI who are high enough and who tie down the boats to the ground.

Or in the water in a Marina.

Or stuffed into the mangroves. Salinas PR ?

If considering St Maarten look hard at the recent history and the numbers of boats damaged in cat 1/2 hurricanes.

 

[fliti]

Define 'lay up'.

Do you mean out of the water in a boatyard.? One of the yards in Puerto Rico would be my choice but there are yards in the USVI and BVI who are high enough and who tie down the boats to the ground.

Or in the water in a Marina.

Or stuffed into the mangroves. Salinas PR ?

If considering St Maarten look hard at the recent history and the numbers of boats damaged in cat 1/2 hurricanes.

I mean storage out of the water. I was surprised to see how much development there has been In St Martin since I was last there 15 years ago. Would that have happened if there had been significant hurricane damage? Does anyone have any statistics? I rather doubt they are published.

 

[TQA]

I mean storage out of the water. I was surprised to see how much development there has been In St Martin since I was last there 15 years ago. Would that have happened if there had been significant hurricane damage? Does anyone have any statistics? I rather doubt they are published.

If you intend to haul out and store your boat in St Maarten just make sure the yard ties your boat down to ground anchors.

For info on the damage to St Maarten by recent hurricanes a quick google on St Maarten hurricane Gonzalo or Lennie or Omar will be instructive.

It is worth noting that while the inner lagoon at Simpsons Bay St Maarten is often regarded as a ' hurricane hole' every single boat anchored in the middle and many around the edges finished up sunk or ashore after Gonzalo.

 

[tcm]

If you intend to haul out and store your boat in St Maarten just make sure the yard ties your boat down to ground anchors.

For info on the damage to St Maarten by recent hurricanes a quick google on St Maarten hurricane Gonzalo or Lennie or Omar will be instructive.

It is worth noting that while the inner lagoon at Simpsons Bay St Maarten is often regarded as a ' hurricane hole' every single boat anchored in the middle and many around the edges finished up sunk or ashore after Gonzalo.

NOT true! I was here in St Maarten/St Martin (2 halves of the same island) before and after Gonzalo, with a panoramic view of the lagoon, and pretty much all the boats that got sunk/whacked deserved their treatment. Those on hurricane moorings, lots of those in the lagoon, and ALL boats ashore were fine, no damage. PLENTY of boats in the lagoon were undamaged. The wrecked types were all in the water, and included those who say how they've "been here for years" and sat on the same old crappy mooring, or in the wrong (downwind) marinas, and/or plenty of them out in the bay in N-facing Marigot (jeez!) where all but one got chucked on to the beach. A few called out the Fr rescue boat, which then also ended up on the beach, along with half a dozen old catamarans. I supose Gonzqlo was a "special case" in that even as it hit it was rated to 40/50 knots, but the island stayed in the wall for a long time and wind speeds way over 120knots. Islanders refer back to 1995 for a similar/worse hurricane, and even then yerknow, it's a day of high winds max, not weeks and weeks. News reports said that out of a few thousand boats on the island, 38 were write-offs. Quite a large proportion of these were never gonna move out of the lagoon anyway, ever - you know the type - selling engine parts frinstance...

 

[TQA]

NOT true! I was here in St Maarten/St Martin (2 halves of the same island) before and after Gonzalo, with a panoramic view of the lagoon, and pretty much all the boats that got sunk/whacked deserved their treatment. Those on hurricane moorings, lots of those in the lagoon, and ALL boats ashore were fine, no damage. PLENTY of boats in the lagoon were undamaged. The wrecked types were all in the water, and included those who say how they've "been here for years" and sat on the same old crappy mooring, or in the wrong (downwind) marinas, and/or plenty of them out in the bay in N-facing Marigot (jeez!) where all but one got chucked on to the beach. A few called out the Fr rescue boat, which then also ended up on the beach, along with half a dozen old catamarans. I supose Gonzqlo was a "special case" in that even as it hit it was rated to 40/50 knots, but the island stayed in the wall for a long time and wind speeds way over 120knots. Islanders refer back to 1995 for a similar/worse hurricane, and even then yerknow, it's a day of high winds max, not weeks and weeks. News reports said that out of a few thousand boats on the island, 38 were write-offs. Quite a large proportion of these were never gonna move out of the lagoon anyway, ever - you know the type - selling engine parts frinstance...

I was wondering what part off my post you say is not true.

If it is the statement about the boats in the center all being sunk or ashore there is an aerial shot showing the area to the West of the Witches Tit being totally cleared of boats. Mark of Sea Life posted it on the FB page after Gonzalo.

I agree that many boats survived many did not. There was some damaged boats in yards eg see https://hurricanegonzalostmartin.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/power-boat-crushing-sailboat-at-st-martin-shipyard/

My point is simple one, Simpsons Bay lagoon is not a safe hurricane hole.

I was cruising in the Eastern Carib in 95 and visited St Marten post Luis. Official estimates put the number of boats in the lagoon at around 1000. Post Luis 800+ were sunk or blown ashore with varying degrees of damage. OK Luis was a strong Cat 4 and they are rare but they do happen.

 

[tcm]

I was wondering what part off my post you say is not true.

If it is the statement about the boats in the center all being sunk or ashore there is an aerial shot showing the area to the West of the Witches Tit being totally cleared of boats. Mark of Sea Life posted it on the FB page after Gonzalo.

I agree that many boats survived many did not. There was some damaged boats in yards eg see https://hurricanegonzalostmartin.wordpress.com/2014/10/18/power-boat-crushing-sailboat-at-st-martin-shipyard/

My point is simple one, Simpsons Bay lagoon is not a safe hurricane hole.

I was cruising in the Eastern Carib in 95 and visited St Marten post Luis. Official estimates put the number of boats in the lagoon at around 1000. Post Luis 800+ were sunk or blown ashore with varying degrees of damage. OK Luis was a strong Cat 4 and they are rare but they do happen.

OK, sorry, i think i meant that your post was not quite representative of what happened, rather than "untrue" - the boats that anchored ready for a hurricane were fine (and Mark from Sealife was one such boat, undamaged, cept he didn't fill his dink with water so it flipped...). Your post indicated that that any/all boats were damaged whereas it was the ones who hadn't got on to a decent mooring, hadn't properly furled sails and so on that were damaged. Out of season there's only 100 boats in the lagoon anyway so not sure how meaningful it is that it's a bit empty west of the WT.