06 January 2009 | Orient Bay, St. Martin
CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored in Orient Bay, between Green Cay and Orient Beach
18 05.132' N, 063 00.844' W
Anse Marcel was a fine place to do chores, but the anchorage was small and winds even more squirrelly than in Grand Case. Yesterday, we dropped our anchor in 15 feet of water and had a bit of a struggle getting it to set. Once we felt comfortable, we attached the snubber with a total of 100-feet of rode out, hopefully enough to keep us in place without swinging into other boats or marker buoys. The winds were largely dead calm, but randomly came in big gusts from every direction. All night long our GPS trace showed that we ranged from 20 feet to 100 feet from our anchor. We woke to discover that the painter (the line tying our dinghy to the stern of the big boat) had wrapped around a small yellow buoy which marked the channel for jet skis to run to and from the shore. I suspect that we may have drug anchor at some point. We unwrapped it and decided to get an early start on the morning (before another gust pushed us around). When I picked up the anchor, it was obvious that it had not set very firmly in what the guidebook reports is a grassy covered sand bottom. Through the night, we had been held in place largely by the weight of the anchor and chain.
We were underway shortly after 8AM, and motorsailed our way around the northeast corner of the island. We did more motoring than sailing, because the wind was constantly on the nose. This is the typical 'cape effect' which we grew to know so well when sailing the north coast of the Dominican Republic and the south coast of Puerto Rico last year. The cape effect describes the fact that the winds are accelerated and curved around a point of land. Since we were heading east into the winds this cape effect was not in our favor, and an offshore danger (Spanish Rock) forced us to stay close to the coast and receive the maximum wind-in-face effect. Toss in some big eastern swell, stacking up on the relatively shallow waters skirting the island, and you have the setting for a slow struggle just to get around the corner.
Once we made it around the corner, with the wind and swell behind us, we had to carefully line ourselves up to enter Orient Bay. It is a wide entrance, but shallow waters on both sides cause big, dangerous rollers to form. We got a little too far north at one point and did an exciting bit of surfing down a breaking wave. A sensation that is fun with a boogie board or kayak is terrifying with 10 tons of boat pointed toward shallow water.
Being pulled by our staysail and pushed with our little two-bladed prop, we edged
Prudence back into more manageable waves and eventually gained the lee of Green Cay. Here we found exceptionally clear water and were able to purposely select a sandy spot, free of grass, in which to place our anchor. A solid set was confirmed when I dived on the anchor and found it buried in sand to the point of being nearly invisible.
In this location, we should experience the more traditional anchoring scenario for the tradewind belt. To our east is a reef separating the mainland from Green Cay, a relatively flat island. Therefore, there is no land effect to speak of. We should get the full and consistent force of the trades. This is actually an easier situation in which to develop comfort in our anchor set than sudden gusting from any and every direction. It also means a constant river of air flowing through the open hatches, nice.
The reef dampens the waves, which are currently coming from the east, but does not cancel them entirely. Therefore, we are bouncing around on some short, choppy waters; however, it is nothing worse than what we had experienced in Marigot several weeks ago. The big advantage to this location is the proximity to the beach, so time off the boat will be relatively easy to obtain.
After Sheryl's time away from the boat yesterday, though, she declared that she would prefer to remain on the boat today (she also volunteered to hang the remaining damp laundry out to dry, what a wonderful wife I have). Meanwhile, I dove off the toerail and swam to shore to explore. Orient Bay is bordered by a long beach which is one of the more popular destinations on the island. Beach chair rentals appear to run between $6-8, with an extra charge for the parasol. This sand-free type of seating blankets the beach from end to end. And, each business establishment uses a different color for their umbrellas, making the otherwise obscene encroachment of man on this beautiful beach a rather colorful display.
The far southern end of the beach is a famous clothing optional destination known as Orient Beach. Although populated by a mixture of clothed and unclothed persons scattered among the yellow parasols, I felt a bit conspicuous and perhaps a bit voyeuristic in my walk through this area due to the fact that I had set out to explore wearing swim trunks. We are anchored at the northern end of Orient Beach, so I swam back to the boat to report my findings. Sheryl was especially interested in information regarding the availability of garbage receptacles. Just goes to show you, a cruiser definitely looks at a spot like this a little differently than your standard tourist.
Sheryl had been wrestling with the internet in my absence, and was just now making some progress at posting photos. It was tough going, though, and I decided that I would make a quick lunch and leave her alone to deal with that frustrating task. I inflated my $2 raft (because I was not about to pay for a chair) and headed back to the beach, leaving my swim trunks behind. Comparatively, I was much more comfortable being among the many on the beach opting out of their clothing. There is something quite wonderful about a nude beach. It strips away (pardon the pun) one of the most basic puritanical mores. One can be like a young child again, eschewing the constriction of clothes and reveling in the freedom of simply being naked.
If you have never experienced a clothing optional environment, I strongly urge you to give it a try if the opportunity ever presents itself. In such a place, there are no sexual connotations to being nude, and nobody seems overtly concerned with physical appearance. In fact, you may find that such a flagrant disregard for displaying exclusively what we have grown to judge as the commercially-perpetuated-perfectly-sculpted human form will give you a new perspective on your own body image.
I returned to the boat to learn that Sheryl had just completed the photo upload process. It had not done much for her need for rest and relaxation, but having discovered the first unlimited bandwidth internet access since arriving in St. Martin, she was not about to let the opportunity pass by without getting the best of her photographic efforts from the past month up there for all to see.
Although the beautify of this setting cannot be surpassed, there are three potential issues with this anchorage. Number one is protection. We will have to keep a close eye on the weather as long as we stay here. Any prediction of significant northeasterly swell will signal that it is time to seek alternative anchorages. Number two is provisions. We should be fine for a while, but other than beach bars, there is nothing nearby which would allow us to easily replenish our onboard stores. Number three is activity. In Anse Marcel, one afternoon with a ringside seat on the jetski takeoff lane was quite enough for me. Here, the availability of watersport activities for tourists is unparalleled. However, so far, it seems to be fairly low key and spread out across this very large bay. In fact, it gives us something to look at as we sit in the cockpit. And, as the parasailing operation moored just off our stern might suggest, "Don't worry, just smile."