Built by a sailor,
for sailors

As a marine surveyor working across Sint Maarten and Saint-Martin, I'm regularly called in after the fact — when work has been carried out to a standard that doesn't match what the client expected, or what they were charged for.

A client asked me recently: “How would I know if someone I was referred to was actually any good?” The honest answer was that they couldn't — not easily. There is no neutral, accessible way to check the track record of a tradesperson on this island, especially the many skilled (and not-so-skilled) freelancers working across the boatyards on both sides who have no website, no Google listing, no Facebook page.

Word of mouth is the primary mechanism for finding contractors here. It works reasonably well if you already have a network on the island. If you've just anchored after a long passage and you don't know a soul, you're largely on your own.

This site exists to change that.

SXM Marine Services lists contractors operating across both sides of the island — Dutch Sint Maarten and French Saint-Martin. It covers trades from rigging and electrical to mechanical, canvas, fibreglass, painting, and everything in between.

Every listing can be reviewed by cruisers who have actually used that contractor. This matters most for the freelancers who have no other internet presence: a review here may be the only public record of their work that exists anywhere.

Reviews are structured to capture what actually matters to a client: did they show up when they said they would? Did the cost match the quote? Would you hire them again? A star rating alone tells you very little — this aims to tell you rather more.

There is a second problem this site tries to address. Neither side of the island has meaningful, shared data on the volume of marine work being carried out — on the trades in demand, the trades that are missing, the reasons cruisers visit, or their levels of satisfaction with what they find.

This site collects voluntary check-in and departure information from visiting sailors. No personal data, no GPS, no names — just aggregate patterns. Over time, this becomes the island's first neutral source of cruising traffic data: how busy are we, what are boats arriving for, what did they need that they couldn't find?

That last question is the most important one. Where skill is lacking, training can follow. If the data shows a consistent gap — canvas workers, for instance, or English-speaking diesel mechanics — that is actionable information for associations, training providers, and anyone thinking about building a career in the marine trades here.

The results are published annually on this site, freely and in aggregate, for the benefit of the whole community.

This is not a booking platform, a marketplace, or a guarantee of work quality. It does not take commission and it has no sponsored listings — the order in which contractors appear is based entirely on their ratings and reviews, not on who has paid.

It is not affiliated with any single contractor, boatyard, or marina. It covers associations on both sides — Metimer on the French side and SMMTA on the Dutch — as independent partners, not endorsements.

The site is run by a sailor, funded voluntarily by the people who find it useful. If it helps you, consider buying us a beer.