Martinique
27.01.2010
It was an odd realisation that Rodney Bay has become our home port. We had brought Joy and Cliff up to see our arrival point post Atlantic and when we got here the familiarity of it all, plus new friends and acquaintanaces, who had also come back from various venues, being around made it seem a bit like home.
Anyway they had the opportunity to meet Michael, Kris and Lani as well as Richard and Dawn before we all said fond farewells and headed of to new pastures.
For us it was a trip across the channel to Martinique. We headed to Marin where apparently you can get anything and everything done to a boat. There is a marina which we availed ourselves of. The trip over was a great sail. We had a lot of wind and we had a beam reach most of the way. We needed the engine for some of the trip and Cliff had a go at the helm for an hour or so.
When we got to Marin we were directed to the visitors pontoon. Ah the joys – stern to mooring (my favourite – not). Anyway many hands and all that we managed to get berthed. John went of in search of both customs and the marine engineer who would resolve the generator problem.
Ah well best laid plans. Customs was closed, the generator place was shut and the rain was threatening. Joy and I knew about the rain as we had decide not to idle the time while the guys were busy. We went to find a supermarket (it’s a woman thing!)n On the map it looked like no distance at all – well who ever said I was any good at geography? We did eventually find one but it wasn’t the one we had hoped to reach. anyway it did the business and we bought a fair old bit. Problem – getting it back the long road we had come. We had to have a pit stop, just as the rain came pouring down, very timely we thought. We eventually got back tot he boat and organised a meal as it was too wet to go on a walk about. Next day we had lovely sunshine. Alas no joy with the generator man – he wasn’t in all day. The customs clearing in went well though. A wander round the older part of the town convinced us that leaving and mooring in St Anne’s bay roundthe corner was a better plan. So we dropped the lines and headed to a beautiful anchorage just round the bay. It summed up my vision of the Caribbean. You know turquoise clear water, white fine sand beaches lined with palm trees. All this while the sun is splitting the sky and a breeze keeps you almost comfortable in the 30+ degrees. Good call!
Ashore we found a walk which took us up 13 steps to Calvary. Probably the steepest hill we have tackled in over a year but worth it as the vies were quite stunning at the top. Back in town we did the quick tourist run and then found a waterside cafe to refresh us. After that we took a really long beach walk and finally arrived back at the dinghy totally whacked.
We had a visit from another ARC boat, Amazing Grace was in the bay. John stopped for a chat and they ended up coming over for dinner. A pleasant evening ensued and yet again the small world we live in reasserted itself. John’s Dad lives in Dunblane and he used to work with Cliff = scary stuff.
Next day we headed on to Anse D’Arlet which we had previously visited with Liz and Robert. Once again it did not disappoint. We were treated to turtles swimming in the bay. As we came in to anchor I thought I saw a swimmer in the water, then lost him again. Turned out to be a turtle. There were 2 or 3 of them and it was a real treat to see them. Another trip ashore for bread etc and a visit to the beach cafe to watch the sun go down. Next morning the bay was so tranquil and the water lovely and flat so I took myself of for a long swim to the shore and back – it was gorgeous and probably the best cardio work out I have had in months.
We left just as the local school children were having their sailing/surf boarding lessons. Lifting the anchor required a lot of patience as the kids were dropping of their boards like flies. The boat was the target and you could see them concentrating on not coming close but ending up right there i9n front of us. The staff in their speed boats were very helpful and kept dragging them back to safety. P.E. lessons at home were never this much fun Ewan! Safely underway we ran the gauntlet of loads of bottles floating in the water to indicate fishing pots underneath. It was almost as bad as the coastline of Portugal. We were heading round into the Bay and Fort de France channel. The intention was to reach Trois Islet before the evening. It didn’t take to long, although we had to mtor most of the way as the wind was on the nose. It is a lovely coastline to work your way along. Safely anchored in a very sheltered bay overlooking a very posh golf course beside some really run down looking properties we were yet again struck by the huge contrasts on the island of the haves and have note. there are huge social divides. Martinique is fortunate as it benefits from being French and therefore under EU remunerations. The contrast between it and St Lucia which is independent is huge.
There was really not a lot in Trois Islet and the prospect of eating out very limited. We did however find a place, well of the beaten track and looking like it shouldbe condemned, Health and safety food agency would have a field day with this place. Anyway we decided we would go there for evening meal. As it turned out it was a most interesting experience and we ate traditional creole food (some of which we had no idea what it was). The bill was modest for what we had and the whole experience enlightening. However the rest of the evening was a bit more challenging. We had heard the dogs and cockrels when we arrived in the bay and commented that we might get an early call. By crickey did we. They all started about 3 a.m. and went onuntil well after 8 in the morning. So much for a quiet anchorage, We uped chain and headed round to Anse Mitan which was delightful.. Joy, Cliff and John went ashore and I stayed with the boat and took advantage of a dip in gorgeous water. Then it was up and on to St Pierre.
St Pierre lost 30,000 inhabitants in 1902 when the volcano beside it erupted and flattened the town. Apparently only 2 people survived a mass murderer and the local cobbler. It erupted again in 1933 but didn’t do so much damage on that occassion. It was a bit of a disappointment really as there were few places to go without transport. John went in for a swim and got stung, so qiuickly high tailed it out of the water. Needless to say none of the rest of us ventured in.
Next day we left and headed to Fort de France to clear immigration. I really quite like Fort de France. It has a busy shopping area full of quaint shop fronts. Inside there is a huge selection of items, some would put Anne Summers to shame and others well you just wouldn’t be seen dead in. What is different is it is not full of the same old high street retailers. All very individual in style and content. There is a buzz about the place. Joy and I went shopping (yup you guessed – to find a supermarket) This time I knew where I was going so it was a breeze. Back on board we debated whether or not we should revisit Anse Mitan. However as it was getting dark we opted to stay put and run the gauntlet of the fast ferry services that shoot back and forth to places like Trois Islet. It wasn’t too bad for rocking and rolling, course maybe we are just getting used to it.
Morning dawned and we upped anchor and headed back to Anse d’Arlet. John had bought Digicel top up voucher at the bakery there. When we tried to load them the phone kept saying no network. Eventually we found a shop in St Pierre and the Digicel lady advised us that Digicel F is totally different from the St Lucia Digicel and that we would have to go back to the shop originally purchased in to get a refund. John took the dinghy ashore and had a discussion with the lady who had sold him the vouchers. This involved a huge queue forming, all listening to him attempting to converse in French and explain his problem. In the end he got his refund but he reckons only because the queue were getting impatient for their morning rolls. There were no turtles today but a lot of school childrenin kayaks thoroughly enjoying their morning P>E> lesson. Please note the extended P.E. curriculum Ewan. Joy also spotted a pelican as we were leaving.
And so = here we are back in Rodney Bay after a somewhat bumpy sail back across the chanel. The internet connection is allowing us to update mail etc. The shore power is allowing phones etc to be charged and to top it all we have just had a lovely meal out. This was the last chance to do that with Joy and Cliff. Hard to believe they are almost at the end of their trip. We have had a lot of laughs (often at Cliff’s expense but he takes it well) and shared some interesting experiences. We shall miss them when they go at the end of the week. Hopefully the bad weather we had to day will disappear and the sun will come out tomorrow (a que for Annie for sure). There is no water available in the marina due to low water table so maybe all the rain today will help top it up a bit.
