(Blog 60 - or thereabouts) St. Lucia - Martinique
Catou
Paul and Sylvie Tucker
Mon 11 Apr 2011 02:41
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14:44.69N 61:10.64W
Thursday 7th April. Sylvie and I flew out
to re-join 'Catou' on Thursday. Arriving in the early afternoon in a hot
St Lucia we collected our car and drove to the boat (via a few
customers to drop some catalogues in along the way) at the opposite end of the
island. After a basic food shop, we arrived at our friend Mike's house
(where 'Catou' was safely moored), just as he was arriving home, so after a
brief unpack, we had a couple of cold beers (kindly supplied by Mike, since we
hadn't switched on the fridge yet) and went out for an early meal to the
close-by marina. We crashed out quite early (due to jet-lag) and
after a battle with a hot and humid night + sleep interruption while
opening/closing windows during rain squalls - AND a battle
with mosquitoes, we managed a moderate sleep but were both awake at
0400hrs !
Friday 8th April There was a busy
day. We had to call in on a couple of customers. We also called in
to say hello to Camilla who runs the hotel I always stop at. After being
surprised to see us, she insisted on opening a bottle of champagne, so by the
time we left we didn't feel much like visiting customs and excise - but we had
to - to clear out with the immigration dept, since we were leaving St
Lucia over the w/end. A big shopping expedition followed + a few
other jobs, and we arrived back on board to stow the stores and other
gear. We were so tired that we were in our bunks at 8.45 pm and with the
usual mosquito and rain squall interruptions managed a reasonable night's
sleep.
Saturday 9th April At a somewhat later time
than arranged, Mike's pal Ken + a couple of Rasta friends, boarded Catou and we
cast off to motor outside the marina and into Rodney bay to anchor and
clean Catou's bottom. Though we had lifted, scrubbed and painted her on
the 18th November (just before leaving Las Palmas) the state of Catou's bottom
was bad - very bad, after 4 months in tropical waters. As we maneuvered
off the berth at Mike's house, I could feel she was very weedy. She would
not maneuvered properly and was only doing 1/2 her normal speed. After
anchoring in clear water outside the marina, we dived down to inspect the
hull. It was thick, thick with marine growth, barnacles, weed, and
lots of nasty stuff! Ken, and one of his Rasta pal's (the other stayed on
deck and did nothing other than smoke a spliff!), and myself dived down to
inspect Catou's bottom. It was grim, very grim! we started with the
prop and rudder which were dreadful. Ken had brought along some 9"
scrapers and the barnacles came off by the cloud full as we worked
along, wearing just a face mask (goggles) and a snorkel. As you come up
for air, your arms, shoulders, knuckles, hands or back catch the odd
barnacle still stuck to the hull, and boy, does it hurt. I lashed the
mooring lines around the hull from each side, and they helped as a method of
pulling yourself downwards and fighting against your body's natural
buoyancy. After 3 hours the hull was pretty clean and we were ready to go
back in so Sylvie and I could complete a few last minute things ashore. In
the evening we took Mike out for another meal to thank him for looking after
Catou and turned in at about 10.30pm
Sunday 10th April We were up at about 6am
and started preparing Catou for sea. Mike came aboard fro breakfast at
7am, and, after a clear up and some final jobs, we slipped the moorings outside
Mike's house at 0755 and motored out into Rodney bay. After clearing the
marina, and well out in Rodney bay, we set sail and soon stopped
the engine and had a lovely sail northwards to Martinique, where we had decided
to anchor for the night. We had a fast passage northwards
touching 8.5 knots in moderate seas. It was a great sail, and as we
approached the southern end of Martinique we were clearly able to pick out the
massive 570 ft high Diamond Rock off the south coast of the island.
Now here's an amazing story - The British navy, short of ships in 1804, when
Britain and France were slogging it out in the Napoleonic wars, decided to 'man'
the Diamond rock - to lob some cannon balls at the French fleet. They
renamed the rock 'HMS Diamond Rock' and proceeded to land a full crew of men,
together with cannons (which had to be dragged and heaved up vertical cliffs of
rock) and water and supplies. They sat there for 18 months firing at
any unsuspecting French ships that went by. They shared the rock with
an infestation on snakes. What an amazing thing to do - I imagine that the
French must have had a few pot-shots back at the rock as well - most
uncomfortable it must have been.
Anyway, we sailed north up the west coast of Martinique
and approached St Pierre bay near the northern end of the island at 1500
hrs. St Pierre is famous for one thing - it is the Caribbean's
Pompeii - it sits at the foot of Mount Pelee. On the 8th May 1902,
after a few days of ominous warnings, the whole side of the mountain erupted and
a giant fireball of super-heated gas flowed down over the city killing 30,000
(the entire population). The only survivors were a murderer, locked in the
local jail and a cobbler. 12 ships were also destroyed while at anchor in
the bay. Have to say Mt Pelee doesn't look very threatening from where we
are anchored, but I did look up when I heard a rumble in the late afternoon
(turned out to be a truck moving along the coast road!)
Must go and try and remember how to sent a blog on the
sat phone.
More to follow.
Best wishes
Paul and Sylvie
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