14.32.60N 61.06.50W
JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Sat 29 Dec 2007 23:13
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Hello everyone
As we are approaching the NEW YEAR we decided to
sail down from the Leeward Islands to the Windward Islands via Martinique to
Bequia and celebrate the New Year in Admirals Bay along with probably hundreds
of other boats.
We departed Antigua at 1300 on the 27/12 and
arrived in Martinique on the 28/12 after a journey of some 200nm the weather was
pretty bad with winds up to 35knts in places particularly between the islands in
the squalls,meaning lots of sail changes (of course we have reefing sails which
means you pull them in and out for less or more sail ) but never-the less it is
quite wearing when you are having to do it several times an hour with the wind
changing from 8kts to 26kts in minutes.In fact it was looking so bad I
stayed up on Jenny's watch as well to keep her company ,mind you I did grab a
sneaky 40 winks earlier in the day ,just in case.
If you remember with the squalls comes the
torrential downpours what with that and the boat screaming along at 9kts+
(remember 10kts is formula 1 stuff ) on its ear a lot of water passed over
the deck(at times the gunnels were in the water-means we were leaning over a
long way) making her very clean by the time we arrived in Martinique.Jenny
did remark pointedly that it would be more comfortable for the sleepers if I
slowed down a bit .I did explain that I was trying to get into the lee of the
next Island quickly to make her watch easier but I don't think she believed
that.
The capital of Martinique is Fort de France its not
very pretty but does have some French charm mixed with Caribbean fun but it is
pretty run down and not very safe at night,in fact we did go ashore in the
evening of the day we arrived but felt it was unsafe to leave the tender (
dinghy) tied to the quayside up as it may disappear.I forgot to say we were
at anchor in the bay so our only means of getting ashore was by the tender
powered by Johnny our 10hp Johnson out board ( our 2.7mtr inflatable goes very
well with 10hp driving it considering its only rated to take 5hp) We will have
to upgrade the dinghy as soon as we can find a bargain for a RIB then we
can plane better.We found an excellent restaurant for lunch today so delayed our
departure to at least enjoy the cuisine of the island it was very
good.(apparently they only steal the dinghy's at night so we were okay during
lunch.
Every where we go we have to check in at customs
and check out when we leave on some islands like Antigua its three different
offices in Martinique its one scrap of paper
and no exit papers mind you we were accosted by a chap in a fast boat when
we were leaving saying something about the sea Jenny and Alan thought
he was warning us about bad weather I thought he wanted us to pay berthing
fees.I have never known anyone to chase after us to warn us about the weather
but I have known plenty who have chased us for fees.Consulting our weather
forecasts we could see nothing other than we had the on the way down we
shall see,look out for the next report.
We are now in transit to Bequia which will
take about 15hrs and will arrive there at around 9 am passing in the dark
the islands of St Lucia and St Vincent,its a shame really but we need to be
in Aruba by the 8th of January for Jon and Bon and to connect with our flight
back home.
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