Onwards North to the French Islands
Juniper
John and Sally
Wed 5 Feb 2025 12:13
Having been back in UK for two weeks, we are back on board Juniper with friends Greg, Neil and Jane.
Bumpy first passage to Martinique, 24 miles north is St Lucia. The night before we left our new crew experienced the joy of Caribbean squalls - 34 knots through the anchorage in the day and six rain squalls overnight! If you are in a European winter that probably doesn't sound like a big deal. However, when the temperature is 30 degrees you rely on all the hatches being open to stop down below being like a greenhouse. So every storm that comes through creates a flurry of shutting hatches, getting hot, opening them when the rain stops, slightly cooling down then repeat!!! 6 times in the night..
Managed to restock Juniper in a carrefour supermarket here - subsidised imports from France so groceries are 40% cheaper than St Lucia, for certain things.
Having now explored Marin, we now move on to Anse Mitan, passing HMS Diamond Rock on the way ( more on this later)
Sent on the move....
John Boughton QGM