Position: 14:26:39N
60:53:06W
We finally extracted ourselves from
the sterility of Rodney Bay and, with no sea-legs after 9 days tied to a
pontoon, struck out northwards to Martinique.
It felt odd to show Sarah where we had sailed in on our Transat, looking
eastwards and thinking we sailed in over that horizon.
It is 21 miles north to Martinique, and the wind was a lovely 15kts on the
beam. The girls all went to sleep
leaving me to play around to my hearts content and so I set up the Aries – not
used since the Transat – and proved that it worked OK and steered the boat in a
roughly straight line. This is good
news.
The French islands of Guadeloupe and
Martinique have been on strike for a couple of
weeks – how Gallic of them – so we did not really know what to expect from St
Anne. This, according to the
guidebooks, is a lovely French seaside resort. However we had been hearing stories of
empty shops, rioting, looting, etc, so were a little
concerned.
As it turned out (as is so often the
case), it was all fine, and apart from the supermarket shelves being empty,
everything else was running normally – most cafes and restaurants open, French
holidaymakers on the beach, etc etc.
It is funny that, no matter how serious the strike is, the boulangeries
remain open – clearly the French cannot do without their
baguettes!!
We anchored off the beach and
immediately went ashore. There is
along sandy beach and it really did feel like we were back in Britanny (apart
from the water being warm rather than sub-zero!), with European French
everywhere. I can see why people
call Martinique a piece of France that happens to be in the Caribbean – it
seems more French than West Indies. During the evening, we could hear some
pretty aggressive speeches being made over a megaphone in the
town.
The following day, we went on a
dinghy “expotition” to Marin, about 2 or 3 miles away. Marin is one of the key yachting centres
on Martinique and is a fantastic natural
harbour with a large anchorage and marinas. Ashore, there were the best-stocked
chandleries I have seen since leaving England, as well as boulangeries and
cafes selling quintessentially French items. There was a small market open – so as
far as the strike was concerned, it didn’t really affect
us.
Dinghy expotition to
Marin
We also went into St Anne, a
beautiful little village with a lovely square lying between the jetty and the
church. You really could be back in
Europe, except for the
warmth!
St Anne, Martinique
View from the
church
Attitude? Moi?
I forgot a little story from when we
were back in Union that made us smile. When we were at anchor, a man buzzed up
in his dinghy. He was Greek, and on
a charter yacht. He came up and
said to us “You are doing the best thing in the world, sailing away from your
home in a small old yacht with your family. I did this 15 years ago with my small
children and it was the best time of my life. Now I have a big new yacht and I have
no-one to sail it with me. You are
doing the right thing”. It was
really nice to be recognized by a kindred
spirit!