In the lee of the Windwards
Oriole
Sat 28 Feb 2004 18:36
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Chilling out in Dominica took rather longer than
anticipated and we finally
left on Monday at crack of 0500 and got rather caught up in a procession of rain squalls as we cleared the leeward side of the island. Gill and Peter were introduced to the big seas and strong winds that characterise the inter-island passages as we sped across the 30 mile gap to Martinique. Here we anchored off St Pierre, scene of the volcanic devastation of 1902. Of the population of 30,000 only two survived when a giant fireball roared down from Mt. Pelée and engulfed the town. 
Mt Pelée in quiescent mood.
Carnival was in full swing but
caused
considerably less disturbance to sleep than the normal Friday night in Dominica. Fort de France, the capital of Martinique, was our next port of call. We became spectators of the Mardi Gras carnival procession, which as far as we could make out is a celebration of the death of the devil and an excuse for the young to roar around in old bangers. 
Less quiescent in Fort de France.
We are now in Malgretout, St Lucia where our stern is tied to a coconut tree with our bow to a mooring provided by the local coral conservation authority. The boat is rocking gently and the water crystal clear and the invitation to swim frequently accepted. We are also fighting off the boat boys who are constantly trying to sell us things which we do not want and trying to find out when we are leaving so that they can be paid for casting off our lines. Ashore for supper last night we eat wonderfully fresh Mahi-mahi (Dorado) at a beach restaurant which we have frequented several times before. Benny and Marcelene the owners, very much locals, provide a tremendous service to yachtsmen, from helping with moorings, providing fast motor launch trips to clear customs, or visit the market and even a security guard on the boat when you are ashore eating in their restaurant (all in with the price of the meal). The sadest aspect of St Lucia is that this service is required.  Model
for the Eden Project?
This morning we walked up to the
tropical gardens in Souffrière, complete with natural waterfall. This is the Eden Project without the biome and made us feel quite at home. |