14:36.0N 61:04.2W
Midnight – one leg working ok – so cup of tea and some
ginger nuts and we got the anchor up and set off for Martinique. 75 mile trip down the windward side of
Dominica – should get there before
sunset. Good old Margery and her powerful flashlight got us safely past all the
shallow water lobster pots in the dark and out into deep
water.
We took it in turns to sleep and made good progress,
dropping the anchor 18 hours later at St Pierre
on the West coast of Martinique.
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St
Pierre from the boat |
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St Pierre is right at the base of Mount Pelee. This volcano blew up spectacularly in 1902
and wiped out the town and most of the 30,000 inhabitants. Volcanoes seem to be
a recurring event in this trip!
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Mount Pelee from the
boat |
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St
Pierre is a pretty little town with a lovely seafront area. Clearing
customs and immigration was just as easy as Guadeloupe. Vive la France.
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The seafront – St
Pierre |
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We stayed a second night and explored the
town
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Church in St
Pierre |
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With one and a half legs now feeling ok we pushed on
further South to Grande Anse D’Arlet. This was a delightful bay with good
visibility in the water and a huge variety of marine life. Great snorkelling
before we headed into Fort de France – the
capital.
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The Fort that dominates the Fort de
France |
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We went exploring.
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School kids judging by the
skirts |
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The surprisingly named police
station |
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Two suspicious looking characters hanging around
outside the police station |
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Not many people know the skipper has a business
here |
|
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The Schoelcher
library |
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Cooling off after a hard day
sightseeing |
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Next morning both legs were working again so we treated
ourselves to breakfast ashore.
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Crepes all round |
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Martinque was nice but we all agreed we preferred
Guadeloupe. The people there seemed friendlier.
Maybe it was just that Fort de France was bigger and more hectic than Point a
Pitre. The beer was good though.
.
|
This beer’s talking to me – it says what’s wrong
with your left hand |
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Nothing actually –
see! |
|
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It was time to head North again before things got silly
and visit the Isles des
Saintes
