14:33.4N 61:03.1W

23 March 2012

After a fair night at anchor, some rocky wakes in the morning, we left at 08:00 for Dominica the next island north.  With little wind we motored out of Fort de France harbor and up the western coast of Martinique.  After a few hours the engine began to surge a little.  Trying both fuel tanks did not solve the issue so we turned around and made some calls for assistance with the potential that the fuel was bad.  The Caribbean is known for questionable fuel, especially stuff from Venezuela.  Not that it is refined badly but storage is the issue.

Our agent in Martinique was able to obtain a berth in a very small marina just next to the Anse Mitan anchorage we had just used.  Out keel depth was the main issue but the marina said the bottom was mud so hitting is would not be bad.  Upon arrival they guided us in and kept telling me to go slow.  Hell I was only going one knot and barely could keep steerage.  The berth they offered was fine except too shallow.  We touched on the mooring chain about half way in.  So they gave us a short berth in deeper water.  Great chance to practice turning the boat around in very tight space.  No issue and we berth in a slot suitable for a boat 10 feet shorter.  Since it was a typical Med moor we attached the stern lines and set the bow mooring lines onto the midship cleats.  Not an issue since there is no wind in this marina.

The next morning the technicians came to the boat with the required pumps and filtering system.  We also decided to change all the fuel filters for both the engine and generator.  Pumping the fuel through we did not see any bad fuel.  Changing the filters showed that the pre-filter was black.  My guess is that it was not changed in Mallorca as requested.  Finally the real issue was a large amount of air in the engine filter.  As the boat speed increased the air “burped” into the injection pump which then caused the engine to stumble.  Good that is was a simple fix.

Since we were in the marina we requested to stay another night and see the small town.  A bit worn in the tooth and some of the stores mentioned in the guide book are gone but still nice place.  People were helpful even with limited English by them and little French by us.  Cost was cheap and electric and water are free.  Berths are very calm and the water get crystal clear which is unusual for a marina.