Caribbean cruising 16:05.00N 061:46.99W
Seaflute
Wed 14 Dec 2016 20:54
After the fun and frivolity of our arrival in St Lucia and the never ending
parties it was eventually time to get moving again. Wed had the chance to
have a good look around the island and another treck into the interior to
plant more trees!
We left St Lucia on the 9th of December and headed north to Martinique.
Mindful we only had a week to get to Antigua for the 16th where I have
booked to have a lift out, we planned our stops carefully to ensure we
didn’t rush the good bits we could do on the way back down, but also to
ensure we got a good taste of the islands we were passing. A quick stop
(never a quick stop) at the fuel dock in Rodney bay to replace all the
diesel we had burned crossing the Atlantic. Fortunately as we had checked
out of St Lucia the previous day we were able to draw fuel duty free which
eased the pain...a little. As soon as we poked our head out north of the
island we were treated to 25 knots of westerly wind and proceeded to sail to
our first stop Grand Anse D'Arlet at 10 knots which was delightful. Grand
Anse D'arlet is a pretty little town with brightly painted houses along the
sea front and the obligatory wooden clad church dominating the town. We
anchored in a sandy patch close to the shore in 6 metres.
The backdrop to the town like most of Martinique is a dramatic vista of
steep tree clad volcanic mountains. The caps are permanently covered in
dense cloud which delivers a fairly regular dousing of rain on the coast
below. There are also strong squalls that will blow down from the mountains
with no warning at up to 30 knots, so it's essential to ensure your anchor
is dug in well. I'm very glad I bought a very large (some would say
"oversize") anchor before we left.
The check in procedure for Martinique involved a tender ride to neighbouring
Petite Anse D'Arlet, there we had to find "cyber Base" an internet café
along the sea front. I walked past it several times before I noticed the six
inch square notice on the front of a converted shipping container which was
Cyber Base! The proprietor helpfully showed me to a computer in the corner
where I logged on and completed our ship and crew details. The form was
printed out and the fee of one euro duly paid. Contrast this to the check in
procedure in St Lucia where we had to visit the Health Department and obtain
"safe pratique" .. confirm we weren’t carrying any contagious diseases. We
then had to visit customs and fill in three forms and a crew manifest. Then
onto immigration where the forms and passports were stamped. This whole
process was reversed for checking out!
We spent our time in Grand Anse snorkelling along the adjacent rocks and
exploring ashore. It felt like this was the start of our great adventure.
The bars and restaurants in the town where either smart French cuisine or
very rustic creole. This we have subsequently found to be the case all up
the coast of Martinique and Guadeloupe. The next day we sailed at high speed
to the north of the island and anchored in St Pierre. Again a very pretty
bay but with a very unfortunate history. St Pierre was up to the end of the
last century considered the Paris of the Caribbean. It was an important
centre for trade and culture and the streets were lined with elegant
mansions, theatres and smart restaurant's. It had a permanent population of
30,000 people and was a very popular holiday spot for wealthy French
citizens. In 1902 mount Pelee, the volcano that towers above the town and
had been regarded as dormant began to rumble. The mayor of the town fearful
for his future if he wrongly suggested evacuating the town, encouraged the
citizens to stay which most did. On the 8th of May 1902 the volcano erupted
with the force of an atomic bomb and covered the town in a cloud of volcanic
mud, toxic super heated gas and rocks. It is estimated 29,933 were killed
with only two known survivors, Leon Leandre a cobbler and the famous Cyparis
a convicted murderer who was imprisoned in a stone cell in the centre of
town. Twelve ships anchored in the bay were sunk with no survivors.
The town today is a shadow of its previous size with only a few visible
remnants of the old walls and buildings. Tom and I dived on one of the
wrecks which was in 30 metres depth just 100 metres off the back of the boat
where we were anchored. It was a bit spooky but a great dive and loads of
colourful fish, eels and some very large lobsters that evaded capture! Tom
is equipped with some new Kevlar gloves and keen to prove their worth. One
thing that was very noticeable and shocking was the number of Lion fish
around. They are not native to the Caribbean and have no known predators.
There is a lot of encouragement for divers to kill these fish and I can
understand why.
>From St Pierre we sailed to a small group of islands south of Guadeloupe
called Isles De Saintes (The Saints). An idyllic picture postcard cluster of
islands with a small town Bourg des Saintes on the largest island Terre
d'en Haut. We picked up a mooring can with the assistance of a very friendly
team who dashed out to meet us. The princely sum of $12 per night ensured us
a secure mooring for as long as we wanted to stay. Lindy was very happy with
this destination in no small part due to the good variety of smart boutiques
and arts and craft shops that line the sea front. The town is full of Gallic
charm and the people were very friendly and charming despite me being called
Mr Brexit on more than one occasion. We will definitely be stopping there
again on our trip south.
We sailed this morning up the west coast of Guadeloupe which for the most
part looks unappealing at the sea front. However the inland landscape is
truly magnificent with towering steep mountains and deep gulleys.
We have just anchored in a small bay on the North West of the Island called
Deshaies. The pilot guide says to make sure your anchor is well set as the
wind funnels through the mountains here and can be quite ferocious. They are
not joking! We will snorkel this afternoon and go ashore this evening. I'll
give you the lowdown on Deshaies in the next blog. Could be murder in
paradise??
Very best wishes from the Pedleys xxx
