Chikungunya Virus

Shelduck
Neil Hegarty
Sun 19 Jan 2014 20:50

Saturday 18th January St. Pierre Martinique   14:44.288 N  61:10.666 W     Distance travelled 35 miles

 

Diana Yohannan forwarded us an article from Caribbean 300 about the arrival, for the first time to the islands, of the Chikungunya Virus at St. Martin and in Dominica. We read that it was discovered in Dominica in a small fishing village called Good Hope which is on the East coast. Anne’s daughter Heather located it for us and emailed a Google map which was very helpful. The virus is of course spread by Mosquitoes and can be a danger for older people. Diana advised we wear loose clothes and spray well.

We had a dead run out of Marin and then a beautiful sail with the wind on the beam in the shelter of Martinique. On the passage we met a J class yacht going towards Marin. She was carrying a full main and a working jib, a beautiful sight. We think it was Hanuman a new Dutch designed J that is for sale at present. Her sail number was J H2.

We anchored near the beach in St. Pierre. The space to anchor is a little restricted because of water depth and a large area where sunken ships are preserved. Mount Pelee, above the town, was covered in cloud. This Mountain erupted in 1658 and again in May 1902 when 30,000 people died. There were just two survivors, one was a man serving a sentence for murder in a stone cell. Many ships caught fire in the bay and sank. Just one managed to get away.

Anne’s son Ian sent her a text about a yachting couple being attacked and stabbed in St. Lucia at Vieux Fort and the man died. This did not surprise us. I had asked the St Lucia Minister of Tourism, whom we met at the Skippers Dinner in Grand Canaria, about safety in Marigot Bay, a place you would expect to be safe. I had read in the yachting press about an attack and stabbing there in 2013 on an anchored yacht. His answer was “I can’t say it does not happen” This was one reason why I decided to berth at the marina in Marigot Bay.

Anne and I are taking good care in always anchoring near other boats and always locking up at night.