Sailing to a new experience!
Stream
Darrell Jackson and Sarah Barnes
Wed 23 Apr 2014 14:00
Fort de France
As we were up bright (not really!) and early we decided to motor sail down the coast to the capital city. It was a gentle sail and we saw dolphins in the distance being chased by tripper boats. As we approached Fort de France we were caught by the rain and anchored in the bay. As we anchored we were entertained by a lithe, athletic man with dreadlocks climbing his mast without the aid of a safety line! He stopped on the spreaders for a smoke and watched us anchor before continuing up the mast to try and rescue the flag halliard that had got wrapped around the genoa halyard. Although he got hold of the flag that broke away, the line stayed firmly out of his reach. As this attempt failed he returned to the deck to get a boat hook and then climbed the mast again boat hook in hand. He managed to get hold of the offending flag line. A pleasant distraction while we drank tea and waited for the rain to stop.
Easter Sunday is another religious day in Martinique and although there were families on the beach nothing was open. We wandered around the main town to enjoy the range of architecture, but were frustrated by all the shops having metal shutters firmly in place. We did not get a feel for the place without the normal bustle and returned to the boat in more rain. This became a feature of the night with the heaviest rain we have had, which went on until gone five in the morning. So it was a bleary eyed crew who emerged for breakfast.
Monday
We decided as Fort de France was closed for the holidays that we would up anchor and sail around to Grand Anse D'Arlet. We set off in fair weather with gentle winds. It was a pleasant, easy sail across the bay, reefed main and full genoa. We furled the genoa in anticipation, as we approached Cap Salaomon, which proved a good move as the winds picked up and began to gust. We were now sailing close hauled. Adam was on the helm and asked ' What do I do now as that boat has just changed course?' The yacht in question was motoring and was now heading straight at us about 100m away. It had come around the headland and had been following a course out of the bay and turned north previously but had been well away from us, but then had altered course again to bring her across our bows. Sarah replied as she was letting out the main, 'We are under sail, so technically we have right of way and he should change course to avoid us.' Unfortunately, the skipper of the other boat did not hear or seem to know this as they bore down on us. Despite there being crew on their foredeck they appeared oblivious to us and our limited manoeuvrability.
Darrell took the helm and gave orders to let the sails out, because we were close hauled our only option was to bear away to go behind him as we were on a collision course. Unfortunately, the wind gusted increasing our speed (despite the sail adjustments) and making us heel even more, this caused us to round up and head towards the boat. At this point, rather late in the day, their crew spotted us and upped their revs, thus a collision was just avoided, although we then had a dinghy to avoid. Darrell did make his views quite clear to the Danish boat Victoria. The crew of Stream who had been aware of the danger throughout the incident were shaken. We furled the genoa and motor sailed the remaining mile or so into the bay, where we picked up a mooring buoy. It was in quiet contemplation that we drank our cup of tea, shaken and stirred!
Grand Anse D'Arlet is a pretty bay with a beach lined with bars and restaurants. Due to it being a public holiday it was filled with locals enjoying the sunshine. So once we had recovered from the shock we dinghied ashore for lunch which provided a pleasant distraction. It was then chilling on the boat and snorkelling. All's well that ends well in sailing. Best not to think what might have happened, even though the movie is playing in front of your eyes!