Well we arrived in St Lucia, late in the day and went and anchored
in Marigot Bay, where some good chums of ours, John
and Sue Allison were also anchored. So after a quick shower and ‘scrub
up’ we went over to spend yet another great evening with them, before coming
back to our own boat sleeping, then setting off for Martinique early the next
day.
The sail up to Martinique was a brisk
one, past St Vincent and then on to Fort de France on the west coast of Martinique. Not sure why, but it always seems
to be raining when we come to Martinique!
Anyway, we arrived, changed our stash of East Caribbean Dollars for Euros, then
went in search of Flip Flops! I’d had ‘blow-outs’
on two pairs on this trip and was now looking for a pair of industrial strength
flip flops. We found them – along with just about everything
else clothes wise you can imagine in Martinique.
Apparently it’s the only island in the Caribbean
that has all the Paris Imports. (So Anette says!).
Next day we’re off to Portsmouth
in Dominica, which is about 60 miles, but we sailed through some of the biggest
seas we’ve seen in this cruising season, and Force 7 to 8 gusts, with
huge 4 metre waves giving us a good slapping on the starboard beam, and
throwing the odd flying fish into the cockpit – as well as a great deal
of water. But the sun is shining so who cares! We saw
whales today ‘blowing’ just 100 metres from the boat! The
boat performs beautifully, tends to sulk if we over-canvas, and then just picks
up her skirts and flies when we reef properly. We achieved 10.8
knots today.
Dominica was a little sad, with no sun, and a bar that played Soca music
(Reggae but not), until 4 in the morning! As you can imagine we
left early and sailed in a beautiful early morning brisk breeze the 18 or so
miles to Iles des Saintes, where we are now. We were lucky enough
to see dolphins playing in our bow waves and a sea which was a little calmer
today. We arrived, anchored, then went ashore to ‘clear in’
through customs, but really this is France – and Sunday is, well
just Sunday……so everything was closed! So we then
went and had a long ‘Senior Lunch’, in a great French restaurant -
of the type that involves lots wine and then afternoon snoozes, and here we
are, ready for our next sailing/culinary/wine/anchoring/hiking/lying in the
sun/whatever…….adventure.
Some photos of the trip – hope you
like…..
Approaching Martinique
Christmas Day Dinner with some great friends
in the Frangipani Restaurant in Bequia
St Pierre in Martinique where we anchored
for a night – lots of rain and mizzle – but 27 degrees celcius!
Down to a second reef on the way to Dominica
Why does the camera not catch the big
waves….??!
But the fridge is working well – a
little too well as ice forms on the bottles of white wine!
