Heading north
ULA
John & Jackie Richards
Wed 18 Mar 2009 20:37
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Position 014:35.956N 061:04.171W
After an early start at Gatwick on Sunday morning,
John and I arrived in St Lucia to be met by our friendly taxi driver Linus and
gorgeous weather. Fortunately we had had no further thefts or problems with
the boat and our bimini was still in situ unlike last time! Our planned
lift,scrub and antifouling booked for w/c 9 March had not happened for
reasons unknown - Caribbean scheduling?? After getting unpacked etc we had a
snack and beer at Cafe Ole and decided to watch Casino Royale to stop ourselves
from falling asleep too early given the time difference and our early
start.
Monday dawned hot and sunny. The boatyard staff
turned up to take Ula for her lift,scrub and antifouling a week late (Caribbean
time again!) and were disappointed to hear we were leaving on Tuesday and
therefore Ula would be staying in the water. Cousin Helena and husband Malcolm
who have joined us on this trip arrived from Antigua during the morning and we
managed to get everything sorted and do the supermarket provisioning run etc.
Libertad and crew appeared in the marina during the afternoon having come up
from Soufriere and after some 'John's special rum punch' we all dinghied
over to Charthouse in the evening for some fish/ribs which was good.On our
return the effect of the travelling and/or alcohol caught up with the crew.
Malcolm disgraced himself having asked to see our 15 min ARC DVD by falling
asleep during the opening credits - THAT interesting eh
...........
We planned to head north to Martinique on Tuesday
and the skipper had demanded an early start so that we could get fuel etc.
Despite being only 15 mins later than scheduled (my fault of course!), we were
pipped to the post at the fuel dock by an American boat with seemingly empty
tanks and a million spare fuel cans to fill up (the fuel pump is also
notoriously slow). Another french boat was also milling around and after what
seemed ages with no progress we decided to cut our losses and head off to
Martinique. By this time a dredger was blocking the exit route from the marina,
eventually allowing us through a barely adequate gap. Then... as we
finally exited in to the bay we were somewhat taken aback to see the
mast and top set of spreaders of a sailing boat which had apparently sunk just
to starboard. Not an auspicious start to the trip!
The sail up to Martinique could be described as
boisterous - pretty windy and rolly in the waves. All was well until helena
decided to go down below to get the video recorder and came back in to the
cockpit rather swiftly to decorate the decks! We eventually arrived at Anse
Mitan on the west coast during the early afternoon and anchored not far from
Libertad who had done the same trip. A dinghy ride ashore revealed a bit of a
war zone along this normally attractive frontage. Apparently it had been hit by
strong northerly swells in october and the small marina, dinghy and fuel dock
had been wrecked. We managed to get ashore and have a mooch round. Doyle's guide
described it as one of the 'original' french tourist resorts on the island - we
have found with his book that you have to 'read between the lines' - what we
think he actually meant was - this is has some nice touristy shops
and average restaurants housed in tasteless 1960's
architecture.......! We headed back to Ula for dinner and a relaxed
evening...
Today we have come across the bay to Fort de
France, the capital and managed to get fuel in the smallest fuel dock we
have moored up to ever and Ula is now anchored in the bay near the fort.
Tomorrow we plan to join Libertad up at St Pierre, further north.
Awards for the trip so far:
Helena: The 'Longest Projectile Award' for reasons
given above
Malcolm:The 'Candid Camera Award' for finally
accepting his 4yr old Sony camera has died (a mortal injury to the
CCD!) and that he needs a new one.
Love to everyone at home, Jackie
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