Position 14:44.65N 061:22.58W

Tuesday morning we left Roseau at 0730 with a forecast of 10kn winds.  After moving out of the wind shadow we saw winds up to 18kn so we put in one reef in the main and sailed to Martinique,  arriving at 1245 and putting down anchor in the North side of the bay; the seabed shelves quite steeply so we had to anchor fairly close in but it was sheltered and not rolly.

Martinique is a French island – first impressions were not favourable;  we had to clear in at the Tourist Information Centre where the assistant spoke not a single word on English and all of the maps, guides, etc. were singly in French – it was as if non French speaking folk were not welcome.  We almost decided to leave next morning but eventually decided to stay for one full day.  The rest of Tuesday we wandered around the town looking at the various sites.

St. Pierre is actually quite interesting.  It was the capital of Martinique but in May 1902 the volcano behind it Mt. Pelle erupted, releasing a fireball of superheated gas that flowed over the town at hurricane force speed.  All but two of the 30,000 residents were killed, the buildings were devastated, and 12 of the 13 ships in the bay were sunk.  Still today reminders of this disaster are everywhere.

Wednesday we took a taxi to a local rum distillery which allowed visitors around free – but they tried to catch you at the end in their shop.  Adjacent to the distillery is the owner’s chateau (rebuilt after the disaster) which was advertised as being open to the public but when we trecked up to it was actually empty and being restored with EU money.

In the evening we went on shore for dinner.  Slight distraction on the way; as we arrived at the dinghy jetty a young lady was leaving, started her engine, cast off, and then the engine stopped and she was unable to restart it  So James left the dock took her painter and towed her back to her boat  We eventually arrived at the restaurant PM Alsace-Caraibes-Martinique  where we had pre-booked.  This is a German restaurant on the first floor of a provision shop with just 5 tables, with sofas overlooking the bay where we had our pre-dinner drinks and  also waited for our after dinner coffees.  The food was really excellent and the owner / chef really pleasant;  only blot was that he was a little forgetful – we had to remind him about water we ordered, and coffee never actually arrived!  But we would go back.

Pictures of Mt. Pelle, and of some remains of the church