Antigua to Martinique
18/01/10 23:36
We are now in Rodney Bay Marina on the island of St Lucia having sailed here via Guadeloupe, Dominica and Martinique. The sailing has been fantastic with 20 knot winds between the islands and the seas running straight in off the Atlantic. On the leeward side of the islands things are less boisterous and winds can be a little fickle.
We sailed to Deshaies on Guadeloupe from Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua on the 22nd December. We planned for a quiet Christmas but Carol has an agenda for Christmas no matter what. So the boat had a Christmas tree and decorations that included Father Christmas’s running up the rigging. We spent Christmas Eve having a nice dinner ashore and Christmas Day saw us sitting down to turkey and all the trimmings, followed by Christmas pudding and mince pies. Not bad considering we were at anchor and the temperature was 32C.
We stayed in Deshaies three days before heading south to Marina de Riviere Sens to meet up with our friends Frank and Pat from LA. Everything was closed when we arrived so we eventually found ourselves a berth and tried to organize transport to go and meet Frank and Pat at the airport. There were no cars to hire or buses running so poor (soon to be) old Frank and Pat ended up arriving by taxi with a bill for €120. We tried to make amends by walking into Basse Terre to find a restaurant but they too were all closed, apart from McDonald’s. So the first place that Frank and Pat went to in Guadeloupe having flown in from LA via Haiti and Costa Rica etc. was a McDonald’s. To make matter worse, when we got back to the Bali Blue the berth’s owner was waiting to put his boat where we had parked so after apologizing humbly we went and anchored outside the marina where we were punished by a night of rocking and rolling.
The following day we romped down to Prince Rupert Bay in Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic). We had been warned about crime here but we were met by a great “boat boy” (44 year old with 5, soon to be 6, children) by the name of Albert who looked after us (for a fee). He showed us to a buoy and took me over to complete entry procedures. It should be evident from what I have already written about Albert that there’s not much to do in the evenings in Dominica – there wasn’t even a McDonald’s. Albert arranged for a driver the next morning to show us round part of the island and then Albert planned to take us for a boat ride up the Indian River in the afternoon.
The drive took us firstly to some cold volcanic springs and then on to a short trek through the lush rain forest to find a “jungle” waterfall that looked like something out of a Timotei advert. Tarzan would not have looked out of place here but Frank and I certainly were – check the photos. The swim was refreshing and prepared us for the near vertical short cut back to the car that nearly killed Frank. The river trip in the afternoon gave a little insight as to how it would be had we been exploring the Amazon. Amongst the mangroves I practiced opening up a coconut with my newly acquired machete (to fend off non-existent criminals). The feeling of being cut off from the outside world soon dissipated when Albert’s mobile rang and he was told of the birth of his 6th child. So while Dominica may be poor we only met very welcoming and friendly people who have interesting ways of entertaining themselves in the evenings.
The following day we had another great sail over to Martinique where we arrived at St Pierre on New Year’s Eve. In 1902 30,000 people were wiped out by a volcanic eruption here and not much has happened since. Desperate to find a restaurant for our celebrations we anchored off the beach and went ashore to find it a virtual ghost town. Eventually we found a drab 3 star hotel where we ended up having one of the nicest meals possible, hosted by Andre (owner and chef) who spent as much time at our table as he did in the kitchen.
We left the following morning and took a short hop down the coast to the capital, Fort de France. We anchored right behind Kia, an Island Packet sailing boat owned by Alan and Doreen whom we had sailed with extensively in Greece over 3 year ago – it’s sometimes a small world when you’re sailing. Before catching up with them the next day we had to get Frank and Pat ashore to fly back to LA. Their stay with us had been short but very sweet. We were sad to see them go but were compensated by and evening on board Kia drowning our sorrows in rum and catching up with their news.
We spent 3 nights in Fort de France just catching up with ourselves and checking out the town. We left intending to go to Marin Marina on the south coast of Martinique but there was no room at the inn and the attitude of the abrupt voice on the radio made us turn round and head straight down to St Lucia. And here we have bumped into Richard and Dawn whom we first met in Malta last year. We had a meal with them last night and as I type Carol is laying motionless on the bed recovering. Assuming she does recover we will be off to St Vincent tomorrow.
Sail on!
We sailed to Deshaies on Guadeloupe from Nelson’s Dockyard in Antigua on the 22nd December. We planned for a quiet Christmas but Carol has an agenda for Christmas no matter what. So the boat had a Christmas tree and decorations that included Father Christmas’s running up the rigging. We spent Christmas Eve having a nice dinner ashore and Christmas Day saw us sitting down to turkey and all the trimmings, followed by Christmas pudding and mince pies. Not bad considering we were at anchor and the temperature was 32C.
We stayed in Deshaies three days before heading south to Marina de Riviere Sens to meet up with our friends Frank and Pat from LA. Everything was closed when we arrived so we eventually found ourselves a berth and tried to organize transport to go and meet Frank and Pat at the airport. There were no cars to hire or buses running so poor (soon to be) old Frank and Pat ended up arriving by taxi with a bill for €120. We tried to make amends by walking into Basse Terre to find a restaurant but they too were all closed, apart from McDonald’s. So the first place that Frank and Pat went to in Guadeloupe having flown in from LA via Haiti and Costa Rica etc. was a McDonald’s. To make matter worse, when we got back to the Bali Blue the berth’s owner was waiting to put his boat where we had parked so after apologizing humbly we went and anchored outside the marina where we were punished by a night of rocking and rolling.
The following day we romped down to Prince Rupert Bay in Dominica (not to be confused with the Dominican Republic). We had been warned about crime here but we were met by a great “boat boy” (44 year old with 5, soon to be 6, children) by the name of Albert who looked after us (for a fee). He showed us to a buoy and took me over to complete entry procedures. It should be evident from what I have already written about Albert that there’s not much to do in the evenings in Dominica – there wasn’t even a McDonald’s. Albert arranged for a driver the next morning to show us round part of the island and then Albert planned to take us for a boat ride up the Indian River in the afternoon.
The drive took us firstly to some cold volcanic springs and then on to a short trek through the lush rain forest to find a “jungle” waterfall that looked like something out of a Timotei advert. Tarzan would not have looked out of place here but Frank and I certainly were – check the photos. The swim was refreshing and prepared us for the near vertical short cut back to the car that nearly killed Frank. The river trip in the afternoon gave a little insight as to how it would be had we been exploring the Amazon. Amongst the mangroves I practiced opening up a coconut with my newly acquired machete (to fend off non-existent criminals). The feeling of being cut off from the outside world soon dissipated when Albert’s mobile rang and he was told of the birth of his 6th child. So while Dominica may be poor we only met very welcoming and friendly people who have interesting ways of entertaining themselves in the evenings.
The following day we had another great sail over to Martinique where we arrived at St Pierre on New Year’s Eve. In 1902 30,000 people were wiped out by a volcanic eruption here and not much has happened since. Desperate to find a restaurant for our celebrations we anchored off the beach and went ashore to find it a virtual ghost town. Eventually we found a drab 3 star hotel where we ended up having one of the nicest meals possible, hosted by Andre (owner and chef) who spent as much time at our table as he did in the kitchen.
We left the following morning and took a short hop down the coast to the capital, Fort de France. We anchored right behind Kia, an Island Packet sailing boat owned by Alan and Doreen whom we had sailed with extensively in Greece over 3 year ago – it’s sometimes a small world when you’re sailing. Before catching up with them the next day we had to get Frank and Pat ashore to fly back to LA. Their stay with us had been short but very sweet. We were sad to see them go but were compensated by and evening on board Kia drowning our sorrows in rum and catching up with their news.
We spent 3 nights in Fort de France just catching up with ourselves and checking out the town. We left intending to go to Marin Marina on the south coast of Martinique but there was no room at the inn and the attitude of the abrupt voice on the radio made us turn round and head straight down to St Lucia. And here we have bumped into Richard and Dawn whom we first met in Malta last year. We had a meal with them last night and as I type Carol is laying motionless on the bed recovering. Assuming she does recover we will be off to St Vincent tomorrow.
Sail on!