February/06 – Parlez-vous Francais? -- Martinique

We left Rodney Bay in sunny weather with winds E 20, seas 6 – 9ft and had a fast and boisterous sail to Martinique, averaging over 6 knots/hr. over the 25 miles to Petite Anse D’Arlet. After a quiet night, we dinghied ashore to this quaint little European town, where we found a cash machine to get some Euros, bought some fruit at the open market, and initiated the unhealthy but delicious habit of buying freshly baked baguettes. We are finding it very difficult not to say “por favor” and “gracias” when we should be saying “s’il vous plait” and “merci”! The French islands have a great deal of charm, and it is good to be back.

We continued motoring north along the west coast of Martinique to Pt. du Bout, a touristy Whistler-like village across the bay from the big city of Fort du France. The French cuisine is always wonderful, and we indulged in authentic ice cream parfaits and explored the town with its very pricey shops. Later we took the ferry across to the city to check in with Customs and Immigration. It took us a while to find the place, because since we were there five years ago, the process has been privatized. Finally we were directed to a marine store where we filled out the forms and had our passports stamped. We found out later that we could have checked in at the fuel dock in Pt. du Bout and not gone across to the city at all. The French certainly have a casual attitude about checking in, unlike our good neighbor to the south!

The next morning, Orma did laundry, the most expensive yet (32Euros for 2 loads) while Cliff and Rick caught up on email and took the boat to the fuel dock. We are missing the Venezuelan fuel prices!!

We headed out after lunch, motor-sailing north to St. Pierre, a city at the foot of Mt. Pele which was destroyed with the loss of 30,000 lives in 1902 when the volcano erupted. Even though there had been rumblings for some time during the preceding month, and two previous eruptions serious enough to kill a number of people, the town was not evacuated, and the huge blast wiped out the entire population except one man, a prisoner held in a deep dungeon. Many of the ruins are left standing, and a very interesting museum documents the catastrophe. We were here in 2001, but it was the first visit for Rick and Sharon.

We anchored and explored the town a bit, then watched the sunset from a lookout near the museum. We made a convert of skeptic Rick when we all saw the elusive green flash as the sun sank into the sea.

From the log: “Spent a second day in St. Pierre. Cliff and Rick went SCUBA diving with a local firm, Club de Plongee, and really enjoyed it. Sharon and Orma went to the market and bought produce and fish. In the afternoon, Rick and Sharon went to the museum while Cliff and Orma re-anchored the boat two or three times. The winds were swirling around the bay and the boats kept coming together. We had a delicious dinner of red snapper on the boat, spoiled only by the need to re-anchor a fourth time in the dark, wind, and rain. Finally we found a good place well south of the main anchorage and away from other boats. The wind howled all night, but we were fine.“