Martinique a short stop

14 35 N 61 01 W dropped anchor in Martinique May 1st 2014
We departed Dominica early to cross through the channel to Martinique, at first the winds were low but increased as normal further out, our plan was to stop at St Pierre on the West coast, we had heard that its a nice place. The seas larger than forecast but so was the wind 21 + knots but fast ish 7.3 knots.
As we neared St Pierre we could see there were no other yachts anchored there which gives us some indication if its a good place or not, the winds were blowing off the town at 20 knots plus a force 6 so on we plod towards Le Marin another huge anchorage. Yet again the wind direction and our track was almost the same so motor sailing again, its a good job we were, 40 knots came to join us thankfully we were reefed and Don took hold on the helm the auto pilot couldn't handle both the winds and sea state.

 1st May 14 35 N 61 01 W
So Fort de France it was, another place we visited previously, we dropped the anchor by the Fort wall which gave us protection from the winds. The dinghy dock is very good there and its a 10 minute walk to check in at the chandlers in town.

Fort de France

Fort de France

5th May
Sailed 27 miles to Le Marin,  passing Diamond rock, its incredible to think in 1804 the British hauled cannons up the  snake infested rock.

Diamond rock

Le Marin has a very big anchorage and a marina, we stopped there on our way up through the chain, the sight was incredible one forrest of masts ahead of us.

A Forrest of masts 

Is there room for us?

These channel markers do look like some sculpture of a lady with a hat on

We didn't intend to stay too long and went ashore for the usual provisions, compulsory visit to the chandlery, lunch and the internet. The laundry is excellent with cafes close by so that came in handy, mind you the power cut during the final phase didn't help much.

As this place is French governed we took advantage of nice coffee, fresh baguettes and smelly French cheese.

This little guy watched us eat lunch

Its a long ride to the dinghy dock to the Leader Price supermarket, it was a bank holiday, the French celebrate the end of World war 2, the shop was open so thats was great. Just a little further are other shops so we walked outside to the main road to take a look. Well returning was a different story, Leader Price had closed, so were the high gates which you have to go through to the dinghy dock. We noticed 4 ladies were also looking to get into the dock but to no avail, they said their yacht was in the marina just around the corner and would call their husbands to collect them, so maybe we could get a lift to our dinghy. I spotted a guy in a car around the back of the shop and asked him nicely if he would open the gate for us all, he obliged but think I saw him shaking his head.

Nothing much more to say about Martinique except it would have been nice to have seen more, we could have hired a car but as we were so far out in the anchorage it wasn't really practical to leave a hire car anywhere.

9th May Friday
14 26 N 60 53 W
Next stop St Ann, not very far but a meandering channel through the shallows, another smashing little place we had stopped at previously. Just a very small town with a few shops, church, restaurants and post office, we do like it here its much  quieter here.

A resort at St Ann we passed this on the way out from Le Marin to St Ann

Next stop St Lucia, feeling quite nostalgic.

BFN
Don and Glenys
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