December 29 Passage to Isle de Saintes

The sun is going down.....let's just go!
It is an 80-odd mile to Isle de Saintes, a collection of small islands that are part of Guadaloupe. It might be our new favorite place. This week, anyway. We like to do long passages at night because it is cooler (literally and figuratively) and more importantly, it allows us to arrive and navigate a new anchorage with the attending shoals and floating fish pots during daylight hours. Even though I did not make the requisite night passage brownies, we made it just fine. It was a great sail. The seas were flat and once we passed Dominica, we had 12knot winds 45 degrees off. Plus an almost full moon. Perfect. We both had good naps along the way and Hakuna Matata sailed so well, we actually had to slow down as we approached the coast to wait for full sunrise. We had to come to the main island, Terre de Haut, first to check in with customs. The anchorage was crowded so we went to the back of the pack with the big boats in deep water, 45 feet. This is the first time we have had to put out almost all of our chain and we are glad to have all chain.












Even though the customs office was never open (???), Mairie is a neat little town with lots of quirky people, shops and restaurants. There are a lot of day visitors that arrive by ferry boat from Guadaloupe.

This beastie, M/V Kingfisher, pulled in right behind us. The anchor and chain dropping on this boat sounded like a car wreck. Skip: although they really weren't, I almost thought it would be fun to holler at them that they were too close but I don't think they would care. The tender is almost as big as my whole boat.

December 27 St Pierre, Martinique

We went on around the corner of Martinique a bit further to St Pierre which we had heard was a fun and funky little village. Back in the day, St Pierre was going to be the capital of Martinique until the volcano erupted and decimated the town. We anchored for the afternoon and decided to explore a bit in the AM.

St Pierre has a nice Frenchy flavor to it. We wandered the town, hit a cafe for some brief internet and went to the grocery store for a few bits. We returned to the boat to further contemplate our next move.

Martinique has been fun but we find ourselves anxious to go. It feels crowded, too much like being in cities and the language barrier is frustrating. Plus we want to move on to Isle de Saintes, Guadaloupe and the much anticipated Antigua. It doesn't take long to reach a decision. We decide to make the night run to Isle de Saintes this evening at 5pm. Securing the boat and naps ensue....

December 26 Fort de France, Martinique

On Saturday we are ready to roll. We up anchor about 10am and head around the corner to Fort de France, Martinique. It is the capital city. Nice town but it is just a big city in our opinion

so it will just be a stop-over point for us.

We passed by Diamond Rock on our way to Fort de France. It is interesting as back in the day, during the brief time that the British held Martinique, they commissioned this rock as a naval war ship, HMS Diamond Rock, and were able to repel the French. I will reserve commentary on the French war machine, or lack thereof, although they were intelligent enough to roll rum barrels up to the rock. These were immediately seized by the British who were then summarily defeated. The "ship's" officers were court-martialed for being a bunch of drunks.

The city and the fort at night.

Every city, village and town has a cathedral at town center. We can always hear the bells from the boat. Here are some for you.

December 24-25 St Anne Martinique

We spent Christmas in St Anne. During Christmas Eve day, we listened to Christmas music and did some cooking in preparation for the beach barbeque. On Christmas Eve, we attended an outdoor production of Messe De La Nativite Du Christ, in French, complete with uncooperative animals. Fireworks exploding right over our heads and the hay kept us on the edge of our seats, ready to run. After the show, the village church was having Christmas Mass but it was in French and also standing in the street room only. We returned to the boat for a roast, green bean casserole, French bread and a bottle of Bordeaux.
On Christmas Day, we joined S/V Alianna (Rosie and Sim), S/V Bold Endeavor (Roy, Dunne and guest Andrea) and S/V Opus (Jim, Linda and Jennifer) for a day on the Club Med beach. Rosie had a beach tent so that served as our serving table. It was quite the feast with ham, chicken drummies, chicken satay with peanut sauce, little smokies, ribs, shrimp, sausage rolls, pizza rolls, pasta salad, bean salad, and split pea soup. For dessert there were cashew chocolates, brownies and minced meat pastry tarts. No one went hungry and it was a great day at beach.

No room for a tree but Hakuna Matata got dressed up for the season.

Rosie and Sim, in addition to the wonderful pastries, brought along another English tradition, "poppers". Two people pull on them like a wishbone. They pop and the "winner" gets the crown and toy inside, along with a Riddle to read to the group.

Oh, and there it is again, that triple-sweet sugar scoop on a Morgan Classic...this time pulled up near us to facilitate close-up shots and conversation with the owner. Quick. I need a job and a fiberglass fabricator....