Hope's and Howard's Sailing Adventures

The passage from Dominica to Martinique was the longest at 53 n. miles of those we did with Sonia onboard. However, it passed fairly quickly and Sonia seemed to enjoy it because she was able to catch a few rays along the way, despite her misgivings about being cooped up on a boat for most of the day (unable to go for her customary run, etc.). We started off motoring down the Western shore of Dominica as the wind was light but saw perhaps the most intensely colored rainbow, of the many that we saw during our time in Dominica, along the way. However, as often happens while crossing between the islands, the sea became more lumpy as we rounded the southern point of Dominica and the wind showed its true colors, with waves breaking over the bow as a common occurrence. Fortunately, I went below soon afterwards and discovered that one of the forward hatches above Sonia’s bed was leaking like crazy. Unable to determine the cause from below decks, I went up on deck (life jacket on and tethered to the boat, of course) and found that a line was trapped underneath the hatch so it wasn’t able to seal properly. Line removed, the problem went away, whew …. but it was somewhat worrying in the meantime and soaked two of Sonia’s four bunk cushions. First order of business upon arrival in Martinique was to remove all bedding and the two cushion covers, rinse the covers in fresh water, then place everything on deck or hang on the lifelines to dry as much as possible before sunset. The sun and breeze did a great job!

St Pierre was our first stop in Martinique, which proved to be a good anchorage on a fairly narrow sandy shelf and had lots of interesting things to do ashore. St Pierre was the cultural center of Martinique until it was destroyed and almost 30,000 inhabitants killed during a massive volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee on Ascension Day in 1902. There were only 2 or 3 survivors, one was a cobbler and the other was jailed for murder and was in solitary confinement in a stone cell. Many of the ruins (the cathedral, theatre, etc.) still remain and some have been incorporated into new buildings built on top of the old. It is back to being a bustling city, even if not quite as grandiose as it once was, still very French in character and has a wonderful daily fruit and veg market. Our best meal ashore with Sonia was in St Pierre in a small restaurant ‘Le Tamara’ run by a husband and wife who sailed from France many years ago. It is named after one of the 12 ships that floundered during the eruption in 1902. Although not an extensive menu, we found the meal to be beautifully prepared and presented utilizing many local ingredients, the sauces interesting and tasty, and excellent value for money. The experience encouraged me to try emulating their bread fruit gratin using a bread fruit we had been given in Dominica. Though not in the same caliber, it was still quite edible and may be repeated and hopefully improved on one day. Mount Pelee still very much dominates the town and is quite a magnificent mountain (see featured image at the top of this post). We took a hike about 2 kilometers out of town to the Depaz rum distillery in the foothills and, though disappointed to discover it was closed, we thoroughly enjoyed walking around, reading plaques about the distillation process, seeing the sugar cane fields nearby and walking around the beautiful grounds that included an impressive mansion built by a member of the Depaz family who purchased the property shortly after the eruption.

During our next passage down the western shore of Martinique to Grande Anse D’Arlet, we actually managed to sail without having any reefs in either sail for the first time in at least a month! Sonia took the helm for quite a bit of the way with a boat speed of up to 8.4 knots, good job Sonia! Again, it was a lovely spot though somewhat more populated with other yachts and people ashore than St Pierre. Here we saw turtles and enjoyed the snorkeling / sub-winging close to the rocks where there were plenty of fish and interesting corals. We rented a car, not only to take Sonia to the airport (a very tough drive for Howard in torrential rain in the dark on unfamiliar twisty roads) but also so we could see a little more of the island during the day as her flight departed around 10pm on Jan 1st. Along the way, we saw Diamond Rock which has an interesting history. The photo was taken during our next passage to St Lucia. The rock is in a strategic position on the south coast, so the British stationed a full crew of men armed with cannons there for about 18 months as ships were in short supply at the time. It is hard to imagine how they survived but the strategy seemed to work in causing trouble for Napoleon’s fleet. Villeneuve, a French admiral, finally managed to re-capture the rock. Napoleon, angered by Nelson’s embargo of Josephine’s birthplace, Martinique, ordered Villeneuve to pursue and defeat Nelson. They ultimately met at the battle of Trafalgar, where Villeneuve was defeated, although Nelson, our great British hero, was killed. We spent the rest of the day at Les Salines, which has a most beautiful white sandy beach. A few rain squalls had us retreat under cover for lunch and then back to the car for our return to the boat, but Sonia managed to get in another swim and a bit more sun, so all was well.

The boat felt very empty when she left. Not only that, but we have lost our French speaker, who was a great hit with everyone we met. Nothing quite like having a very pretty lady conversing with the locals in French, with a cute accent. So, rather than dwell on it, after gathering our breath for a day, we took advantage of the better conditions for heading further south to the next island – St Lucia.