Month: January 2020

What’s not to love about Martinique? The food is very french and very good, lots of markets for provisioning, and it’s beautiful. We anchored in St. Anne’s where we stayed before. The little town is pretty and the people are very nice although not much english is spoken here. As one guide book stated “they don’t get a lot of english speaking tourists”.

Off to town to check in, exchange some money (euros only here) and on the way back to our dinghy who do we see? Liza and Kaz from Xanadu!

We decided to rent a car and crawl over the island as last time we only saw the coast. Liza and Kaz were up for the adventure so off we went. What a revelation. The roads are plentiful and in great condition. The towns and cities are clean, pretty and very upscale. Shopping malls and urban areas everywhere. But we didn’t come to shop.

Gary set up the itinerary and the first stop was the Memorial de l’Anse Caffard in Le Diamant. This is to remember the slaves that died when a ship foundered on the rocks and is comprised of Easter Island type rock sculptures facing Guiana where they were captured and transported from.

On a side note, Napoleon’s wife Josephine was born on Martinique and is not highly thought of here. Slavery was abolished and when she came to power and influence she supported the resurgence of it on the island. There is a statue of her on the island that was vandalized and beheaded. Rather than fix the stature the head lies next to the body as a statement n’est pas?

Next stop was Burger King for some fast food. Gary was in charge, remember? Come to find out Kaz had never eaten at a BK so he was initiated.

With our arteries hardening and our stomachs full of good, greasy food we were off to our next stop Sacre-Couer de Balata in Fort de France, which boasts the same architecture as Montmarte in Paris.

From there we traveled north through the rain forest part of the island heading for Mt Pelee. We didn’t quite make it to the top of the volcano because we were running out of time so instead headed to St Pierre which was originally the capital of Martinique until Pelee blew it’s top in 1902. The eruption buried the entire city killing everyone (29,000 people) except for two survivors, one in the jail and one on a boat. Most of the boats in the harbor burned and today is a great wreck diving site. You can visit the remains of the church and fort in town.

Our last stop, as always, was to a grocery store and this being a french island it was Carrefours. Because fresh produce is so plentiful in the town markets I took the opportunity to stock up on junk food and snacks. Those can be hard to find!

We’ve decided to have our parts shipped to St Croix as the davit seems to be working. That way we don’t have to back track to St Lucia. So today we check out at customs and immigration, move up to Fort de France for an overnight and tomorrow move over to Dominica, our next island.

We decided a week before Christmas to just replace the davit system completely, new hydraulic pump, motor, electronics board, etc. It just seemed easier instead of trying to replace it bit by bit as it continues to give us fits. The week before Christmas.

On January 10th we were informed that the replacements won’t be here until January 29th. It then has to clear customs and be installed. Meanwhile the dinghy that we towed all the way from Grenada developed a fuel leak and the tank is under the rigid floor with no access. We think it just got beat up pounding the waves behind the boat. Gary found a six gallon stand alone fuel tank and now that is sitting strapped into the dinghy so we can get around. Looks like something else to add to the growing list of repairs when we get to Florida in May. Then Gary discovered a loose wire in the davit system and now it works although we don’t trust it much.

So we have a few more weeks  to entertain ourselves before we start moving north again. We’ve played golf twice now at the St Lucia Country Club. Sandals bought the club a year or two ago and is in the process of renovating the course so they only have nine holes open that you play twice for eighteen. But the good news is that it is a REAL golf course with a driving range (unlike Grenada) so it was fun. We also went diving again with ScubaSteve’s outfit. Very professional and mostly laid back. That’s the way we like to dive.

When we arrived here at Rodney Bay there were a number of boats with the WRAC flag flying and over the next week or so many more arrived. WRAC is a world boat rally and the next leg was leaving Rodney Bay for Santa Marta on the 11th, roughly 800+ miles. Our friends Rose and Scott on s/v CloudShadow are participating as they are heading back to Australia. We’ve been watching their progress via the website and will continue to track them on their journey. The day they left they took about 34 boats with them and the marina looked a bit empty.

I went to a “ladies luncheon” which is a weekly event led by a couple women who are here on boats for the season each year. There is yoga by the pool in the morning M/W/F, and various social events all of which are announced on the cruisers net each morning at 8am. So there are things to do while we’re here. We’d just rather be underway.

We’ve decided to leave for Martinique tomorrow for a week and come back to St Lucia to pick up the parts when they arrive. It’s only 30 miles away so is an easy up and back. We’ve also heard from Liza and Kaz and they are going to meet us there. We haven’t seen them since we left Grenada.

When we headed south last spring from Rodney Bay we passed Marigot Bay which is just about 30 minutes south and thought “what a pretty place”. So fast forward 8 months and we’re here for Christmas!

The marina is part of the resort property so we had access to all the resort amenities which includes several very good restaurants and an infinity pool. Friends were arriving by boat On the 24th and our good friends Jenny and Chris were flying in the day after Christmas for a visit and some diving.

We said goodby to our amazing boat cat, Isabella, December 23rd, in what was a very bittersweet moment. She had gotten sick and quit eating so at 21+ we decided it was time. Animals on boats are a test of your ability to keep the boat clean and finding someone to care for them when you need to leave for any reason. Isabella was 18 years old when we moved onto the Laa Dee Dah. We didn’t really expect her to still be with us but there you are. She flew to Florida from Virginia with Betty to board the boat and bring it back to Virginia and then lived on it full time with us for several years. She seemed to really love being on the water with the scenery and all the attention she could handle.

Christmas Eve we cleaned the inside of the boat and removed all the cat hair and toys and cat beds. At Rodney Bay we donated the cat food and kitty litter that we still had. No more animals until we are land based again. We will miss Isabella every day.

Christmas Eve and many days and nights after, Rudy was on the bow. He was definitely a hit with the kids young and old! Christmas Eve we spent at the resort restaurant for a very nice dinner surrounded by carols and decorations.

We got in a couple days of diving before taking the boat out overnight and then on to Rodney Bay for more diving and revelry. A friend who has a house on St Lucia recommended a very nice restaurant, Cap on the Cliff, that we tried out for NYE. Then back to the boat for naps and up for the fireworks at midnight. It seems our age is catching up with us as we were all usually in bed by 9 or 10pm so staying up till midnight was a task!

We managed to get in six dives over a three day period with Jenny and Chris and even managed to find a seahorse on the last dive.

Spagetti worms are really interesting. They look like pieces of white string but if you touch a tendril it will retract very quickly. They are everywhere!

We’ll be here in Rodney Bay for a few weeks until our parts come in for the davit repair. Then on to Martinique and points north.