Martinique

We saw another pod of pilot whales on our sail to Martinique! Sadly, still no photos.

Aside from access to all the French goodies we had enjoyed in St Martin and Guadeloupe, we didn't really have any expectations for Martinique. We had read that it's a more industrial island with busy highways and not much green space.

However, when we arrived in the little town of St Pierre, we were pleasantly surprised! St Pierre was once an important strategic port and was known as the Paris of the Caribbean, until the eruption of the volcano, Mt. Pelee, towering above it in 1902 completely destroyed it. One of the sole survivors of the volcanic eruption was a man named Cyparis who survived because he was housed in solitary confinement at the jail! The walls of his enclosure were so thick he survived with only burns to his shoulder. Apparently he was hired by a circus in the States and spent the rest of his days on tour with them as the man who survived the volcano.

Remains of Opera house post volcano 

Solitary Confinement Cell

The city has been rebuilt and in places merges some of the original volcano damaged structures with new buildings.

Anchorage to ourselves! 

It is a nice place to explore with cobblestone streets and ruins from the old city. As is our style, we skipped anchoring in the busy anchorage near the town and anchored near the beach, having it all to ourselves. We both had a craving for pizza and and beer and a movie and low and behold there was a pizza place nearby. Throw in a couple of cold Lorraines, a swim, and a beautiful sunset and you've got yourself a pretty great day on the water - these are the days we're glad we didn't pack it in in Miami!

We decided to skip Fort-de-France as it sounded like more of an administrative capital and it might be difficult to anchor nearby anyway. Instead we headed further south to the tiny beach towns of Grand and Petit Anse d'Arlet. Here we enjoyed beach walks punctuated with cold beers and accras de morue (bite sized cod fritters) - we even shared some with a cheeky crab who basically sat and begged beside our table! Here it is eating some of our accras de morue...

The next day was Canada Day and we fought our way upwind past the

Diamond Rock

Diamond Rock and into the anchorage at Ste-Anne. Little did we know this wouldn't be our only visit here, but for now it seemed like the perfect anchorage: well protected, calm, big enough to accommodate hundreds of boats, a nice beach, and a boulangerie a few minutes from the dock. It was the perfect spot to rest up and celebrate - Martinique is considered the "top of the hill" in terms of sailing upwind into the trade winds in the Caribbean. At 60 degrees 53 minutes 07 seconds West, we would not be going any further east. From here on, we could coast with the wind to the side or behind us, a much more comfortable ride.

Atlantic Coast 

Blue Crab

Anse d'Arlet

Cleaning the bottom of the boat is a never ending job