Saint Pierre, our first anchorage in Martinique, used to be the capital of this French Island. In 1902, a massive eruption of Mount Pelee to the north of the town, destroyed the town, killing the approximately 27,000 inhabitants and setting alight and sinking a number of large ships in the anchorage. Legend has it that one man, Cyparis, survived the extreme heat inside the thick walls of his prison cell, albeit with his skin, medium to well done.
The theatre remains with Mt Pelee in the background.
The excavated remains of the grand entrance to the theatre.
The main street – down at heel.
Reconstruction has been slow and more than a hundred years later, St Pierre still has a down at heel look. We spent three days walking the length and breadth of the town to look at the remnants of buildings and visit the impressive museum, documenting the event.
View from the museum down to the anchorage.
The local council decorates the ruins with photos of people in the community.
The reconstructed church.
A church bell from the original church in the museum.
The fresh fruit and veg market on the Saturday was excellent, so we stocked up before sailing south on Sunday the 8th March.
The busy Saturday market.
The reconstructed council offices with tourist information on the ground floor.
We anchored 2 nm south of the capital Fort de France, at a lovely bay, Anse Mitan in the Trois Ilets (three islets). It was here that Josephine, the wife of Napoleon was born in 1763 – the ruins of her family’s house and sugarcane farm can be visited ashore, if you are interested.
The anchorage at Anse Mitan.
The main beach from the jetty.
We had the young couple on the Hanse 44 next us for coffee, Cedric and Gloria from France and Colombia respectively, now living in Sydney. Interesting the number of people in their thirties, kicking up the ratrace, buying a boat and living the dream. Our Aussie flag facilitates contact with a lot of sailors.
The new Creole Village Shops – almost like a stage set.
The courtyard.
After four days we did the quick two mile crossing to Fort de France to anchor next to the huge fort. We were impressed by this bustling big city with its modern buses, running in dedicated bus lanes – in fact, their traffic management overall, would be a good example for Sydney. We used the buses to shop at the massive Mr Bricolage (Bunnings plus), Decathlon, the giant French sportswear chain, Galleries de Lafayette and the Carrefour Hypermarket.
Anchored next to the Fort de France.
Our French neighbour – the boatname “Plankton” seems appropriate.
Bendy bus. (Kevin, this beauty takes 144 passengers)
The Fort de France cathedral, destroyed five times by earthquakes, hurricanes and fires, was finally rebuilt in steel frames with concrete infill panels and has been standing since 1895. The interior is beautiful despite the industrial looking steelwork.
The cathedral.
The interior.
Since arriving in St Pierre, the early evening ambience has been disturbed by candidates in the upcoming elections exhorting the electorate to vote for them, via car mounted loudspeakers cranked up to max. Remembering the scenes described by a friend who was in Jamaica forty years ago at election time, when the machetes came out to settle scores with the opposing candidates, we reluctantly accepted the noise.
Victor Schoelcher who fought for the abolition of slavery.
Waiting for Annie, I spotted this metre long frilled-neck lizard in the tree above me.
We departed Fort de France after four days as the cacophony of three candidates shouting within sight of one another, became too much. We sailed further south to Grande Anse, a small town where the candidates couldn’t expect many votes, resulting in quieter evenings.
Grande Anse village beach.
Grande Anse anchorage.
Walking along the beach.
The ladies doing yoga on their boards.
We used this stop to do some walks in the bush along the shore to Petite Anse about 5 km further south, to get what Annie calls cardio vascular exercise and I call cardio vulgaris. After a beer on the beach, it was a long walk back to Grande Anse.
Looking down to Grande Anse.
Annie, Bundu bashing.
At last – after 2.5 hours, Petite Anse.
Re-hydrating.
Reports from Australia informed us that supermarket shelves were stripped bare of toilet paper and other essentials as a result of the Coronavirus fear. It is not clear whether people are sh1tting themselves in fear of contracting the virus, or whether the virus causes diarrhoea. OK, I know the virus pandemic is real and can be lethal for older people or those with low immunity, but I cannot understand the logic of this panic buying of toilet paper. In the same vein, Michelle our daughter sent me the quip below, taking the Mickey out of Aldi stores, my favourite supermarket group in Australia.
Michelle’s update on supermarkets.
Petite Anse looked good, so we motored around the headland to anchor there and enjoy the crystal clear water, snorkeling and beach walks.
Petite Anse.
The pretty church.
The bakery sells very tasty bread.
Colourful Creole buildings.
More colour.
Reading on the beach after a swim.
COVID-19: The French Government issued a proclamation that as from 12:00, Tuesday the 17th March 2020, the French Islands in the Caribbean will be in lockdown for 14 days to try to prevent the disease from spreading, even though the number of cases are small, compared to the rest of the world. We were on the beach at Petite Anse, relaxing and reading, when at 12:00, the police requested all people to leave the beach in terms of the proclamation.
Petite Anse beach minutes before being closed.
The following day we motored to Le Marin, quite a big city, 15 nm to the south east. Annie and I went to the two big supermarkets, Carrefour and Leader Price to stock up with a few essentials, as we were running low on some items.Â
Le Marin town anchorage.
There were short queues outside each store, as the proclamation limited the number of customers to 20 in a store at any time. We were allowed entry after a 5 minute wait, and were surprised to find the shelves fully stocked, with customers doing their weekly small shop and none wheeling out trolley loads of toilet paper – all very civilised.
Boats in Le Marin.
The sheltered lagoon of Le Marin was choc a bloc with boats (We estimated about 300), but the water quality wasn’t suitable for our water maker. So, after stocking up, we motored 2 nm to the outer bay, to anchor at St. Anne. Guess what? – to anchor with 355 other boats (Annie counted them from the hill in town), caught here in Martinique.
The anchorage from the hill above St Anne.
St Anne town – very quiet.
A walk on the beach – not too shabby.
We can’t sail further south to St Lucia, or St Vincent and the Grenadines, as these islands are also closed and require a 14 days quarantine for arriving boats. Of all places, beautiful Martinique is the best place to be isolated in for 14 days! We are having sundowners with some Aussies tonight and will update you once we are allowed to sail south. In the meantime, stay safe and wash your hands after opening this post. Cheers.
Guadeloupe is composed of two islands in the shape of a butterfly, separated by a narrow river/waterway. The western island is called Basse-Terre. The route along the West coast of Basse-Terre is the beaten track for cruising sailors. A fluency in French is extremely helpful, although not absolutely necessary. The culture is very different from the English speaking islands to the North and south and much more laid back. Guadeloupe is part of France and the currency is the Euro.
Deshaies town from our anchorage.
Our first stop was in the North west of the island at Deshaies (pronounced Deh Heh) on Wednesday the 12th February, where we tied up to the free mooring buoys for yachts. The town is a quaint and laid back fisherman’s village with a number of nice restaurants. Checking in on a computer at the police station was a breeze and took 10 minutes.
Deshaies scenes: The church.
A small shop.
The graffiti is almost acceptable.
People lining up for the music festivities.
A few km above Deshaies is the Deshaies Botanical Gardens. We walked up, about an hour uphill and about 40 minutes down. The gardens are extensive and well worth the visit, despite the EU15 entry fee per person.
The botanical gardens entry.
The huge koi pond.
Colourful parrots.
Look at the birdie.
My flower in her element.
Flamingo’s.
Usually, I look like a rhapsody in old anchor ropes – today it’s old roots.
Beautiful orchids.
View down to our anchorage.
Guadeloupe has a bus service that covers the entire island and is inexpensive. We used this to explore the island and visit a shopping centre at Destrellan, where Annie had some retail therapy. We met quite a number of sailors in the anchorage with similar itineraries as our own, which resulted in numerous sundowners for “planning”. We will no doubt see them along the way to Panama. We enjoyed the town, people and lush green environment so much, we ended up staying for a week.
Waiting for the bus to Destrellan – while the chickens cross the street.
A friendly baby pelican on the dock.
Our next anchorage was only 9 nm south at Malendure, behind Pigeon Island, in the Cousteau Marine Park, where there were excellent snorkelling and diving opportunities. An added surprise was that about 40 metres from the dinghy anchorage, we found an excellent laundromat and a further 50 m on, a Carrefour supermarket. Lugging our shopping in backpacks and trolleys, usually requires at least a half an hour trek.
View from our mooring buoy at Pointe Coquelet, Terre de Haut.
After two nights at Malendure we had a relaxed 23 nm sail to the Iles des Saintes (the Saints Islands), where we picked up a mooring buoy at Pointe Coquelet on the island of Terre de Haut. These buoys weren’t free, as this a very popular destination for cruisers. We thought Guadeloupe was fantastic, but these islands are exceptional. There is this “joie de vivre” quality that adds to the beauty of the place – impromptu parades with drummers and musicians dancing down the narrow streets, with the tourists joining in.
The rhythm section.
The dancers having a break.
Cute little miss.
Trainee drummers.
Lovely teenagers.
Kid’s heaven.
The fruit salad group.
Our first day was a challenge for me, as Annie insisted on climbing up to Fort Napoleon above the town – serious cardiovascular stuff, approaching a heart attack. The next day was more relaxed, exploring the town on the level, stopping for coffees and croissants.
My drill master at Fort Napoleon.
View down to town from the fort.
On the Sunday, we had bright sunny conditions, which galvanised us into action to do some canvas waterproofing work. After almost four years of wear and tear, the spray dodger, bimini and infill panel leaks like sieves into the cockpit and on to us, when it rains. I had read an article about mixing a cartridge of silicone sealant with a litre of white spirits, to make a good waterproofing mixture for canvas work. It takes a while to dissolve the silicone in the spirits, to get a paint consistency, then you brush it on to saturate the canvas. The white spirits takes about 15 minutes to evaporate, leaving the silicone in the fabric and voila! Hopefully waterproof. I will report back after the first rain!
The following day – view from the town mountain across to Ilet a Cabrit.
View down to Terre de Haut.
One of the colourful characters of Terre de Haut.
A Creole house.
A Creole restaurant.
The waterfront.
Terre de Haut church.
Street food.
We second that!
In the meantime we explored the island and adjoining islands which were only a dinghy ride away, snorkelling and climbing up to Fort Josephine and the Sugar Loaf. We had a good rain downpour four days later and the waterproofing of the canvas worked a treat – we’ll see how long it lasts.
Annie paddle boarded to the small island of Ilet a Cabrit to visit Fort Josephine.
Fort Josephine.
View down from the fort.
Paddling past Pain de Sucre.
We ended up spending 10 days in Terre de Haut before enjoying a brisk 21 nm sail to Portsmouth on the North west coast of Dominica. Quite a nice anchorage with good phone/internet reception. Our next anchorage was at Sibouli, a mile south of Roseau the capital, on the South west corner of Dominica. English is the official language of Dominica, but Dominican Creole, based on French, is widely spoken.
Portsmouth anchorage.
A beautiful four master anchored off Portsmouth.
Dominica is especially vulnerable to hurricanes as the island is located in what is referred to as the hurricane region. More recently, in 1979, Hurricane David, in 2007, Hurricane Dean, in 2015, Tropical Storm Erika and in 2017 Hurricane Maria struck the island, the latter causing losses of approximately US$ 930 million or 226% of Dominica’s GDP. The island is very green and is a coffee producer, but has very few beaches and hence, little tourism.
Sibouli anchorage, Dominica.
Back in Australia, our daughter Karen, recently returned from Cuba and South America, informed us that she has bought herself a house in the historic old part of Newcastle, where she works at the John Hunter Hospital. Newcastle is about two hours north of Sydney. Welcome to the world of mortgages my girl!
Sold.
We had a good 33 nm sail south to Martinique and anchored at Saint Pierre on the 4th March, in the north west of the island. This French island has a lot to see and we will make that the subject of our next post. Until then, cheers!
Reading on the beach after a swim.
