Chapter Twelve - Martinique to Antigua
Hi Everone
My last newsletter stated that I had decorated the boat for a nice long stay for Christmas in Admiralty Bay, St. Lucia – no such luck.
The day before Christmas we received a weather report (I’m adlibbing) “It’s gonna be shit!” So, back into the freezer with the thawing turkey, Christmas tree into the bubble wrap and the tinsel under the seat – and away we go to an anchorage which won’t be rolly – ya right!
We anchored in Le Marin, Martinique for a couple of nights. What a great place – a real French/European feeling with a lot of outside cafes and restaurants and really good food, especially the baked goodies. I was ready to spend at least a week just sitting and eating “pain de raison”. It’s a sacrilege calling them just raisin Danish. It’s like comparing a cookie to a torte.
For Christmas Eve we moved outside to St. Anne where the rolling was less pronounced only 8 foot swells instead of 10 footers. On Christmas Eve we went ashore to the beautiful little village of St. Anne and had dinner at a local bistro. It was a perfect warm evening with the aroma of garlic wafting from every restaurant. After dinner we strolled the main square which was all lit up and listened to the evening mass through the open doors from the church.
On Christmas day we had a great turkey and all the trimmings aboard Allegro and opened our presents. Sharon and Lee gave us a disc of some really incredible pictures they had taken of DRUM under sail – she looks almost sleek. Also a Wine Lovers Diary where we can keep the label and write comments rather than just guzzling and then not remembering what was good and what wasn’t – our usual method of failing memories.
The weather has again given us a two day window to proceed to the next destination so on New Year’s Eve we are underway to St. Pierre, Martinique a picturesque little village filled with partial ruins from a Mount Pelee eruption quite a while ago.
Thanks to Lee (Allegro) who has been tutoring us on sail trimming we are rapidly improving - even passing boats. Remember my last newsletter I was happy we had sailed at 8.1 knots; well, with the high seas and strong winds and Lee, we reached 8.4 knots in 27 knot winds – man was it rough and exhilarating. I kept thinking about the poor guy that was anchored next to us in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia on “Allegria” and how they had found him floating off the west coast of Martinique after his sailboat had been hit at night by an unlit freighter and sunk under him in the same rough weather.
The next day we sailed to Dominica (Portsmouth) for one night and met up with Martin – our guide from last season. Apparently tourism has slowed right down and he expects a poor season and rough finances this year. We will sail to Dominica again later this year and drop off spares and extras for him. Tomorrow we’re off again.
We are now in one of our favorite anchorages – Les Saints for New Years. We rushed in to town at around 2:00 in order to check into Customs and book a table at the “Saladerie” for New Year’s Eve. Customs, not surprisingly was closed until Jan 3rd and the Saladerie was also fully booked – as was everything else in town so back to DRUM where we and Sharon and Lee settled for filet mignon (the last of the meat from Venezuela) and lots and lots of wine – for the new diary of course. We did however; finally eat at the Saladerie two days later – still yummy.
Sadly we left Les Saints on January 5th for Deshaies, Guadeloupe, another great little French village. Thank goodness Roy’s command of French is good. We went into a little supermarket looking for meat – anything other than chicken. Imagine my surprise when I found several packages of “pork tenderloin”. I was as excited as a kid who finds the candy stash. They looked great, lean, fresh – four luscious pieces per package. It was only Roy’s deciphering that led me back to the freezer in a hurry returning the complete set of “pig legs” – minus the actual foot – YUK!!!!!!
During our brief stay we took the bus into Point-a-Pitre a 2 hour ride. This is a great way to see this beautiful island. We had never been there before and were disappointed by the rundown condition of this major town. Everything other than the central square and government buildings looks sadly neglected and decorated in graffiti which is surprising considering the cruise ships dock here. We much prefer Deshaies which is small, bustling and full of bistros and colourful houses surrounded by flowers of every description.
Friday January 8 departed Deshaies for Jolly Harbour, Antigua where our daughter and son-in-law will be visiting soon. Expected a great 8 hour sail as per the weather forecast. We experienced the gamut of sailing conditions from great sailing, squalls, wind shifts and finally – no wind.
Jolly Harbour, Antigua has a shallow bay with great swimming and really good food shopping. Then on to Falmouth Harbour where we met up with Pasha. Now we are waiting for a weather window for the next leg to St. Kitts and then to St. Martin. The winds here are pretty high and swimming off the back of the boat yesterday was like swimming in a wave pool – a strenuous workout just to stay put behind the boat and not get swept away. It’s also getting colder down here – it is only about 79 degrees, including the water. By the way, remember I told you about the little Gecko “Hugo” who boarded our boat in Venezuela – well – he’s still here. We saw him last about a month ago, but yesterday he came out to say howdy. They’re supposed to eat bugs – do we have that many bugs aboard to feed a gecko full-time for 4 months? Hum!!!!
The other day “Maltese Falcon” sailed into the harbour – wow what a boat. She is 88 meters long and ultra modern with three rotating masts. Take a look on the web for a virtual tour.
We are planning on leaving Antigua on Monday to head for St. Kitts and then on to St.Martin for some serious provisioning, and goodies buying.
So, until then, smooth sailing whatever your activity.
Roy & Maggie, s/v DRUM
www.royandmaggie.com