Moonlight over Ste. Anne

The sail here to Martinique from St. Lucia was strange. The wind was from 350M, west of north, instead of from the east like it is supposed to be. And rhumb line of 025M is too close to the wind to sail, but we were being set to the west, and hence able to steer a bit more east and steering 035 to 045, were able to stay pretty close to the dotted line on the chart plotter.  We actually had the motor on except for about two hours before the final hour, in which the winds got strong for a while and then faltered. With main and small jib we were able to make about four knots speed on average. During the earlier motor sailing we passed a magnificently romantic looking older Polish flagged vessel, which was motor sailing slower than us; because she caught up with us once we turned off the engine.  We saw Martinique from St. Lucia and St. Lucia from Martinique. The 25 miles from Rodney Bay to the village of Ste. Anne, which is in a big bay inside the southeastern peninsula of Martinique, took us about five hours.  We got in too late to clear customs, which is in the much bigger sailing city of Le Marin, about two miles further into the bay, so we hoisted the yellow quarantine flag and waited till the next morning.  About 75 boats are anchored at Ste. Anne, compared to well over 500 at docks, moorings and anchor in Le Marin, which has four chandleries and three supermarkets.

We really enjoyed being at Ste. Anne which, in a way, was kind of surprising.  For 3 of the 4 nights we were there, there was some guy broadcasting LOUDLY on a microphone that could be heard all over the bay…which isn’t a small one…  He broadcast throughout the night..at 1 AM…at 3 AM at 7 AM.  There was no stopping him, and we couldn’t understand anything he was saying as he obviously broadcast in French in a hyperintensive voice.  We later learned there was a running race on the island that ended in Ste Anne.  It was much longer than even a marathon with the distance being about 70 miles or so and the terrain is quite hilly!.  Every time someone crossed the finish line, no matter when, we heard it VERY LOUDLY!  Yet, even with that, the place is kind of magical.

The full moon, which rose even before sunset, actually kept Ilene awake with its brilliance.  She had to put on a sleep mask it was so bright!   

 And the sunsets! OMG! Incandescent! These photos have not been "adjusted" in any way.

The reds and yellows and oranges were just magnificent.  And the days were just as beautiful.  After living so many hours in wet and muggy weather, the weather since arriving on Martinique has been sunny, with the occasional  white, billowing clouds that give relief from the heat.

 We remarked how different this stay in St. Anne was, as compared to our stay here on our way south last winter. The difference was the wind: calm to 10 knots this time as compared to 25 to 30 knots last time.

We dinked into customs the morning after our arrival, and to shop in chandleries, supermarkets and got a sundress for our brand new grand niece, Chloe.  We shared dinners with Michelle and Manu (hereafter referred to as M&M) on three of the 4 nights we were in Ste Anne. Here we are on Teepee:

    And on ILENE:

Our last night’s dinner was at the restaurant in town where last season we enjoyed one of our favorite meals.  It was with great anticipation that we dinked into town to relish in beautifully cooked French cusine.  So..how does the saying go?  You can’t go home again?  It’s never as good as one remembers.  We enjoyed dinner aboard more than dinner out.  We really have grown to appreciate our growing, close relationship with M&M.  They will be heading north as well but more slowly than us right now as Manu’s brother is visiting Martinique for 2 weeks and they will hang out with him and his girlfriend.  I know will see them again even if it takes a long while as they are also sailing to NY and will be our guests for as long as we can keep them anchored!

Manu helped Roger install two new devices which will make cockpit dining much more fun on our boat. The first is the installation of a Magma kettle style grill on the starboard quarter, attached to the side of the radar arch. We had bought this little marvel about ten years ago, but never used it on this boat due to Roger’s paranoid fears of burning up the bimini. But everyone else uses them so we shipped it down and it works well. Turning on the propane stove in the galley heats up the cabin and this grill reduces the need to use the galley stove.

The other improvement is the installation of a small LED light, hanging from the underside of the top of the bimini, in its own custom (cat pictures) designed lampshade made of the top of a gourd and powered by a wire running from the cigarette lighter.  The lampshade was made by Annik, who lives on a small older turquoise boat and paddles a surfboard, rather than drives a dinghy. Here is Manu soldering the wiring for the plug.

This little baby generates so much light that we were able to play cards after dinner. It makes eating in the cockpit that much more enjoyable.

One day we took a five mile roundtrip hike to the south facing beach. We took the Trace du Cap (path of the Capes) on which we only got as far as Pointe Dunquerke last winter due to my bad back. Here is that point, looking back from way beyond it.

 This time we made it all the way to the long beautiful sand beach (with Rocher Diamont a/k/a HMS Diamond Rock just to the right of the sailboat.

We swam and ate our picnic lunches before taking a road home—a shortcut.

While not impossible, it is hard to feel anything but gratitude when surrounded by the beauty of this place and the unselfish behavior of true friends.