Back through the Windward Isles

We arrived in Rodney Bay, St Lucia and met up with Peter Dickens, a friend from Eastbourne who was staying with Steve and Lynne and then headed back to Martinique - a very pleasant 4 hour sail.

A rain squall over Martinique - this seems to happen every time we go there.

After a couple of nights in Grande Anse d'Arlet where we enjoyed some great snorkelling and Peter discovered the delights of paddle boarding we headed on to St Pierre - the town that used to be described as The Paris of the Caribbean until it was all but obliterated by the eruption of Mt Pelee in 1902.  As mentioned in a previous blog, of the population of 30,000 only two survived the eruption (although 1000 evacuated when they felt the first tremors).  Little is known about about the cobbler who allegedly survived in his basement, the history of the prisoner in the cell awaiting trial is well documented.

The little barrel roofed prison cell is nestled between the theatre and the barracks.

It really is tiny.  The prisoner documented how he heard terrible noises and screams, then silence - it seems toxic fumes caused many of the deaths, as well as lumps of rock raining down from the volcano.  He describes how he jumped around to escape the fumes, and survived four days and three nights by licking water off the walls of his cell until he was rescued.  He later joined the circus where he showed off his extensive burn scars.

The theatre

Before leaving St Pierre we had to pay a visit to Le Reservoir Beach Bar where we had had a surprisingly good meal on our previous visit.  It was just as good as last time, but with lots more Rum!

Early on, with Will the owner and Peter.

Much rum was consumed. The next day did pass in rather a blur!

We left Martinique and returned to Rodney Bay with Steve and Lynne to drop Peter off.  A lovely sail in great conditions.

We had planned another walk up to the fort at Pigeon Island, but the weather really was against us. It really did rain - even if we had wanted to leave the boat, we couldn't as the rain literally filled and sank the dinghy.

We did manage to recover the dinghy, but the engine had gone under, the carburettor full of water - and in the rain there was no chance of fixing it.

The next day - the water in the bay is brown with mud and sand that has run off the land, but the dinghy engine has forgiven us and is currently working again.

So - another lesson learnt:  when it rains in the Caribbean, it really does rain!  Secure your dinghy with much more care, and ensure the water can drain back out!

We are now making our way south through the Windward Isles, and will be revisiting Beautiful Bequia next before heading on to Tobago Quays.

Back to Antigua, and then South to St Lucia

Falmouth Harbour, Antigua was packed when we returned from our three week absence - not only with the competitors for the 49th Antigua Race Week but also many of the fabulous classic yachts from the Antigua Classic Week that had just finished and also a few stragglers from the St Barts Bucket which is only open to yachts of 100ft and above. An awful lot of wealth sails the waters round Antigua!  Within a couple of days of the end of Race Week it was empty - the marine equivalent of tumbleweed blowing down the pontoons and across the bay.  The Mediterranean and North American Summer sailing season was about to start.

Race Week itself was great fun - there were yachts ranging from 6 metres with a crew of three to a Volvo Open 60 with a crew of about 20.  We were again crewing on Sandy Mair's Beneteau First 35, a cruiser/racer.

The series consisted of 8 races - the first very memorable moment was a whale breaching just off the start line on day 1.  Sadly no photo to prove it, but there were many witnesses!

During the week two yachts in our class shredded their mainsail, and the photo above shows a local competitor on the start line just after he was dismantled.  

There was some very close racing - although we did manage to get on the podium twice during the week, overall we finished fourth in our class.

And of course there was another Red Cap to add to the collection.

After Race Week we headed back south to Martinique, stopping overnight on Guadeloupe and then Portsmouth, Dominica where we had previously visited the Indian River in a water taxi.  This time we decided to brave it on foot - the path was difficult to find, and it did involve wading across a stream, but was worth the effort.

The forest is spectacular - Portsmouth, Dominica.

The path follows the remains of a British built railway.

It seems the Engineers of the time had not fully understood the local conditions - the railway rapidly fell into disrepair.

The way out - we crossed in single file - not sure whether this will withstand another rainy season!

Our next stop was Le Marin, Martinique which is a veritable Mecca of chandleries and Marine businesses.  We had to collect our repaired Parasail and VHF radio and bought Scuba gear,  but we were also hoping to have a steel davit custom made for lifting the dinghy engine on and off the boat as our current method certainly does not conform to any health and safety.  No problem, Mr Kashmir of Equinox Steelworks made one in a couple of days and it does the job perfectly.  

The other issue we needed to resolve was the charging of a Mac laptop - having actually melted a 12v cigarette lighter socket using a 150w inverter to charge it previously, it clearly was not the way to do it!  We have now had a 1200w inverter fitted directly to the boat's batteries - problem solved.  And ... we can also plug in our new luxury item:  the portable ice cube maker!

Having emptied our wallets in Le Marin we headed on south in convoy with our German friends Bernd & Birgit to Rodney Bay, St Lucia to catch up with Steve and Lynne on Aztec Dream, who had finally escaped the clutches of Antigua having had a complete rig overhaul and also to  see our mutual friend Peter Dickens who will be staying with them for a 10 day holiday.  We plan to go back to Martinique in convoy with Aztec Dream.....actually we will be playing catch up with them as they now have new sails and tuned rig!

Our plan is then to head back to Beautiful Bequai, Carriacou and the Tobago Quays.