Martinique, Part Deux

Our stay on Martinique was both dull and exciting. Because of the strike, we were unable to do virtually anything. On the other hand, the strike itself offered some entertainment. We had looked forward to shopping in a French supermarket and buying an assortment of cheeses, sausages and olives, not to mention good French bread. Accordingly, we made our way to the supermarket in Marin as soon as we could. Alas! We got there as it was closing. We returned the next morning but it was closed due to the strike! Well, eating out in France is not so bad. We made our way to Anse Mitan and our first stop was the 8 à Huit grocery store. The shelves were bare except for ketchup and mustard and the like.
Lunch was interrupted by a group of 10-12 rough looking young men who burst into the restaurant crying, “It’s closed now!” The restaurant staff all withdrew to a central part of the open air restaurant and closed themselves inside. Most of the patrons got up and left. We remained seated as did a French family with little children. The strikers didn’t bother them or us. Apparently they refrained from bothering the family because of the little children and apparently they avoided us either because they thought we didn’t understand or because our foreign-ness exempted us. At any rate, we remained seated until they left and paid our bill--those who left did so without paying.
The trip to Martinique was not a total loss. In the first place, we sailed past HMS Diamant which was the backdrop for numerous photographs of sailboats on our previous trip to the island 5 years ago. Claudia and I had stayed at a nice hotel in Diamant with a gorgeous view of le Rocher Diamant, a rocky outcrop that the British commissioned as a man-o-war during their rivalry with the French for control of the Caribbean. I took a lot of pictures as boats sailed past. Now, I was sailing past and presumably someone was taking pictures of me!
The anchorage at Anse Mitan also had special meaning. It was in front of the beach that Claudia and I had visited 35 years earlier. It was where we first saw cruisers sailing in, dropping anchor and dinghying in for drinks. “What a way to travel!” we said. Indeed, it is. Anse Mitan is also the source of one of our travel “treasures,” a large piece of brain coral that we found on that same trip.
We wanted to rent a car but the rental agencies either had no vehicles or no gas. So, we were basically stuck at Anse Mitan since there were no busses or ferries running. We were finally able to find a taxi to take us into Fort-de-France where we needed to go to get our exit papers. The entire city was closed! Shuttered! Except for pharmacies and bakeries. Apparently bread is considered as essential as medicine. Actually, the place where we had to go to check out was half open--its shutters were drawn, but there was personnel inside. Additionally, the city market was open and fresh fruits and vegetables were available.
On our way back to Anse Mitan, the taxi driver took us to a distillery that was open for the tourist trade. We learned a bit about making rum and bought some rum in their shop. Afterwards, we were disappointed to find the museum at Empress Josephine’s childhood home closed. It was closed the previous time we tried to visit 5 years ago.
A couple of days before we left Martinique, the people on one of the boats in the anchorage left for a weekend sail. Their anchor rode ran pretty close to our boat and they managed to drive over our anchor rode, catching it and wrapping the rope around their propeller. Fortunately, the daughter of the owner of the boat was a diver and lived nearby on the island. Still, it was a bit touch and go as she worked to separate our line from her father’s propeller shaft.
The day we chose to leave was supposed to have winds from the East or East-north-east at about 18 knots. The seas were supposed to be less than 6 feet out of the East-north-east. This would have been a beautiful trip as we were basically headed south. The wind, however, came at us from the Southeast and the seas were much higher than 6 feet. We’ve been in this part of the Caribbean for weeks and this was the first time we saw winds from the Southeast! We got back to Rodney Bay after sunset, anchored in 8 feet of water close enough to the Sandals resort to enjoy their music from the boat.
Back in the marina, there has been a steady stream of boats from Martinique. People are coming here to fill jerry cans with fuel and to go grocery shopping.

Martinique, Feb 12

Martinique

Feb 8, 2009

We picked Al up at the airport in Vieux Fort last Monday. We rented a car and drove down the East coast of St Lucia. Although the east coast was mountainous, it was nowhere near as steep as the west coast. There were very few hairpin turns and the road was in general plenty wide. What’s more, there were stretches of reasonably straight road.


Vieux Fort, true to the cruising guide description. is a busy town that hasn’t a tourist bone in its body.
We had a Creole meal at a pleasant little restaurant. We walked around town and strolled down the main street which was lined with women selling fruits and vegetables. One lady had fresh ginger and something we weren’t familiar with, so we asked. She didn’t know the English word for it and there was much discussion among the various vendors as to what it was called. Finally, someone identified it as turmeric root. Since they all knew its name in Creole, I asked for that, too and they were surprised and obviously pleased that I knew a bit of Creole. The name for turmeric root is ti gembré -- little ginger.
After meeting Al at the airport, we returned to Rodney Bay. We waited for a couple of days for the weather to give us a good opportunity to sail to Martinique. We left the marina and anchored in the bay in time for sunset and a great view of the Unicorn (known as the pirate ship).
It’s a real sailing vessel built many years ago in Europe and it used to carry freight between S America and the islands. It’s now an excursion boat and was also used in “Pirates of the Caribbean” and in “Roots.”
The sail across to Martinique was smooth and calm. Gentle six foot seas and enough wind to justify a reef in the main and a reefed genoa. We anchored at Marin and planned to check in the following morning. I may have already mentioned that the anchorage at Marin is very crowded. We found a spot that allowed plenty of room between us and the boats around us. There was however, a private buoy marking the anchor chain of a boat that was not there. It was pretty close to us and had there been a boat attached to it, we could not have anchored where we did.
We went into the marina the following morning to check in with customs. The customs office was closed due to a general strike on the island. So, we went to Mango Bay, had a croissant and coffee and got on the internet. Then off to the supermarket for provisioning. Provisioning on St Lucia was not a good experience and we were looking forward to French cheeses, sausages, olives, bread, wine, decent cuts of meat, etc. We got to the supermarket at 10 minutes before noon -- it closes at 12:30 on Sunday. That means that the employees go home at 12:30. So they don’t let customers into the store after 11:30. Oh well, tomorrow’s another day, Scarlett. I forgot to mention that we needed gas for the dinghy and there is a fuel dock within walking distance of the supermarket. Unfortunately, “pa ni essence” (no gas).

So, now it’s Sunday afternoon. It’s my birthday for cryin’ out loud. We’ve struck out at customs, we’ve struck out at the supermarket. What else could go wrong? We’re on the boat, we’re chillin’ (& some of us are napping) “Excuse me,” says the woman on a boat that pulls past us about 30 feet away. “That’s our anchor chain attached to the float just in front of your bow.” Now, this is a public anchorage. That means that anyone can anchor wherever there is room. The idea that anyone can claim “ownership ” to a particular place is nonsense. This would be like trying to claim a particular parking place by putting a sign on it whenever you go somewhere. Still, possession is what percentage of the law? The other boat proceeds to tie up to the anchor rode that they have left attached to a float. They are 15 feet in front of us and there is a disaster waiting to happen. So, we have to up anchor and move. We cruised around the anchorage looking for a likely spot and finally find a place a couple of hundred feet off the mangroves and in 12 feet of water. Shallow is always nice! All’s well that ends well and the new anchorage is quiet, pleasant and so much better than the spot where we were. (She said. We had a rhum to celebrate the new nice place!!

So, Scarlett, Monday arrives, we go into the marina to check in with customs. No problem. We duck into Mango Bay to get on the internet. No problem. We hop into the dinghy and go to the marina fuel dock for gas--”pa ni essence!” Oh well, we’ve still got a half gallon or so. On to the supermarket. The dinghy dock was crowded and people were lined up at the fuel station for gas. Oh boy. So, we stand in line and get 12 liters of gas for 32 euros (you do the math). We take off for the supermarket. “Odd,” Claudia said, “there aren’t any people with shopping carts around the dinghy dock.” Hmmm! The explanation was that there were no people shopping because the supermarket was closed due to the general strike! Currency exchanges closed, even ATM’s closed! Welcome to France! Well, tomorrow is another day, Scarlett.