Martinique: Mitigating Past Memories

Dec. 2022 and April 25-30

December Visit

We had been to Martinique a few times, but had always left underwhelmed, or with a tainted impression. One of the reasons was that Martinique was where we had bought Daggers Down, and our experiences during this process were less than favorable (see how the story began: Sailing Saga Begins). However, fellow cruisers continuously raved about Martinique. So, we decided to give this French Island, situated north of St. Lucia, another chance.

In December, as we moved north this sailing season, we made a few short stops in Martinique with our friends, Flynn and Sheri. Then we revisited Martinique with Ron during the month of April as we began our journey back south for Hurricane season. In December, I was ill with a sinus infection, so the only place I disembarked was at St. Pierre. Flynn and Sheri took a ferry from Anse Matin to Fort de France and had a nice time walking around and going to the Harley shop.

We spent one day in St. Pierre where I enjoyed learning about the history of this delightful little town in the north. It had been decimated by the volcano on Mount Pelee in 1902 where about 30,000 people lost their lives and multiple ships were sunk in the harbor. We explored the ruins of the fort, the old theater, and the cell where a prisoner (one of two people) survived because of its thick walls.

We also visited the museum about the catastrophe, and while much of it was in French, it was still interesting.

April Return

Since St. Pierre provided a customs and immigration terminal for checking in and out of the country, we decided to stop again on our way back south and spend a little more time exploring. We had gotten a taste of a friendlier, prettier part of Martinique that intrigued us. Luckily this time I was feeling much better and was excited about renting a car.

April 25

Our passage from Dominica was quite docile as the seas were calm and so was the wind. It was not the exhilarating sail that I think Ron had anticipated. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day to be out on the water. We anchored in the harbor of St. Pierre around 1700 after leaving Dominca at 0700.

April 26

The next morning, Ben and Ron went ashore to check us into the island and locate a rental car for the following day. They also revisited some of the ruins we had seen previously. I stayed aboard to review potential sights for us to visit with the car and ready the provisioning list for the grocery store.

After lunch, we went ashore to roam a bit and see if we could find anything on the provisioning list at the grocery. St. Pierre was a small but cute town, that before the eruption of 1902 was the capital and the hub of Martinique. Today the traffic still flowed steadily in and out of the area, but many of the businesses seemed closed. Nevertheless, there were restaurants, bars, groceries, pharmacies and of course souvenir shops. We even found a smoothie shop that served excellent coconut gelato.

April 27

After eating French pastries, we walked to the edge of town to pick up the rental car. Checking out the car was fairly easy using Google translate a few times. Then we were on our off!

We wound our way north through the mountainous jungle terrain toward the Mount Pelee Trailhead outside Le Morne Rouge. We had heard the views were spectacular from this location and they did not disappoint.

There was also a lovely church in the middle of town that caught our attention; Notre Dame de la Delivrande.

We continued east until we reached the Atlantic coast.

We discovered the quaint little town of Sainte-Marie where a sand bar known as a Tombolo mysteriously appears about 4 months of the year connecting the town to a nearby island. April is the month it begins to disappear, but people were still walking across it on the day we visited.

We walked around the town looking for a quick bite to eat and I can safely say we chose wisely. While there was a McDonalds in town, we opted for a local sandwich shop instead. The sandwiches were huge and delicious! Once again, I ordered by taking pictures of the menu and using the translation app on my phone. The lady at the counter was very tolerant of us and our lack of French which was super nice of her. We had not witnessed much of this tolerance when we had visited before COVID, but here in the countryside the folks were more patient which was appreciated. Ben said it was best that I didn’t try to speak the French because I butchered it so badly. Wawa!

Our next stop on this whirlwind tour across the island was located on the Peninsula de la Caravelle. We stopped in the small fishing village of Tartane. This seaside town was lined with eateries, a gorgeous beach, and waters of various hues of blue. It was adorable! I could see why this town appeared to be a tourist mecca.

As we navigated our way towards Fort de France, the jungle was replaced by farmland and sugar cane fields. From Fort de France, we drove back to St. Pierre on the west coastal road, around the mountains. As we passed our boat anchored offshore, we noticed the serenity of the bay had been replaced by 20 knot winds and rolling seas. We were happy to see that our boat was securely in place as this breeze was NOT forecasted.

Ben let me out in town so that I could walk around while he and Ron returned the car. Thus far it had been a spectacular day, and prior harsh memories of Martinique were ebbing away…

I went to the dock to wait for Ben and Ron, but as I walked to it, I could not see our dinghy anywhere! I walked down the dock and lowered myself to the side and could barely see where our dinghy was tied on. The seas and wind had pushed our dinghy all the way under the dock despite our stern anchor! Oh boy, this was going to be a nasty to retrieval process!

When Ben and Ron arrived, I apprised them of the grim situation. Somehow with firm determination, Ben slid the dinghy out from under the dock, but was dismayed to find the housing of the engine cover had been cracked! At least the dinghy was still attached and locked, and had not floated away.  It was disheartening, nevertheless. We carefully climbed down and made our way back to Daggers Down, but not before getting totally drenched as buckets of water crashed over the side of the dinghy!

This was not the perfect ending to a perfect day, but overall things could have been worse. So we counted our blessings and relaxed until the adrenaline quieted.

April 28

We hauled up the anchor this morning to move to a more protected anchorage. The wind had finally relaxed during the night but not before nearly rolling us out of bed.

We arrived in Grande Anse d’Arlet by 1030 and found a perfect place to drop anchor right in front of the picture-perfect town and beach. This was a busy anchorage with lots of tourists and charter boats coming and going, but we had heard that there was some good snorkeling, and the bay was more settled than St. Pierre.

The water around the boat was bath water clear, and we had heard there were turtles. So after lunch we donned our snorkel gear and took a look! Ben saw a turtle on the surface and Ron got a glimpse of one under the water. I didn’t see one, but it was made up by all the starfish that were strewn across the bottom.

I also saw a sea snake (eel) and an aqua and yellow trumpet-like fish?

April 29

We dinghied around the bay this morning looking for a good place to snorkel. We first went to the marine park on the north side where we determined why all the charter boats were not letting people out in this area. The sargassum was so thick that you could barely see the hand in front of your face.

We moved towards the cliffs on the south side, but the water was pretty deep. We saw a lot of divers getting in the water in this vicinity.

So we moved up closer to shore on the south side and found a lovely place to snorkel among the rocks along the shore.

The water was so refreshing that Ron and I decided to swim back to the boat instead of taking the dinghy. We saw a few fish traps under some local boats. Then, Ron pointed out a turtle just before I climbed back on the boat. That was wonderful!

After cleaning up, we went into town to check out the beach and restaurants. As we passed a place grilling fresh fish, Ron and I knew we had to have some! It was delightful. Ron said it was the best snapper he had ever eaten.

As Ron had to return to the States in a few days, this was our last day in Martinique. We would move on to St. Lucia tomorrow.

I have to say, I am glad that we gave Martinique another chance. The island was beautiful with its mountains and farmlands. The people we met, this time, were friendly, patient, and sometimes even jovial. Not speaking French would always be an impediment for us when we visit the French islands, but it did not seem to be such a barrier as in the past.

Yes, there is lots more to see and do, so I’m sure now, that we will return!

Au Revoir!

 

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