Susan joined us in Marigot Bay of St. Lucia on December 13, 2023. We had the boat all decorated for Christmas to greet her to our island home.
After a couple of days of showing her around the lush island of St. Lucia, a weather window presented itself to make the jump north across the passage to Martinique.
The sail across was beautiful and we made super time arriving in less than four hours to Les Anses D’Arlet. This cute little bay on the southwest corner of Martinique welcomed us with colorful houses, a picturesque church and long white sand beaches. We arrived on Friday afternoon to a very quiet town, even customs had already closed for the day, and it was only 1500. So we took a dip off the transom, showered and whipped up some fish tacos for dinner.
Saturday morning the sleepy little town came alive. It was a resort town so there were folks all up and down the beach. Ben went to clear in and brought us back some lovely French pastries for breakfast. Oh man do I love French pastries!
It wasn’t long before the entertainment of the bay came right by our boat. The local race teams were out practicing on their rounded skiffs called Yoles (or we call them yawls). They were amazing to watch as the team was made up of 15 people hiked out on poles. It took three people to work the rudder which looked like an oar. These were fishing boats of yesteryear that were made for speed so that the fisherman could get their catch back to shore in record time. Now the boats race in local regattas, and they appeared serious about their racing as there were chase boats and ground crew in addition to the sailors themselves.
There were lots of other boats and wind crafts practicing in the bay as well.
After watching the show in the bay, we decided to go into town where Susan walked around to see the sights while Ben and I snorkeled on the reef right off the shore. The reef was magnificent with squid, huge angel fish, lots of trumpet fish and an extremely large turtle who ignored the many people as he fed on the coral and grasses. The water was perfectly clear, and the rocks hosted some of the healthiest fans I had seen anywhere.
After our swim we met up with Susan and went back to the boat. We were debating on moving around to a neighboring bay, but as luck would have it Inca Cross with Joe and Katie showed up for a visit. It was super good to see them!
We also had connected with some Port Louis folks on Serendipity, Nina and Micheal who were from Sweden. Since we decided to spend another night in Les Anses Arlet, we made plans to meet them for lunch on Sunday.
Sunday the town was abuzz with a Christmas Market. We wandered around enjoying the lilt of French and examining the vendors’ wares. We went with Michael and Nina to a cute little courtyard restaurant named L’Oasis.
We had a nice time visiting with these friends, but finally had to say goodbye. Today we were moving around to Grand Anse D’Arlet as we were anxious to snorkel there again.
We pulled anchor and motored around the corner to another cute beach village, Grand Anse D’Arlet. There were people everywhere soaking up the sun on the beach, snorkeling and walking around town. It was lovely.
We found an anchorage right along the beach which was perfect except for the large trawler behind us that blocked the sunset as we swung on anchor in the windy harbor.
Monday we went into town and walked the cobblestone streets.
We barely made it to the grocery store before they closed from 1200-1400. We found a beach bar and ordered Accras and drinks for a midday snack. It was the perfect location for observing the goings on around the town. The weather was gorgeous with blue sky, puffy clouds and cool breezes. You just couldn’t beat it!
Since Inca Cross was anchored behind the trawler we went to their boat for sunset. However, as fate would have it, it was too cloudy to see the sunset, but it did not preclude us from having a great visit as we say so long to these wonderful friends. The next time we see them they would probably be on land as they were putting their boat up for sale on January 1, 2024.
Tuesday morning, we weighed anchor and motor sailed to St. Pierre as we needed to check out of Martinique to begin our journey to Dominica where we would spend Christmas. While Ben was at customs, he met a couple that turned out to be friends with Venessa and Mark our buddies from last year in Port Louis. Beng and Deb were on a monahull, SV Makarios.
Meanwhile, Susan and I walked around the ruins from the 1902 Pele Eruptions. I have seen these ruins several times, but they always fascinate me as the old is mixed with the new of today.
Susan enjoyed wandering around the old theater and seeing the cell where one of the few survivors had been protected.
The ruins of the fort were below the theater.
Back on the boat we readied Daggers Down for an early morning getaway as tomorrow we will cross over to Dominica. The prediction was for very light winds but we hope there will be enough to sail at least across the passage. Otherwise, it could be a 10 hr. day.
Ben, Susan and I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year. We will be in Dominica with our friend Whitney for Christmas.
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