We left Dominica at 3pm in the company of Zen Again, headed for Fort De France in Martinique, approximately 80NM away. We were hoping for a good overnight passage to the next in a long chain of beautiful countries – all having their own individual identity – that form the Windward Islands. We were attempting to sail the next 80 miles without the use of our engine again, which had been diagnosed as needing urgent attention – attention we intended giving it when we managed to hobble back to Grenada.
We were well aware that the high hills of Dominica would cause a wind shadow but we hoped we would be able to pass through it relatively quickly. With Zen Again hot on our heels we made good speed leaving Portsmouth harbour and felt encouraged as we rounded the headland and started heading south on a nice reach. Sadly it did not take the wind long to completely disappear, and with it Zen Again turned on their engines and vanished from sight as we once again found ourselves frustratingly going nowhere except occasionally backwards as the strong current threatened to sweep us back to Portsmouth! We must have drifted for over an hour, searching for any sign of wind on the flat water. Eventually, the wind arrived and we were able to make steady progress again, relieved we were now at least moving in the right direction!
We made good speed over night and travelled down the west coast of Martinique as the sun came up but as the sky grew lighter, so did the wind and, once again we were becalmed and swept back north as we lolled around with flapping sails and no steerage for, what seemed like, hours with only 9NM to reach our destination. When the wind did arrive we quietly and sulkily tacked up the wide harbour to the capital, Fort de France. It had taken 20hrs for us to sail 80NM and neither of us enjoyed the journey and were in low spirits as we headed towards our final destination! As we arrived at the entrance to the crowded anchorage a large group of kayakers appeared in front of us, obviously confident we would avoid them as no one made any attempt to change direction. If we’d had an engine, it would not have been a problem, but we were now in a buoyed channel with limited options but to go where the wind blew us. Fortunately two of the front kayakers were much stronger paddlers than the rest of the group and we were able to divide the pack by cutting through the gap the leaders had created! The rest of the kayakers looked at us with bemused frustration as we slowly continued towards the harbour.
The anchorage was busy so we pushed as close as we could to the shore to try and get as much protection as possible from wind and swell before dropping the anchor, relieved we had completed another leg of our engine-less passage south.
Fort de France is by far the largest and most cosmopolitan city we have been to since leaving Europe. It has high rises, a modern transport system, busy roads and lots of people! The French influence is very apparent with a large population of white Europeans making Martinique home due to France’s “open border” immigration system for anyone with a French passport. It also has a strong history connected to France as Martinique was the home of Josephine Bonaparte who was raised on a sugar plantation here.
We met Zen Again and checked in using a computer in a nearby chandlery – very quick, easy and cheap – celebrating at a nearby café which served good coffee and a great selection of pastries. Over the next week, the café became a regular haunt and we availed ourselves of their sweet treats, hot water and clean toilets!
It was now time to explore Martinique so we hired a car for a couple of days with Mike and Nicki from Zen Again, and headed north on the first day. With me driving and Mike expertly navigating, reminding me to drive on the right when I mistakenly approached a roundabout the wrong way (it only happened once…!), we navigated the busy roads by frequently taking detours down narrow, and often steep, back streets. We were headed to St Pierre in the north east of the island. Mt Pelee provides a dramatic backdrop to the small town of St Pierre and is a constant reminder to the tragic events that happened in 1902 when the volcano erupted, killing almost the entire population of the town. The only survivor was a prisoner who was in solitary confinement in a small, thick walled stone cell behind the theatre. The town has been built around relics of that fateful day, with ruins of once grand buildings standing next to homes and shops. We visited the excellent new Memorial de la catastrophe de 1902 which cleverly guided you through the vibrant city prior to the eruption using letters and diaries from some of those who did not survive.
We continued our journey of the north by visiting the beautiful Depaz rum distillery which is set in the most beautiful location at the foot of Mt Pelee with spectacular views across sugar cane fields out to sea. Established by Victor Depaz in 1917 after all his family were killed in the volcano 15 years earlier. Victor had been a student in France when the volcano erupted and was devastated to learn of the death of his family. He left France after deciding to start afresh in Canada, but the ship he was travelling on made an unscheduled stop in Martinique. He decided to visit the site of his family home and business, where he still owned land that had once grown sugar cane. Once he saw the place again, at the foot of the mountain that had taken his family, he decided to stay and established the distillery. He built a large family home which was the replica of the house he had grown up in and where he brought up his 11 children.
We enjoyed an afternoon wandering around the distillery and finishing with a tasting of a few of the rums made on site. It was a perfect way to spend an afternoon and appreciate the wonderful surroundings and countryside of Martinique.
On day two we headed south, visiting the Anse Cafford Slave Memorial which is a powerful sculpture of 15 hunched slaves looking out to the place where a ship full of slaves perished when the boat they were imprisoned in was shipwrecked after crossing the Atlantic. I found the whole sculpture and environment very moving as the sculptures all stand shoulder to shoulder with eyes cast down and mouths open as if in a silent scream.
We continued our journey south to Grande Anse beach and spent a lovely few hours snorkelling in clear water and over the best coral we had seen so far. We swam with a very friendly, casual loggerhead turtle as it grazed on the seagrass and casually floated to the surface to take a breath before returning to graze on the seabed below me. That, and the abundant colourful and different varieties of fish, was a fabulous experience and we all returned to the lovely beach exhilarated happy!
We continued our journey, making our last stop in the south at the Habitation Clement Park and Distillery. The park contained a variety of sculptures set in beautiful gardens and we followed a pathway through the art installations to the distillery. I’m so pleased we visited the Depaz Distillery the day before because the Clement Distillery tour and buildings offered something quite different but explained and showed the Rum making process so much better. It was an excellent visit, topped off again by Rum tasting which was not limited to the two tasting glasses of the day before, and delivered by a handsome and charming guy who seemed to enjoy the friendly banter we had. When I said I had to drive he was surprised and reminded me that I was now in Martinique so it didn’t matter……. That was enough to stop me trying any more and be extra cautious as we made our way back to Fort de France, stopping at the supermarket for a big provisioning shop on the way.
I was surprised how much I enjoyed our time in Martinique. It was a social time, catching up with some lovely friends and enjoying the environment of a large town where it was easy to get around and stock up on much needed supplies. Mike and Nicki on Zen Again left a few days before us, headed for St Lucia and let us know they had experienced strong current and less wind than forecast. Not wanting to experience any more slow passages, spent going round in circles, we contemplated cutting through between Martinique and St Lucia and heading down the east coast of the islands. This would mean that we would avoid the wind shadows caused by the high hills of St Lucia and St Vincent as we headed south to Grenada. We chose to leave on a day that promised some north in the wind so we could start to head east, so as the sun came up, we hoisted the mainsail and sailed off the anchor making good speed as we headed out of the harbour. Cerulean sailed beautifully with the perfect wind angle for her, on a broad reach, carrying two happy passengers as we made our way south towards Grenada where we would hopefully be connected with our new thrust bearing, purchased in the UK and get it fitted in the next week. We had a fast and near perfect sail to Grenada, cutting through to the east side of the islands a little further south than planned, as the wind and current forced us to change our minds. The benefit of that was a bonus dolphin experience where the largest pod of dolphins we have ever seen, worked together to round up fish. We could not count the number of dolphins as the sea was just boiling with them – to the extend where, if we had wanted to, we could have walked across them as they swam in the warm waters!
We sailed down the east coast of Grenada, seeing a large leatherback turtle floating in the water off the north coast of the island. We arrived in Prickly Bay at 1730, just in time for sundowners as we congratulated each other on a successful and enjoyable 23hr sail south, hopefully the last one without an engine. The next day we caught a bus into St Georges and checked in at Port Louis Marina – a quick and easy procedure. We then returned to the boat and prepared for the arrival of our friend and mentor, Richard, who was arriving from the UK the next day with the thrust bearing and knowledge of how to fit it! We had recently increased Richards status to “Sir” but vowed that if he managed to fix the engine without us having to be hauled out, we would crown him King Richard! Several very knowledgeable sailing friends had expressed surprise that Sir Richard thought he could replace the broken part while we were in the water so we nervously anticipated his arrival, already preparing a long list of other jobs we had identified needed addressing while he was with us for the next three weeks!