Ste. Anne, Martinique



The Titons, southwest coast of St. Lucia

 

On 11/23, we left Wallilabou, St. Vincent and traveled past St. Lucia only stopping in Rodney Bay for the night where we heard the loudest amplified music ever.  Along the way, Dave caught a mahi mahi as did Bruce on Celtic Rover, right about the same time as each other.  Maybe it was a school.



Thank you, Mahi Mahi!

We then had another fantastic sail on 11/24 where we met our friends, Darrell and Ann and Roxy, the wonder dog, on Alibi in Sainte Anne, Martinique   We've enjoyed the small town of Ste. Anne the past few days. It is within a two-mile dinghy ride to Le Marin, the largest boating center on Martinique where we were able to buy a few things for the boat and get water...for one Euro cent a liter -- the best bargain yet!

Sunday evening in Sainte Anne

On Sunday, we walked around the town in the late afternoon and early eve. In the town square, a local raggae fusion band and then a cool jazz band performed, all before the backdrop of the church built in 1824. Yesterday morning, Ann and I took Roxy for a walk up the path behind the church that depicts the fourteen stations of the cross as it zig zags up the hill to a small shrine. Ann and I practiced our French translating the descriptions at each station. As we climbed, the view of the bay was stunning.  (I forgot my camera, but will beg a photo from Ann.)  It's nice to be in a French department again. People have been friendly and the cheese...Ooh la la!

In a bit, we will leave Ste. Anne for St. Pierre in the north. Tomorrow we plan to check out of Martinique there, enjoy the village, then leave sometime after midnight to arrive in Iles des Saintes off the south end of Guadalupe.  Au revoir!

Wallilabou, St. Vincent

On 11/21, we left Petit Saint Vincent and had a beautiful sail to the Tobago Cays.  Dave caught a small black fin tuna, which was delicious.  Thank you, Black Fin.

Gaffing the black fin. 

Waterfalls at Wallilabou

Wild Ginger

We stopped at Young Island Cut, where we checked out of St. Vincent because we didn't think we could check out at Wallilabou, our next stop.  Dave and I walked up to the water falls where we enjoyed a dip in the pool.  Saw some wild ginger growing in the wet rocks.  So that's how it grows!

Later that evening, we enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner at the Wallilabou Anchorage Restaurant.  We all had a creole dish, fish or pork, with rice and plantain, eggplant and callilou fritters.  Yum!  As mentioned on the way down, this is where parts of Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed and many of the film's artifacts are on display at the restaurant.  It's easy to see why this lush scenic location was chosen.  You can't imagine a more beautiful setting. 



Wallilabou

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sandy Island and PSV

Off of Sandy Island

11.18.12

5:30 am

Rain tap-dances on the deck.  Wayward Wind gently rocks.  Radio crackles as some ship’s captain hails the Grenada Port.  Black sky turns to gray as dawn arrives punctuated by others’ anchor lights.  The day begins.

Early morning after the rain fall at Sandy Island

 

Early Tuesday morning, we left Mt. Hartman Bay, rounded the southwest corner of Grenada and headed north with buddy boats Celtic Rover and Alibi.  The wind was right on the nose and we were happy that WW pointed better than she ever had before owing to the fact that the seas were fairly mild with no “wave-stoppers.”  When we were in the lee of the tall Grenada mountains, the wind died down so we motor-sailed a bit.  Just beyond the small, rounded rock island known as Kick’em Jenny where the waters are often turbulent, Jenny was kind to us making it easy to land a jumpy little bonito, which made a tasty meal later that evening.  Thank you, bonito.

Thank you, bonito.

 

We anchored in Tyrrel Bay, Carriacou, for the night then rounded the point and picked up a mooring at Sandy Island not far from the town of Hillsborough.  Aptly named Sandy Island is a small stretch of white sand dotted with palms and protected on its windward side by a long berm of coral piled about four feet high.  Apparently several years ago, Sandy Island was almost washed away by Hurricane Lenny.  Subsequently locals planted trees and beach plants which may be all that are holding the island together.  At mid-day, Darrell on Alibi made a call out to the dozen moored boats to invite everyone to a little beach BBQ that afternoon.  We re-met the Finnish couple we’d met at Halloween, Arja and Henrik on Serena.  And yes, they did sail her from Finland.  In fact, on their boat card is a photo of Serena blanketed with snow and the caption, “Our start from Finland!”  Henrik strummed the guitar and sang a perfect Eagles' “Peaceful, Easy Feeling” among other songs while we all enjoyed the sunset and each other’s company in this magical setting.

Beach BBQ

 

Serena at anchor, all the way from Finland

The next day we snorkeled the reef on the windward side of the island.  Saw a juvenile yellow and black striped juvenille spotted drum fish swishing its long upper and lower fins as if doing a mesmerizing scarf dance.   Here's a link, if you're inclined to look:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciaenidae



Sandy Island with Union Island in the background

The day before yesterday, we motored over to Petite Martinique (PM), the third main island of the country of Grenada, but the anchorage was crowded with lovely, well-maintained fishing boats, so we wandered a half-nautical mile across to Petit St. Vincent (PSV), part of the country of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  PSV is privately owned by an exclusive though visually low-key resort, so from our viewpoint, ‘twas another lovely beach setting anchorage.  Apparently the resort has stone cottages nestled among the palms, and to summons room service, the guests hoist a flag.  Cruisers and others are allowed on the grounds to stroll and dine. 

Resort on Petit St. Vincent

 After we dropped anchor, we dinghied back to Petite Martinique for a little provisioning.  For some unknown reason, PM sells alcohol at low prices.  So we replenished our rum and vodka stores as well as fresh tomatoes.  Our friends got cases of Hollandia beer for 20 bucks each, which is a good deal here.  

It rained on and off all day

 Yesterday morning, Ann and Darrel took off for an overnight sail straight to Martinique.  As mentioned earlier, several islands have overly stringent rules regarding dogs, so Alibi must bypass these islands.  Thanks to an abundant adoration of pets, fortunately the French islands are dog-friendly.  Alas within an hour of their departure, their main halyard broke so down fell their main sail causing them to return to this relatively calm anchorage for the repair.  We had an extra line so after making a tricky eye splice, Darrel went up the mast to repair the halyard.  So they leave a day later.  So what.

Darrell up the mast to replace a broken halyard on Alibi

 Late in the afternoon, a boldly colored local motor boat cruised by with several Rastafarian types.  “Must be the band,” says I.  Sure enough, not long after dusk, the marimba band began playing easy-listening tunes calypso style that later lulled us to sleep.  The day ends. 

 

Rastafarian band (sorry about the blurriness)

 

Good night

 

 

 

 

 

Day Sail on Bella Blue

Sailing aboard Bella Blue

On Sunday, September 30, four couples boarded our sister sailboat, Bella Blue, another Freedom, and sailed up to the Grenada National Marine Park.  Two of the couples keep excellent blogs and have photos of the day.  Kim and Scott of Bella Blue have a blog at http://home.earthlink.net/~kimdickens/   And Ann and Darrell's blog is linked to this blog.  We all enjoyed a well-earned day of fun and relaxation with our dear friends.

We met Jan and Bruce on Celtic Rover back in March on Mayaguana in the southern Bahamas and have traveled with them on and off until Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands where we've traveled together since.

We met Ann and Darrell and their Brittany Spaniel, Roxy, on Alibi in Luperon, Dominican Republic in April.  We saw them again in Salinas, Puerto Rico where they stopped for one or two nights.  We met up with them again in St. Martin in July and traveled for the most part with them to Grenada. 

We first spotted Bella Blue in the Virgin Islands at the end of May but did not speak with her crew.  A month later, while anchored off of Virgin Gorda, we looked up from our cockpit to see a Freedom sailboat very much like ours arrive at the anchorage.  We yelled to each other, "Hey, Freedom!" and waved.  An hour later, our new friends, Kim and Scott, were enjoying a sundowner aboard Wayward Wind.  They were headed south just as we were and asked if they could join us.  We said that we were traveling with Celtic Rover, and the more the merrier.  The next day, Celtic Rover said the very same.

Scott, Kim, Jan, Darrell, Ann, Bruce and part of Dave

I wanted to give some context as to how long we've been traveling with our friends.  And while a few months might not seem like a long time to form a friendship, the time has been jam packed with experiences from the mundane to the marvelous.  Between riding on the cruisers' van to visit the grocery, marine and hardware stores; helping each other with never-ending boat projects; exploring new walking trails throughout the enchanting Caribbean, communing over food and beverages while watching yet another magical sunset; putting our heads together to plan and watch for the next weather window; sailing together as buddy boats and providing much appreciated moral support, it feels as though we've been friends for a long time.  We are all very close.  Plus we all adore Roxy!

Roxy and one of her people, Ann

So after two busy months of working on boat projects, we decided it was time for a day of play.  Kim and Scott graciously offered to take us all for a sail and snorkel.  We sailed west around the SW tip of Grenada and north to the Grenada National Marine Park, about two hours total.  There we found the many statues sprinkled between the reefs.  Check out the sculptor's website for more info
http://www.underwatersculpture.com/index.asp 

The first sculpture we saw was a tribute to the slaves who died at sea on the arduous journey to the New World.  Two statues were lying on the ground and one was knelt in prayer.  It was very moving. 

Dave, Linda, Bruce and the kneeling woman

Another is a circle of 26 children of diverse backgrounds holding hands, facing outward.  Coral and sponges growing over the surface of the children give an unusual texture and somehow infuse life into them. 

Circle of Children, officially titled Vicissitudes

In another spot is "Lost Correspondent," a tribute to journalists who have perished in the line of duty, while writing stark observations. 

Lost Correspondent eternally telling the truth

We also saw some interesting marine wildlife.  Dave saw an octopus that scuttled away before we could get near.  We spotted a spotted eel and an entire group of cuttle fish just hanging out, not bothered a bit that we were several feet above them. 



What's the deal, Eel?



One of the many cuttlefish that we spied