Cruising Log: St. Lucia to Martinique - 1998
St. Lucia is mountainous, lush, tropical, and the people mostly soft spoken and poor. Martinique is hilly, charming, very French, and very European.
Marigot Bay
N13’59” W61’01”
We stayed at the Mariner Inn. The rooms were very gracious, open with screens on three sides. We were lulled asleep by the sound of crickets and the night rains dancing upon the metal roof. The St. Lucia base at Marigot Bay is lovely, nestled between two high hills and not easily recognized when approached by sea. The base manager and his assistants are friendly, very competent, and eager to please. The native fruit, bananas, garlanded with hibiscus, presented a lovely welcome arrangement as we board our 41 Oceanis named "Blueknot" the next morning.
Soufriere and the Pitons
N13'49" W61'03"
After the captain's briefing, we set sail for the Pitons 10nm south of Marigot. The winds were gusting to 30 knots and with a double reef in the main and the genoa furled to half its size, we headed south. Sailing in the leeward side of St. Lucia and Martinique is interesting as the winds shift from reaches to runs and change from zip to gusts of 30+. The water is very deep however and hazards are few along the passage from Marigot to the Pitons. Once at the Pitons, we picked a National Park mooring ball for $26EC. Surprisingly we encountered only one boat boy, who was not bothersome or persistent. The Pitons are quite majestic and well worth seeing. Mango, a local artist came to the boat selling his woodcarvings. I thought they were quite good and purchased one of his fish carvings. The winds continued to gust to 40+ knots through the night, and I was glad we were moored and not anchored.
Rodney Bay
N14'04.5' W60'57'
From the Pitons we headed north 18nm to Rodney Bay with some heavy rain squalls at the start. Along the way we past Castries, a large city, and location of the airport. At Rodney Bay we anchored in the inner harbor and cleared customs, for we were headed to Martinique the next day. A good location to eat is the Snooty Agouti, reachable by dinghy and in the local restaurant area. The fare is local, somewhat spicy, and moderately priced.
Sac Le Marin, Martinique
N14'26.2" W60'52.9"
With clear skies we headed across to Martinique. The sea however, had swells of 10 - 12 feet, but the winds were steady around 20 knots. With a double reef in the main the boat handled the swells and winds exceedingly well. It was a fast reach, bearing 31d, to Sac le Marin, 21 nm away.
Because of the currents we headed high. As we left St. Lucia, you could just make out Martinique on the horizon. We arrived at the Moorings base at 12:30, but Customs closes at noon. So we set out to St. Anne, a lovely village nearby and anchored there for the night. Going in and out of Sac-le- Marin, one must pay attention to the markers along the shoals. It can be tricky even though the shoals are well marked. At St. Anne we anchored in about 11 feet. What a charming village with a lovely square along the water. There, we saw our first "GREEN FLASH" at sunset. Cocktails aside, it was a real WOW!!!! We decided to walk a bit around St. Anne and headed down along the beach toward Club Med.
We ate at a lovely restaurant, though a bit pricey, called Le Tolulu.
Anse Mitan
N14'33.7" W61'03.4"
Next morning it was back to Sac le Marin to clear customs. We docked stern to at the Moorings dock and walked no more than 100 yards to customs. Of course, we stopped for the local breakfast of expresso and croissants. A delight!
With the sails wing on wing and the boomvang as a preventer, it was a quick run from Sac le Marin to Diamond Rock. The main sail snagged against something on the spreader, which ripped an 8-inch tear in the main. As we headed north around Diamond Rock the winds became very fluky - gusting, dying, changing directions - so given the ripe in the main, we took the sails down and motored to Anse Mitan. There we anchored in about 13 feet off Hotel Bakoua. This was a lovely spot and the views of Fort de France and the surroundings were impressive.
We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Anse Mitan. In the day, the ladies took a ferry over to Fort de France to shop and clear customs for our trip back to St. Lucia. Fort de France is a clean and charming city. We easily walked around shopping for spices, local art, and perfume. All the major brands of perfume are sold with steep discounts. The men, decided to stay at the boat and watch a local sail maker from Trois Islet, who was sent by the Moorings, patch the main sail. In the evening we split for dinner — some went to Hotel Bakoua and said it was very "chic", and some went to the Aubergine, where prices were reasonable and the food very good.
Grande Anse de l'Arlet
N14'30" W61'05"
With light winds, we set sail for Grande Anse de l'Arlet, 16nm away. We anchored in sand with clear water near the shore. As one sails this area, one is required to mount the dinghy outboard on the stern rail of the boat. This time when we set it on the dingy, it would not unlock, so we rowed ashore. Some local fishermen, seeing our efforts, met us and with a little silicone spray, got the dinghy to engage. If I haven't mentioned before, one must be conversant in French, since that is THE language in Martinique. Lucky for me two of my crew spoke French quite well. Grande Anse de l'Arlet is a charming village — no tourists shops, very simple and clean, where one could hear the sound of school children playing and the Angelus bells ringing. After a walk ashore, we returned to the boat to see our second GREEN FLASH sunset!
Rodney Bay
The church bells rang at 6AM and we left Grande Anse d'Arlet at 8AM. There were no winds as we went south to Diamond Rock and started across to St. Lucia. Midway, the winds came up, and with a full main and genoa, we sailed into Rodney Bay around 1:30 PM.
This time we anchored in the outer harbor in 13 feet with sand. Here some of us windsurfed and some of us found a sailfish to play with.
Marigot Bay
We set sail early and headed back to Marigot 8nm south. Once at the dock, we cleared customs again. Besides packing up our belongings, the ladies managed to shop both at the Hurricane Hole Gift Shop and across the bay. The local artwork was quite well done and inexpensive. After a quick swim in the pool, and the long awaited hot shower, we dressed ready to leave the beauty that surrounded us. I know I will return for more of these two beautiful islands.
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