Mandy arrived from the States on Tuesday 9th. We met here at the airport in an absolute deluge of rain. Luckily (plus $10EC) the bus driver dropped off his other passengers and took us down the airport road that was definitely not a 5 minute walk as we had been told. She’d flown in various small planes via Trinidad arriving in the local airport in St Lucia. We taxied back to the marina in a little less rain. The forecast for the week was for constant rain but as it turned out there was a lovely mixture of days and none too hot.
After one night in the Rodney Bay Marina we set off for Martinique. We managed a false start as the main halyard got around the spreaders in high wind putting the sails up so a quick return to sheltered waters was required to sort that out. A very brisk sail to St Anne was capped by a 32 knot squall just as we arrived and we all got soaked! It was a struggle getting the salis in. Mandy wasn’t freaked out or sea sick – a great start.
Sainte Anne was closed for half the morning as it was Remembrance Day. We watched the local parade with the boy scouts etc. The little church was packed. Really colourful with the French National Anthem and flags. Mandy found the local famous chocolate and bought some to take home. Bought baguettes.
The next few days we sailed round Diamond Rock to Anse D’Arlet and snorkelled right off the back of the boat a few times. Went ashore for baguettes. We did much the same at Anse Defour just around the corner. We are embracing the local fruit and vegetables including soursop and custard apples. The next stop was Anse Noir for a half day then onto Anse Mitan where we managed to get internet again and had lunch ashore. Our final stop was Fort de France. We sailed s few zig zags around the bay while we made some water. Really good sailing with lots of fast tacks that we don’t usually get to do going from one place to the other. Once there Mandy and I spent some time exploring around, going to the Library designed by Gustav Eiffel (of Tower fame) and met up with Pete who had been on anchor watch for a few hours. Had a last night meal at Hasta La Pizza and waited to see the biggest, closest moon for some time but unfortunately it was a bit cloudy.
Mandy left the next day after a wonderful relaxing week for all of us. We went in the taxi to the airport with her to say a sad goodbye, eat some more baguettes and buy more chocolate. She’s going to make plans to come back at Easter if she can.
