Martinique
Ernestina
Sun 23 Feb 2020 12:10
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31 January 2020
We had a great sail covering the 24 miles or so from St Lucia up to St Anne’s on the south coast of Martinique in good time, arriving around 2 pm. We anchored in the large bay and went ashore for a walk, got some provisions (including French cheese and proper bread!) followed by a rum punch or two before returning to Ernestina for dinner. We very soon discovered that, being a department of France, Martinique is indeed very French. It clearly has much more money than its Southern neighbours in the Windward Islands, the infrastructure being much more what you would expect to see in Western Europe. 1st February 2020 Saturday- market day! We went ashore early to visit the very small fish market which had some very big fish including a yellow fin the size of a dolphin.  After that, and another visit to the boulangerie, we rented bicycles and endured a hilly ride cross country to Etang Saline and beaches on the south coast. Lunch at a beach restaurant was followed by swimming and the return ride where we attempted to follow a coast path. This involved several sandy/beach sections which required bikes to be pushed before rejoining the road back to St Anne’s and the boat. Sunday 2nd Feb Amanda and Clarissa wanted to go to church in Saint Anne’s so put on their Sunday best and we tendered ashore.  They enjoyed the French choir in the very pretty church and the steel band that struck-up outside immediately after the service. Then we had coffee and pastries by the beach front.
After returning to Ernestina we set sail up the coast to Anse D’Arlet where we anchored and went ashore for a wander and dinner. Monday 3rd February A short sail further north to Anse Noir where we anchored and enjoyed some excellent snorkelling and paddle boarding before sailing onto Marina Z’Abricot in Fort-de-France, the capital of Martinique, where we moored stern-too with “lazy-lines”. Tuesday 4th Feb Amanda went to the airport with Lissa to see her off. We then went into Fort-de-France for a quick and fruitless visit to the chandlers, returned to the marina, checked-out with immigration and prepared to leave the next morning to head north to Guadeloupe to meet Nick’s brother SImon and Brenda, his wife, who were staying on that island for a couple of weeks. Wed 5th & Thursday 6th Feb We left the marina at 7am and headed north towards Dominica enjoying a fast sail with a stiff breeze on the beam, arriving at the anchorage off Roseau by mid-afternoon. Since we had some time we decided to move on to Dominica’s northern anchorage
at Prince Rupert’s Bay off Portsmouth.
The following morning, unsure whether we were supposed to check-in at Dominica, and after a bit of inconclusive on-line research we confirmed with Dominica’s customs & immigration office by phone that, provided we had not come ashore, we were free to continue our passage to Guadeloupe. We will have to wait to visit the beautiful island of Dominica.......
More pictures from Martinique...........
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