As we said good byes to Tanicka, Kiki and Robo in St Lucia, we were keen to move on to another island as we were missing them a lot!
Martinique surprised us. It very different to the other Caribbean islands. Main reason - it is a part of France - A visit to Decathlon, MacDonalds and a proper big supermarket was a treat for us all!! Things work, food is not extraordinarily expensive, there is wifi:))). But it also has the charm and character of the people that live there. I guess it is a perfect combination!
We mostly stayed in the south west of the island – marina Le Marin is located there as is the lovely St Annes anchorage and it was time for Antares to get a treat – new batteries and solar panels were installed by extremely efficient and professional French engineer (and Caspar!). I got my phone fixed for fraction of the price I was quoted in St Lucia. We were really really impressed by the professionalism of the Martinique people and would recommend to all yachties to get any work done there. The best we experienced since we left Scotland!
We also finally met up with catamaran TUVALU – our german friends we met for the first time in Lanzarote. Sandra, Tobias, Nele and Noah crossed the Atlantic a few weeks before and it was really nice to spend a few days with them. We arranged to meet up again soon – and we did in Guadaloupe Les Saintes!
I do love mangroves - in Martinique even mangroves look beautiful and stylish, so french!!
We briefly visited the capital city of Martinique – Fort de France – large town surrounded by out of town shopping malls and motorways, but also with a lovely old fashioned centre with parks, fort and a library built by Mr Eiffel.
So far, we experienced an industrial side of Martinique, so it was a relief to find a sleepy old fashioned town on the north west coast of the island called St Pierre. on the way there we passed a huge rock called HMS Diamond Rock - it was given a status of a ship as it was captured by a few British sailors who set up a few cannons there. And blasted ammunition at the passing French boats for a year or so. Until the French shipwrecked some rum on the island...Anyway, St Pierre is a former capital of the island, but it got destroyed by a massive gas fireball when the Mount Pele exploded in 1902. We had a nice chilled few days here before we embarked on a sail to Dominica.
HMS Diamond Rock
St Pierre
Our next island and country – Dominica!
Maria