The sail from Rodney Bay in St Lucia to Martinique was very bumpy. The swell was quite large, and we were beating into the wind and waves. We even managed to get some water in the cockpit! But the boys were adamant to go and see their friends again!
It was nice to arrive in the anchorage in Le Marin, Martinique and see our friends on Y-Knot, Colette and Bounty nearby. This is a very busy anchorage. We stocked up with some provisions in Le Marin which had good shops, chandleries and restaurants, and then made our way to Anses D’Arlet in the hope of finding a quieter anchorage.
On our way from Le Marin to Anses D’Arlet, we passed Diamond Rock. A rather pointy rocky outcrop very close to Martinique. In 1803, the British built a garrison on this small island and then armed it with cannons as a way to defend the St. Lucia Straits. They called the stronghold Fort Diamond. During the Napoleonic Wars, French naval ships repeatedly attacked it without success. Then, according to folklore, the French wrecked boats with barrels of rum on the island and waited until the British soldiers were inebriated before overpowering them. It still is a French territory called Le Rocher du Diamant. Anses d’Arlet is a really nice bay however we had some trouble with getting good holding and dragged anchor the first night we were there. Our anchor drag alarm activated during the early morning, and when we checked we were much closer to our friends yacht Y Knot. As soon as the sun was high enough to see where the sandy patches were, we moved out of the main anchorage area to the NW corner of the bay which was quieter and the snorkelling and holding was better.
When the anchor alarm sounds in the middle of the night, we have to get out of bed and on deck to establish what danger we are in and what danger we may be putting others in. When we go to bed in the evening, we make a good mental note of our position with the surrounding yachts, rocks and other landmarks. As you can imagine this can get the heart racing, when suddenly it is 2am and the alarm sounds and awakes you from a deep sleep, you grab the torch and dash onto the deck to work out what has happened. Not only is it dark, but the wind may have shifted to the opposite direction. This means the yacht that was behind you when you went to bed is suddenly in front of you… It can be very disorientating and confusing. Thankfully we have a great anchor so this is not a common problem for us.
Dylan and 2 of his friends all did their fist diving lessons at Alpha Plongee dive school. Dylan loved it and is now hooked on diving. The instructors were brilliant and great fun. I also did a refresher course and think that this is one of the best dives I have ever done. There was so much to see. It was time to lift anchor again and make our way further north to Fort du France which is the main town on Martinique.
As the anchorage in Fort du France was alongside the ferry terminal, so is very rolly, we opted to anchor on the south side of the harbour in Anse Mitan and we took the ferry from here into Fort Du France to explore the town and get a WiFi fix to catch up on email and get a weather update through Predict Wind. We enjoyed exploring the streets, shops and professional graffiti.
St Pierre was our next stop further north. Before the total destruction of the town of Saint-Pierre in 1902 by a huge volcanic eruption, it was the most important city of Martinique culturally and economically, being known as “the Paris of the Caribbean”. There is still evidence of the destruction the volcano caused. Despite this, there are quite a few interesting buildings to see. We also took a trip to Les Gorges de la Falaise, which as excellent fun!
We departed early from Martinique so that we arrived in Dominica in daylight. Dominica still bares the scars from hurricane Maria (2017) with a few damaged buildings and wrecked fishing boats and yachts. They encountered 160 mph winds which must have been terrifying! We did a tour on the Indian river with an incredibly knowledgable and professional guide. If you are going to visit Dominica, Martin (his boat is called Providence) is the guide you need to find. He will show you where ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean’ was filmed as the set is still in place on the Indian River. We didn’t do any other tours on Dominica, but friends of ours said that Roseau further south is a great base to explore the island from.
Watch our next episode as we explore Guadeloupe.