St Lucia
Rodney Bay has three options for mooring, anchor out in the
bay and take a berth in the marina, or a buoy in the lagoon. We opted to anchor
out in the southern end of the bay so we had less distance to travel by dingy
into the lagoon especially as it was a little choppy. On our first day there
after checking in we checked out the shops within the marina area, it all
looked very clean and everywhere was welcoming. There were several restaurants
and bars with free wifi, a fairly well stocked chandlers, a small mini market
which was more expensive than the bigger supermarkets, and a laundry where you
can also exchange gas bottles.
There is also a small town which has two malls both with
supermarkets, we preferred the one on the right of the main road as it offered
a wider range of goods, plus a range of other shops and banks. We could have
walked round from the marina but its quite a way, it was far quicker to take
the dingy to the second dingy dock via mooring buoys in the lagoon.
Whilst at anchor in the bay we were visited by one of the
boat boys selling fruit and veg, his boat was something to behold, however
after purchasing some fruit we found that he was three times more expensive
than the supermarket, so each time he called by after that we declined.
From Rodney Bay we sailed down to Castries the capitol of
the island, the anchorage is well protected but small and I have to say not
that inviting, you certainly would not want to swim in the water, or even make
water. After a short trip ashore we were even less impressed with the town, we
looked for somewhere to eat in the evening but couldn’t find one restaurant
that would be open. We could only find one place to eat and that closed in the
evening as it catered mainly for the people off the cruise ships, so after only
one night’s stay we headed off to Marigot.
In Marigot you can anchor in the outer bay or take a buoy in
the inner bay for 30 EC Dollars a night, initially we anchored in the outer bay
but the following day we took a buoy as we wanted to do and excursion from
there but also the holding was suspect. I loved the inner bay, it was well protected
from the strong winds we were experiencing and picturesque.
Kevin and Campbell took the path up the hill and were
rewarded by a magnificent view.
For our excursion we chose to visit the botanical gardens,
volcano, mud baths and try out the snorkelling. We were picked up promptly at
eight in the morning and taken to Castries where we boarded a large Catamaran.
As it was early breakfast was provided, which consisted of fresh fruit, rolls,
muffins and fruit juice, at ten o’clock the Rum Punch was out, I have to say
Kevin and I abstained until lunch time.
The botanical gardens were beautiful, with so many different
types of plants and flowers and our guide Babaloo was very informative, from
the gardens we went to the volcano, Trina and I tried out the mud baths and
Kevin and Ian did the historical tour of the crater.
After the volcano we were taken to a cocoa plantation for
lunch where we sampled several different Caribbean dishes, all of which were
very good. It was then back to the catamaran where we were taken to a beautiful
bay for snorkelling, although we only had about forty minutes, the array of
different coloured fish to be seen was a magnificent sight. From there we were
taken back to Castries and taxied back to Marigot. On the way back from the
dingy dock we spied Walanthea our friend’s Debbie and Campbell’s boat, so after
a brief catch up we arranged to meet them later that night for dinner.
From Marigot it was back to Rodney Bay, as we only planned
to be there a couple of days we anchored in the north of the bay in front of
Sandles beach resort. In the end we ended up staying a little longer than
planned due to the weather and the swell, eventually both improved and so we
set of for Martinique.
Martinique
After just over four hours we arrived in Marin, a huge bay
with more sail boats than I had ever seen in one place before, once again you
can anchor, take a buoy or go in the marina, however this is usually very busy
and so chances of getting in are slim. Care needs to be taken when entering the
bay as there are several sand banks, however the channel is buoyed and so easy
to follow. Marin seems to cater for all boat requirements and you can more or
less get anything you need, apart from a lamp shade, the one on our deck table
has broken and we are finding it hard to get a replacement.
As Martinique is a French Island we get to use our European
mobile data so we don’t have to keep using wifi cafes.
From Marin we sailed up to Anse D’Arlet, another bay where
we tried out the snorkelling, after swimming over to the rocks easily it was a
little harder getting back as there was a current against us and so little more
tiring than anticipated.
We also visited Trois Ilets, the pilot book describes it as
photogenic with a handsome square, however we were not impressed. The bay
itself is quite shallow so care needs to be taken on approach and only a fool
would not follow the marker buoys in, there is also a ferry which comes and
goes about every thirty minutes causing quite a surge. They do stop later in
the night so you are able to sleep without the boat bouncing about, but they
start again at six in the morning and so any thoughts of a lay in go out of the
window, hence we only stayed one night.
It was the over to Forte De France, the capital of the
island, our crew left from here to head back to the UK. Again the town caters
for the cruise liners and so everything shuts down after seven o’clock at
night, so any thoughts of a night were well and truly scuppered.
The day after saying goodbye to Ian and Trina we headed up
to St Pierre, the winds seemed to have calmed down a little as well as the sea
state and so the sail north was what I had envisioned sailing in the Caribbean
would be. St Pierre used to be the capital of Martinique until the town was
decimated by a volcanic eruption in 1902, killing all bar two of the 29,000
inhabitants. The bay itself is one of the most picturesque and on land there
are several walks available for the energetic one of which is to the top of the
now extinct volcano.
St Pierre is also a port of entry and all the necessary
amenities like a supermarket and a laundry, no chandlery though, not that we
could find anyway. From St Pierre it was back south to Marin in order to get
some parts for Kailani before our friends Rachel and Matt come out for a visit.
So far this year since leaving the Canaries we have sailed
3,299.66 nautical miles, and used 54 engine hours, the fuel gauge has just
moved of the full marker, so you certainly get more sailing hours out here than
in the Med.
