Martinique

Enjoyed a couple of weeks at St. Anne's, and then it was time to move on before returning for Carnival. We had brunch on Kyeta to say goodbye to Equinox who, sadly, have to make their way north. We picked up anchor around 11:30, along with Equinox, to head to Grande Anse D'Arlet. It was a downwind sail and we thought we'd try a trick we'd been told to try - double reefed main and wing on wing. Well, it didn't work. We slogged along at around 2 knots and finally gave up and motored in. (Two weeks later we used the spinnaker - more on the 7 knot sail later)
Picked up Dick and Moira (Equinox) in the morning and walked the beach with them before they headed out. Spent 3 days in Grande Anse D'Arlet, snorkelling, hiking over to Petite D'Arlet and back, cleaning the bottom of the boat and just hanging out. The water here is warm, clear and beautiful. Left Grande D'Arlet, planning to head to Anse Noir, but it looked too crowded, so we motored up to Anse l'Ane. Spent a rolly night there with the ferry traffic, walked the town, then headed back to Anse Noir. Had a great anchorage, snorkelling and hiking. Left Anse Noir and motored down to Petite D'Arlet where, again, we did some great snorkelling. It was a pretty good anchorage until about 2 a.m., when the winds changed and the roll came in. We had planned on going into the market in Petite D'Arlet, but decided to leave at 7 a.m. and hit the market in St. Anne's instead. Pulled into St. Anne's around noon, headed to the market, picked up supplies and then into town for the first Carnival parade!
More later!

Martinique, c'est bon

Martinique - that means, it's good. And, oh, yes, it is. Since I made Dennis reef, we had a very slow sail from St. Lucia to Martinique, until I took pity on him and let him shake out the reef. Long story, but he needs to learn!! Pulled into Marin, hoping to check in before they closed at 12:30 on Friday. Equinox and Memory blew by us and were in their dinghy on the way to Customs while Kyeta and ourselves were anchoring. We dragged at first, and then decided to re-anchor. We were too close to another boat and then couldn't get our anchor up! Denny on Kyeta and the Memory and Equinox dink came over to help untangle us from the 65 lb. danforth anchor we had hooked into. Quite the challenge, since we almost had to get into Kyeta's cockpit to get the anchor free. Ann came over to pick me up and we actually got to check in so that we could leave on Saturday to head to St. Anne's.
Ah, a French island. Brie, french bread, pain au chocolat, cafe au lait and that good old French wine! Could life get any better? Hit the ATM, then the grocery stores and bakeries and headed out to the anchorage at St. Anne's. This is a wonderful little tourist town with bakeries, two grocery stores and a wonderful market. Know of a cruising couple who were of the opinion that 'seen one island, seen them all'. Can't believe that. Every island and every town is unique, and we love visiting all the little markets.
The best thing was - Infinity pulled in a week later after catching two 46' mahi's, so we all got to benefit from their great fishing. We've had a great time catching up with Frank and Gretchen. We travelled with them from the Turks to Puerto Rico, and then off and on from St. Martin to the Tobago Cays. Rented a car with them and toured Martinique. What a beautiful island and I can see why people can spend years and years down here, never seeing the same thing twice.
For those of you who think we do nothing all day, let me tell you that we've had many boat projects. This working on the boat in exotic places gets kind of old sometimes, especially when you've missed the lunch closing of the marine stores. West Marine would never go for this closing for two hours!! The toilet was having a problem with a leak because sea grass kept creeping into the valves, so Dennis put a vented loop into the toilet to prevent it from overflowing. He decided to do that at 4 p.m., after we had moved the boat into Marin, done laundry, a water run, groceries, visited all the marine stores, then headed back out to St. Anne's. Finally finished everything around 9 at night and then collapsed.
Last weekend we got to see a pre-Mardi Gras parade. Quite interesting and a lot of fun. Heading out for a change of scenery for a week, and then back to St. Anne's for the big Mardi Gras. It's a quaint little town with a lot going on, and from what we've heard,it's a pretty good parade. Can't wait!!!!!!!!!!! ~~~/_)~~~~

St. Lucia

We had a wonderful sail from St. Vincent into St. Lucia, arriving at Soufriere in the rain with Kyeta and Equinox. We tied up to the mooring balls beneath Petit Piton, with a line to shore, with the help of the many, many boat boys, all with their hand out for helping or trying to sell you something. Memory and Columbine pulled in later that day, making for a full house.
It was a beautiful anchorage and we had one of the best meals at Harmony Restaurant, right beneath the Pitons. Did lots of exploring, seeing the waterfall, springs, botanical gardens and the town. St. Lucia had a bad reputation with cruisers because of crime, and they really seem to be doing something about it. The only bad thing we can say about it is the boat boys, or the men and boys that hang out at the dinghy dock, wanting to help tie up your dinghy - for cash!
Spent a night at Anse Cochon, where we did some snorkelling, and then a couple of days at Marigot. Marigot, while beautiful, is not a good anchorage and we'll skip that next time. We left Marigot, under full sail, on our way to Pigeon Island in Rodney Bay, where Dennis caught a small shark and I put letters on the mast saying, 'Yes, reef!!'
We spent a relaxing couple of weeks off Pigeon Island, swimming, hiking and exploring. Rick, of Memory, offered to be our driver on an island tour, so we all split the cost of the van and had a great day with Rick and Carey (Memory), Moira and Dick (Equinox) and Ann and Denny (Kyeta). St. Lucia is a beautiful island and the roads are probably some of the best we've seen - well, except for the curves!
Well, the winds and waves look good, so it's off to Martinique! ~~~~_/)~~~~