Moving on....

Sunset in Grande Anse d'Arlet

The Rara Avis

Diamond Rock, Martinique

We had to leave Marin in the end ....... both water tanks were eventually full.... at last! We had taken the two 25 litre water containers ashore each time we had dinghyed in and after quite a few trips, that was it..... enough water. I reckon it was over 100 gallons in the end but then we hadn't filled up since leaving Barbados on 5th Feb.............. and the tanks weren't empty either!

We headed around the corner to Grande Anse d'Arlet about 15 miles to the north and west, a lovely little sheltered bay with just a few yachts and the promise of several of those beachside restaurants. Unfortunately, the strike had got there before us and nearly everything was closed for business as usual! The next morning however we sort of struck gold because we found a "man with a van" who was selling fresh fruit and veg and... manna from heaven for me..... EGGS!! I reckon 10 minutes later and we'd have missed him so we bought as much as we could....quite expensive, but then everything is anywhere it seems... but very much worth it!

The other nice surprise in this bay was the presence of two old French sailing boats that I knew over 30 years ago, the Bel Espoir and the Rara Avis. I just had to go across to see if their owner, Pere Michel Jaoen was still around... and he was... though he must be around 80 by now but still quite active and chatty..... in French!! It was lovely to see him again.

We left this bay on Tuesday 4th and sailed north to St Pierre, the town that used to be the capital city until it got destroyed by the volcano Mont Pelee (it dominates the town to the north at 4800') in 1902. Look it up on Google for more info.... I don't have time to write the history! On the way, we sailed past Diamond Rock, photo included, which was occupied for 18months by the British during the Napoleonic era much to their annoyance!

Saint Pierre is a nice little place with all the things you would expect to see in a typical french town except that the strike has meant all the food shops are virtually empty as everywhere. We can still buy fresh fruit and veg though and for some reason, there is a glut of things like yogurt and fromage frais though what I'd really like now is some butter and olive oil! Pete (Troutbridge) arrived in Saint Pierre from St Lucia later on Tuesday and said that there was now also nothing to buy in the supermarkets there as the french had come across from here and bought it all up! The strike is supposed to be ended in Guadeloupe now but it will take a little while for it to filter through here. There was a little violence earlier on in the strike but we haven't seen any trouble apart from some shouting and a bit of shoving!!

We aim to move on in a day or so continuing north to Dominica. I believe this island is more like the Caribbean used to be and that things should be somewhat cheaper....looking forward to that though I don't expect I'll be able to get online so it may be a while now before I am back in contact.