Marina du Bakoua, Pointe du Bout, Martinique
14° 33.382 N 61° 03.265 W
The days run away from me and I find myself now trying to catch up with this journal. My last entry was the departure from Barbados. Reflecting, the time spent in Barbados was so brief that I don’t have much of an impression of the place. And, it is so far from home and difficult to travel to that it is unlikely that I will go back there. I am still very partial to tropical America, which is Hawaii. I prefer not using funny money and I like that the people don’t talk too funny.
The sleigh ride from Barbados to Martinique was an event. Within a couple hours of leaving port the wind was pushing 20 knots on a beam reach (coming over the side). We had all the canvas up and the boat was doing 7-8. We anticipated an 18-22 hour run. Well, the wind kept increasing and so did the speed. For the rest of the trip the wind kept increasing and eventually gusted up to 30 as the boat hit 10 and we averaged over 8. We made it in 15 hours and were so early that we had to slow down once offshore to wait for sunrise. We were concerned about hitting coral on the approach. The seas were 6-8’ and slightly abeam of us. The boat was galloping most of the way and we did not have the rolling that was typical of our last passage. John and I were happy that we were sailing fast and that the boat was performing so well. It was very exciting. Squalls and rain hit us all through the night. Unfortunately we have to close all the hatches and it gets pretty warm inside. In the wee hours after midnight I thought the rain was over and I opened the hatch over my bed and got doused by a breaking wave over the bow. It sucked! In between the clouds I was able to see large patches of sky and the stars. I saw the Southern Cross again, the Big Dipper and Polaris, etc. Overall the run was fast and we were able to feel the power of 60k lbs pushing through the water.
During the night the squalls caused the wind to change direction and we needed to adjust for that. Our concern was heading off to far to the west toward St. Lucia and then having to backtrack. We did get pushed off course and had to make it up. Also during the night we spotted several freighters and a cruise ship. Once again, we had to pay very close attention to traffic as we were back in the world. It’s odd going from not seeing vessels to seeing lots of them. On the Atlantic we were just hoping they would come close to us so we had something to do. Out here we have changed our mind and want to stay away.
We arrived at the marina around 730-8am and could not get any response on the radio. Well, it was Christmas and all. We circled through the anchorage and looked at the dock where we had a reservation and realized that we could not get to the dock. It was pretty crowded for a small dock that only holds less than 20 boats. We decided to drop the hook and wait for a response. I went up to the chair and soaked up the sun. The office didn’t open until about 9 and it wasn’t until after 12 that we finally got tied to the dock. We needed help from a dinghy to capture the mooring line. It was a tight fit driving to the dock and at the last minute we turned with the bow over submerged rocks, grabbed the mooring line that was handed to us, backed in and tied off. We did it without hitting the rocks or our neighbor. This dock is very small and fantastic. It is so much better than the marinas with hundreds of boats. The guy who owns it bought the old stuff that was here about 5 years ago. He redeveloped it with a dock, fuel service, utilities and a restaurant. We decided to have lunch at Le Ponton and had a decent meal of thin steak and fries. I was not up to a squid and goat cheese salad and the chicken salad was out. All I really wanted was a chef or Caesar salad and quickly realized things were different here. I ordered what Alan and John ordered and felt safe.
This is a fantastic little slice of heaven. We are very happy at this place. Clive and Rhonda are staying at the hotel directly next to us and it is a very easy walk. They have a pool with a vanishing edge that has a priceless view. Once we were tied up and everybody scattered I made my way to the hotel. While sitting in the lobby they walked by. Perfect timing. Clive was carrying a backpack of supplies from home that Tina prepared and things just got better. I was pretty hot at that moment and said I wanted to swim in the pool before we headed back to the boat for a look-see. That swim was so refreshing and I think it qualified as a shower. I had not had a real shower since December first. And then Clive mentioned having a beer. So, sitting in the chair overlooking the pool while dripping wet we all had a beer. This was really nice. It was great to be on land and to sit with friends.
John and Nancy were on the boat and introductions were made. I proceeded with a tour of the vessel, some comments, and a couple more beers from Barbados and lots of laughs. We discussed all of us having dinner at the hotel restaurant and planned to meet for a 730 reservation. I left with Clive and Rhonda because they offered the use of their shower and phone and that was too good to pass up. The phone call timing was perfect in that I just caught Tina right as they were entering the movies. We had a good long talk and managed to fill in some of the gaps of the last 4 weeks.
And then it was time to partake. Clive and Rhonda made the mistake of showing me the local rum that they bought and of course I thought of a bucket of ice, some glasses, sitting on the balcony and enjoying the moment. That rum was fantastic and between the 3 of us, and mostly me, we damn near finished the bottle.
Now the part of French territories that has, uhm, me, John, Nancy, Clive and Rhonda complaining the most about and they are the food and service. We planned to have a very nice Christmas dinner at the hotel and all of us were very much looking forward to it. In the end, the food was horrible and the service was beyond terrible. Apparently, this island does not cater to tourism and they don’t give a shit. Personally, I thought I ordered a safe prime rib? It was raw, really. I ate the edges because after waiting an hour and a half I was not going to send it back. The snow peas and mushrooms were bitter and foul. Needless to say I went away hungry but luckily the rum dulled the senses. This was a very expensive disappointing meal.
Upon getting back to the dock I found John selling our outboard gasoline to a guy at the closed fuel dock. He and his 8 month pregnant wife were trying to get home somewhere on the bay and needed fuel. I was surprised to see them in the situation. We managed to get them about 10 gallons and they were on their way. There usually is a lot of activity on the docks until about midnight and this night was no exception.
I tagged along with Clive and Rhonda the next day to go driving and snorkeling. They were pretty good on following the map and finding the places they wanted to see. The first beach we went to for snorkeling was beautiful. It was a nice protected little bay with a small pier. The water was warm and the fish were plentiful. In my opinion the greatest thing about French beaches is that they are topless. Where’s my beer?
On the 27th Rhonda and I took off in the dinghy to snorkel for her and scuba for me. The night before John and I dropped the boat in the water and set it up and I went for a test run after sunset. We found a spot and dropped the hook and were there for about a half hour. The visibility was poor. We then moved to another spot and once again the visibility was poor. We’re not having much luck right here with the limited ability of shore diving with a dinghy. But, the water was warm and it was fun and we are able to see some more sights.
I made the grievous error of not traveling with an ATM card. I had a pocket of cash and a Visa card and thought that would do. Nope. No way. I was once again Euro poor and it sucked. Clive, Rhonda and I decided to take the ferry today across to Fort de France, which is the business center and administrative capital with many tourist attractions grouped together. I found an exchange and finally got a pocket of cash. For all the hype this town was a disappointment. It was fairly dirty and had a big city feel to it. At night unfortunately it is not safe in many areas. We managed to see what we wanted in a walking tour and were back home around 5:30pm.
We planned to have beers at their pool for sunset and found out that 6pm is too late. The sun had already gone down but the atmosphere was great. After that we trekked to the next marina over and had dinner at a pizza joint. The waiter asked were we were from and when I said California he turned and walked away. What the hell was that? When he came back I made a point of opening a dialogue. It turns out when he heard Clive speak he said that he lived in England and they had something in common. He then opened up and was the best waiter we have had yet. I asked how many people come from CA and he said we were the first. Soon we will go to the Tex-Mex and are praying that it is authentic. The grill smells of hardwood and the very expensive prices were a shock. Some of us are craving a good old-fashioned American BBQ restaurant.
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