Martinique Sainte Anne

Photo credit: Faye Little

We finally left Bequia in a rain squall. We had spent a lot of time waiting for the right weather window and were all so pleased to be on the move again. Calypso, Bully, Gumbar, and Sea Dancer left the anchorage together, heading for St Vincent for an overnight stop.

Photo credit: Faye Little

Usual spots on passage

We had been hearing all sorts of horror stories about various anchorages in St Vincent and St Lucia, so we really didn’t want to stop there at all. However, Gumbar's crew were not keen to do an overnight sail, so we decided to rather stick together to make sure everyone was safe and do overnight stops along the way. The four of us anchored in Chateaubelair Bay plus a charter boat. Safety in numbers.

Sea Dancer

Gumbar

She was tired, okay

Skipper with radio at the ready

My seat when Andrew is on the helm

St Vincent is lovely with amazingly lush, green hillsides. There is a volcano on the island which erupted on 9 April 2021. The beach sand is black, volcanic sand and there are places where you can see the lava has pushed down the mountain into the sea, forming permanent lava rivers down the hillside. 

Entrance to Wallilabou Bay

 

We arrived in Chateaubelair Bay and were instantly accosted by two chaps on kayaks, Kamray and his uncle, who told us the best place to anchor. We didn't listen at first because the guide book recommended one area of the bay. They said the fishing boats come into that area and the holding isn't good. So we moved to the other side of the bay with them following us on their boards. They watched us drop the anchor three times, thinking we were complete idiots, I am sure. The sand was more like mud and it took time for the anchor to embed itself. Then they offered us fresh fruit and avocado. We said we would take a few avos as we hadn’t bought them for a while. When we asked how much? They said whatever we would like to give them. Claire and Jim said that they had no money so these two chaps said anything to trade. Jim gave him some of his T-shirts and they were awarded with lemons, coconuts and avocado. We just got 5 nice big avos that I am sure are all going to ripen at the same time. Near us there was a marijuana plantation which looked like a lovely forest. During the night we could hear the nightlife come alive in the forest. It was quite a novel experience.

Bully and Sea Dancer

Anyone for some ganja?

We left before 6 am the following morning and made our way to St Lucia. It was a long 10 hour sail but we got there eventually. 

Leaving before the sunrise

Look at the lava flow

Bully

We arrived in Rodney Bay, which was a lovely big bay. We managed to find a rocky spot the first time we put the anchor down, but on the second go we found some sand and were well dug in for the night. There seemed to be quite a few parties happening along the shore and by midnight a few DJ's were vying for the loudest music prize, which continued until the wee hours of the morning. Apparently the Friday night street parties are legendary.

The Pitons in St Lucia

 

We left there just before 8 am and headed to Martinique. It was a bit of a rough sail. The sea state was quite choppy but it settled after a bit and we managed to get across the St Lucia sea eventually.

Church in the town square

Once we had arrived and dropped the anchor, Andrew went ashore to check in, which was the easiest process I think we will ever find. There is no customs and immigration, only a café called Snack Boubou, where you use the computer to access the form and fill it in. The café owner stamps it, et voila, you are in. He didn’t even want to see our passports. 

Sainte Anne Main Street

 

The only downside is there is no free wi-fi in any of the cafés or restaurants. We were not able to use our Grenadian service provider, so were without Wi-Fi for the weekend. It was frustrating as we were not able to tell Matt that we had arrived safely. 

Anchor check

Martinique is a refreshing change to the Caribbean islands. There is a European feel to the small town of Sainte Anne. The church bells ring often on a Sunday with services during the week as well. The roads are cobbled and there are patisseries and clothes shops galore. People speak French with very little English. Everything is in Euros and although we are 'timesing' by 20, some things are still cheaper than in Grenada.

We went for a lovely long hike along the shoreline, but through trees and shady paths on Sunday morning. I don’t think I have ever said “Bonjour” so many times. The people we passed were so friendly. Some stopped to engage in stilted conversation and when they found out we came from Afrique du Sud, “Magnifique” was the reply.

Lookout point

Swing in the water

Oops!

A dude lives here!

We stopped off for a quick bite and a beer and Wi-Fi - ah no. No Wi-Fi.

Bev, Andre, Faye and Ian

We couldn't find Wi-Fi anywhere, even though the guide books says, "Just buy a coffee and use the free wifi". We even went into the expensive restaurant/hotel and had a beer, but sadly the Wi-Fi could only be accessed in the rooms above the restaurant. Of course we only found this out after ordering the drinks.

We are anchored in the bay off Sainte Anne, which is quite far away from Marin, the nearest big town where we were told we could find sim cards. So on Monday morning we all hopped on Gumbar and we motored over to Marin. We anchored in Cul-de-Sac du Marin, where we could dinghy ashore easily and go shopping.

On Gumbar

We walked for miles before we found the Digicel shop where we bought a sim card. We sent Matt a message to say we were all fine and then went to find the Carrafour – the supermarket. We spent a lot of time wandering around. Andrew found a good chandlery and was able to buy pipe for the water maker. Everything closes at lunch time for sieste.

Hotel de Police

Andrew happened to go into the Diginav shop and started chatting to a chap, Jacques, who thought he might be able to fix our wind instrument. We just needed to get it down from the mast and take it to him. We headed back to Gumbar and motored back out into the bigger bay of Sainte Anne.

Anyone for some Marlin?

Andrew took the wind instrument in to Jacques and was told that we would get a call by Friday if it was fixed. We didn't get a call so Andrew went ashore to see if it was ready. It was ready and fixed! Andrew went up the mast, with Jim’s help, and reattached the wind instrument. We all held our breath, praying it would work. Thank goodness it worked!! Money well spent.

On Saturday afternoon we had a braai on the beach. It was good fun catching up with people we haven’t really seen for a while.

Andrew explaining why he had called the meeting 😂

Dinghy parking

Siobhan and Laura

Grant & Leanne: Ohana. Jim & Claire: Bully

The one that got away!

It was fantastic to get a reasonably priced bottle of wine, some pork chops and the makings of a good salad. We are so tired of the Grenadian fare of chicken, pork sausage, and mince. What a welcome change!

Matt's cork screw he bought in Greece and Kay's wine glass

This is part one of Sainte Anne. In part two we do a bit more exploring, rent a car and go inland exploring and lots of shopping! Thanks Faye Little for the photos below.