Lavers blog, 5th 2008-2009 entry

January 21, 2009, St. Pierre – Fort de France

Singoalla and Maestro at anchor in St. Pierre

Larry wakes up and goes on deck at 05:30, and finds that our neighbor, the catamaran, is gone. No sign of them on the horizon.  We wonder what midnight show we might have missed.  We head into town and at the dinghy dock meet an American couple who have been cruising for 10 years on a 38 foot boat.  They claim that they are tired of cruising and are now on their way home.  We don’t wonder at that.  We go to the Internet café to upload our blog, but the café loses its Internet connection before we can begin.  They explain that there provider’s cable was cut somewhere yesterday and service is sporadic.  We go for a long walk over to the cruise ship dock to look at the Baies des Tourelles as a possible place to fix Singoalla’s throttle.  We don’t like the looks of the harbor at all, but find a duty free store that sells good wine at amazing prices if you have your ship’s papers.  We will return when we have transportation.  We go by way of the market for vegetables on the way back to the Internet café.  The connection is up and we are able to upload the blog, although our PC’s battery dies before we are able to properly format the photos.  We return to Singoalla, have French bread, brie and salad for dinner. The box cabernet that Larry bought at Casino is awful!  We expect to have lots of coq au vin in the near future.  We read ourselves to sleep, not a very difficult task.

January 22, 2009, Fort de France – Grand Anse d”Arlet

Elisabeth decides to start right away to use up the awful cabernet that we have 5 liters of.  She sends an email inviting Sam and Wendy to dinner, then we go into town to find ingredients.  We stumble across a wonderful outdoor market where we are able to buy all kinds of fresh vegetables. We make a short stop at the supermarche and the boulangerie for bread and croissants, then return to Singoalla to prepare for the short six mile sail to Grand Anse d’a\Arlet.  It is a broad reach across the bay, a beam reach around Cap Salomon, and a short beat into the harbor.  We average around 7 knots and are in a very good mood when we arrive and anchor just astern of Maestro.  Wendy has found a laundry, so we take our two weeks worth of soiled clothes in to be renewed, then the four of us take a long hike over Morne Champagne to Petit Anse d’Arlet, a lovely village with only a few anchored boats and a lot of very tanned people just hanging out in the water or on the beach.  Back at the boat, Larry goes for a swim and shower while Elisabeth prepares a delicious dinner.  Wendy and Sam come with wine, which we dispatch with gusto.  “A good time was had by all.” 

January 23, 2009, Grand Anse d’Arlet

Just another lovely sunset in paradise

We spend a lazy morning reading.  Our most frequent activity is ruehing below during the frequent rain showers, then returning topside when the sun is out again.  It is days like these when we envy the boats that have fully shielded cockpits. We are picked up after lunch by the Maestros, and we go for a long hike up the steep and rocky Cap Salomon trail.  We expect to be rewarded by an incredible view point, but no such luck.  After an hour, the treail starts back down towards Anse Noir, and all we hae seen is glimpses through the trees of Schoelcher on the other side Baie de Fort de France.  We return to Grand Anse ‘Arlet soaked by our own sweat and with somewhat rubbery legs.  We pick up the laundry, buy bread and return to our respective boats for much needed swims and showers.  We are disappointed to find that our laundry bags did not make it back with the laundry, so Elisabeth will have to go ashore tomorrow to retrieve them.  We take our wine to the cockpit this evening to see a magnificent sunset.  We see the famous green flash for about the 10^th time this winter.  This appears only when the sun sets in a clear horizon, just as the last bit of sun disappears into the water.  We don’t know what causes it, but it appears to be some kind of refraction, and many people look for it for years without seeing it.  Elisabeth does not feel like cooking this evening, but she finds some left over spaghetti sauce in the refrigerator, so we eat in grand style anyway.  Elisabeth finishes The Worst Hard Time and begins 1421.  Larry makes good progress in Stieg Larson’s second book.

January 24, 2009, Grand Anse d’Arlet – Ste. Anne

Elisabeth rows ashore after breakfast to retrieve the laundry bags and buy bread while Larry prepares the boat for departure.  She is trapped ashore for about 30 minutes by a morning rain shower.  Maestro leaves just as Elisabeth returns to Singoalla.  We finish stowing our gear, raise the anchor and head for Ste. Anne where we plan to join Maestro again.  We have the usual light wind variable wind reach for the short 3 miles down the west side of Martinique, followed by a 10 mile beat around HMS Diamond Rock and along the south end of the island.  We see another boat on the wind well ahead of us and assume that it is Maestro, but they are too far ahead to identify.  We find them at anchor when we arrive at Ste. Anne, and we anchor nearby.  We ae invited for cocktails.  The sun sets just as we are preparing to row over to Maestro.  No green flash tonight.  We enjoy a few glasses of wine, then return to Singoalla for left over coq au vin.  Larry finished the last few pages of Flickan som Lekte med Elden, then lights out at an early hour.

January 25, 2009, Ste. Anne

Sam, Wendy and Larry at the beach

Ste. Anne is as beautiful as we remember it, but there seem to be more boats at anchor this year.  We change the oil in the engine, using a more viscous 25-60W that had been recommended by Festus at Jolly Harbour for use in the tropics.  In the confined quarters it is a 2 person, half hour job, but we accomplish it without a major spill.  We pick up Sam and Wendy in our dinghy at 10:00 and walk along the shore to a quintessential Caribbean beach where we stop for a swim and a picnic.  We put our gear in the shade of some local trees, then have a few anxious moments worrying about whether they are the infamous, toxic manchioneel trees when we see that they bear a small green apple-like fruit.  A local gentleman assures us that they are safe, and shows us some nearby manchioneels.  They are similar, but we can see the difference and are reassured.  Lunch consists of fresh baguettes purchased along the way, hard boiled eggs, cheese, ham, tomatoes and melon.  Even Larry doesn’t object to spending time at this picturesque site.  On the way back we stop for beer at a seaside resort and watch the local youth at play on a fantastic set of inflatable trampolines, an inflatable “iceberg”, and various other water toys.  Sam and Wendy are invited to Singoalla for cocktails at 6:00.  They bring a tinned pate, and Elisabeth serves pina coladas.  Elisabeth decides that the salad she has prepared for dinner will serve four with a little modification, so we four continue our discussions through dinner.  Sam and Wendy have had some fascinating adventures, from rafting and canoeing trips in the arctic north to bicycle and canal boat excursion in the south of France.  We expect that we will see more of them after the sailing in the Caribbean is over.

January 26, 2009, Ste. Anne

Elisabeth goes ashore alone while Larry waits on board for the local sail maker whom we have asked to replace a sun-damaged zipper on our mainsail cover.  Elisabeth stays ashore waiting for a window in the morning’s showers.  She sends a half hour in line at the post office waiting to buy stamps.  This seems to be the norm on the French islands.  Larry tightens the lower shrouds, as the mast is slightly out of column when we are on the wind.  The afternoon is spent reading, mostly down below.  The showers today are light, but frequent.  It seems that we get a new one as soon as the deck has a chance to dry off.  During the afternoon “Incidences”, the local sail maker, show up for their 11:00 appointment (we are still on Island Time).  They collect the sail cover and promise to replace the zipper and patch a few miscellaneous worn spots.  We expect to see it again in a few days.  At 6:00 we head over to Maestro for dinner – grilled chicken, baked potato and mixed vegetables, followed by a true highlight – cookies baked on board.