Up and Sailing in Martinique
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Almost exactly to the day three months later we have our sails up and “oh what a feeling” as the motor is silenced. Our first sail in the Caribbean, there is no horizon; the turquoise sky meets the turquoise sea and with the wind always from the north east our sea trial is exhilarating. Ian is in his element, tacking, hard on into the wind; every angle is sailed to test the rig. One eye on the mast and the other on the depth, the sea is so crystal clear it’s a very airy feeling seeing the bottom as it can be very deceptive.
Monday we collected the mast from Fort de France Port where it was tied to our deck, no other way of transport possible, and then we motored back the 30miles to Marin Harbour. By Wednesday they have it installed and now our time of waiting is nearly over, we will be on our way north by Tuesday 11th after final modifications are made.
For 26 days we never lifted the anchor, we made all our own water and power, so it was a good test to our self sufficiency. Due to the very warm sea, barnacles covered our anchor and our hull looked like the ‘Garden of Eden’ but with the help of local divers we are soon ‘ship shape’ again.
Also holed up beside us is ‘Intrepid’ from NZ and many funny nights spent in each others boat eating delicious roast leg of lamb imported from New Zealand, 60’s music and a wine or two. Keith and Caryl Turner will sail through the Pacific and be back in NZ by the end of November. The bays are full of yachts but not many from down under which is disappointing.
Putting a show on for us, sailing in and out of the anchored cruising yachts are the traditional local fishing craft called ‘Oyle’ now used for racing, a local version of 18 footers but nothing fancy not even a harness, these guys hang out on poles. Tacking can be tricky, as you can see in the photos.
As our progress has been delayed and with only 3 months of the season remaining we have decided to only go as far north as Antigua and Barbuda and then sail back down the islands in early May, straight after Antigua race week.
We will haul the yacht at Prickly Bay, Grenada, for the hurricane season and make up for the lost ground by coming back early in November. By then I will get my head around the “Red, Right Returning” for entering a harbour. For the non boaties, when entering in the Commonwealth and Europe ports the red buoy is on the port side. In the Caribbean they use the American system for buoyage with the red buoy on the starboard side. The rhyme is for you to keep the red buoy on the starboard side otherwise you will end up on a reef.