Bonjour la Martinique!

 

Leaving St. Lucia and the spectacular Pitons

A copy of an ancient Zemi.  Of course it was damaged during the latest French protests two months ago, for some odd reason.  Ah the French.

Deep inside a bay in Le Marin

Maria enjoying sightseeing in Le Marin via our dinghy

A sailing ship in Le Marin after what must have been a pretty rough passage

And then there was the Starlink dish I attached to Savannah Sky (the little rectactangle flat white thing next to our man overboard pole.  Our link to the outside world just got much much better with high speed internet!

A fun lunch with sailor friends in Ste. Anne, Martinique on the beach.  How about these for some boat names: Island Spirit, Lover of the Light, Elysium and Sirena.

S/Y Savannah Sky – February 11, 2025 – Log #22

Savannah Sky Position: 14 degrees 26’ N, 60 degrees 53’ W

Le Marin, Martinique, Caribbean

 

Bonjour la Martinique!

 

Since I’ve lived to be an old man
I’ll sail down to Martinique
I'm gonna buy me a sweat-stained Bogart suit
And an African parakeet
And then I'll sit him on my shoulder
And open up my trusty old mind
I’m gonna teach him how to cuss, teach him how to fuss
And pull the cork out of a bottle of wine

(modified from, who else, but Jimmy Buffett)

 

It’s great to be back in Martinique: the land of baguettes, French wine and cheeses.

 

It was a blustery sail from St. Lucia to Martinique, and as always, an eventful one.

 

We had both our genoa and mainsail reefed because of the 25 knot winds and large seas during the journey.  About half way across the windiest stretch of open water our furling line that holds the genoa at about half its size (reefed) decided to break.  With a loud pop, out went the entire genoa giving us a nice increase in speed but not what we needed in strong winds.

 

Without a furling line there was no way to decrease the size of the genoa so we just sailed on until we could drop the genoa in less boisterous conditions behind the lee of Martinique.  It’s always something it seems.

 

We’ve replaced the furling line in Martinique so all is well now and ready for the next adventure at sea.

 

Le Marin, Martinique is the Yachting Center of the Caribbean, for the French.  Massive catamarans line the docks or are tied to mooring balls throughout the well protected bay. 

 

Sailboats, like Savannah Sky, and smaller catamarans are for sailors and those of us who spend seasons or longer on the water in these little latitudes and who like to sail.

 

One could easily spend an entire sailing season here in Martinique.  There are so many anchorages to visit and sights to see, like world famous rum distilleries. 

 

Maria and I wonder why the French fly here from Euroland, jump on a massive catamaran and bash their way south, past Bequia, while never enjoying what Martinique has to offer.  It’s a strange world out there sometimes.

 

Savannah Sky is calmly attached to a highly-sought-after mooring ball in Le Marin’s Bay.

 

Getting a mooring ball in the heart of this Yachting Center is like winning the lottery it seems.  An online portal is used to request a mooring.  Then the response is received – No. 

 

So we try again and again and again, requesting a mooring ball.  Much of this is done in French of course.

 

With more than a lot of persistence and luck we finally received a reply, “Voilà” 

We were accepted!

 

We spend our days tied to this mooring ball, watching the antics of passing charter catamarans the size of condos jockeying for position at the fuel dock.  After all, it takes a lot of diesel fuel to motor, not sail, to neighboring islands.

 

Hundreds of tall masts crowd our horizon during the day in Martinique while sunset brings a new world to us.

 

A bit of Ti Punch, baguette, cheese, chocolate and some island music are all we need to count the falling stars in the night sky.

 

As Jimmy said, it’s also time to get that African parakeet and open up my trusty old mind, while I can still remember…

 

Sail on, sail on Savannah Sky…