21 December 1994 Pigeon Island to Fort de France, Martinique
We had a very nice sail to Martinique and anchored in Fort De France. We then spent an hour having a quick look around – the boys had a McDonald’s meal, of course. Talked to Mike of “Teliba”, a Greek who emigrated to the States and then left. Fort De France anchorage is very busy and very rolly because of the wash caused by the ferries. Fortunately, it calmed down at night.
22 December 1994 Fort de France to Anse a L’Ane
“Dabulamanzi” arrived during the night. Glenys and I went for a frenzied shop to buy Christmas presents for each other and the boys. Glenys and Ceris then went to a Hypermarche with Gareth, Fiona and Fiona’s brother, James. Glenys and Ceris came back alone and we motored over to Anse A L’ane for a bit of peace and quiet. “Dabulamanzi” followed later and they came over for a bottle of wine or two.
23 December 1994 Anse a L’Ane to Petite Anse D’Arlet
Ceris went to Fort De France on “Dabulamanzi”. James came with us to Petit Anse D’Arlet and joined us for a dive. Not a very interesting dive, but James seemed to enjoy it. I filled 3 tanks - the compressor only runs for about 20 minutes and then cuts out. I don’t know what is wrong with it – perhaps the compressor is getting too hot and causing the engine to stall. “Dabulamanzi” came around in the late afternoon and rafted up with us.
24 December 1994 Petite Anse D’Arlet
Christmas Eve - a leisure day. The boys were very excited and had to be entertained. Fortunately Uncle Gareth was there to take them water-skiing and snorkelling. We had a late, boozy dinner on our boat with fireworks.
25 December 1994 Petite Anse D’Arlet
Christmas Day. Breakfast and then present opening on our boat. Everyone did well. We had lunch at about three o’clock and then untangled the anchor chains by turning the boats with Gareth’s dinghy. We had a jointly prepared Christmas Dinner on Dabulamanzi at eight o’clock in the evening.
26 December 1994 Petite Anse D’Arlet
Another leisure day. Snorkelling, Lego Technic, skiing on a windsurf board. Very nice dinner of prawn consommé followed by smoked salmon and caviar pancakes. James, the boys and I ate ours while watching a video – very decadent!
27 December 1994 Petite Anse D’Arlet to St Pierre
We said farewell to Gareth, Fiona and James. It may be the last time that we see them for several years if we go through Panama. We motored around to Fort De France to clear out, but the customs guy had gone by the time we got there. I cleared out with the police and went food shopping. Filled up with water. We then motored around to St Pierre.
28 December 1994 St Pierre
Ceris took the boys out on the “Noddy Train” while Glenys and I did a dive on one of the wrecks. Filled 2 tanks. It got very rolly in the afternoon so I suggested that we ate out – everyone took one look at the boat rolling and shouted “Yes”! We had a very nice French meal in a very (typically!) scruffy restaurant. John and Chris arrived on “Naia” with some mail for us. They have their owners on board, so we haven’t had much of a chat.
There is a submarine operating from here, which takes tourists out to see the wrecks. They have a floating dock for the submarine which they raise each night. The boys and I went to watch it being lowered this morning. They have a small pilot boat that goes out on every trip, which displays “restricted in ability to manoeuvre” to signify the underwater operation. The pilot boat puts itself between the submarine and any other vessel when the submarine is surfacing. Very interesting to watch. They also have a night trip - it’s very eerie when the submarine is surfacing with all its deck lights on and a strobe.
29 December 1994 St Pierre to Prince Rupert Bay, Dominica
What a horrible night! We rolled our guts out. We got up at seven o’clock, exhausted. There was only 10-15 knots of wind and our batteries have been very low, so we motor-sailed all the way to Dominica. I think that I’ve got a dodgy battery or two because it doesn’t take long for the batteries to be fully charged and then they discharge quickly. We anchored to the north of Portsmouth, next to “Naia” who had left St Pierre before us. We had a fast trip averaging 6.25 knots. We were engulfed by boat boys who are persistent but OK.
30 December 1994 Prince Rupert Bay
We went for an organised trip up the Indian river, which was pleasant. They rowed us about ½ mile up river and back for £5/head. Ceris and the boys went to visit the Cabrit National Park while I indulged myself with two hours of playing the clarinet. John and Chris came over from “Naia” to have a drink and gave us a graphic description of life on the boat with their owners - not happy...
31 December 1994 Prince Rupert Bay to Bourg Des Saintes
Ceris and Glenys went to the Saturday vegetable market first thing in the morning. We then tidied up and left for the Saintes. We had an awkward sail between squalls with the wind veering about. Fortunately, we didn’t get rained on. I was confused by the approach to the islands and we ended up about 2 miles east of our planned landfall – I tested myself by only looking at the GPS when I’d figured out where we were! We definitely had a more interesting entrance to go through!
We anchored off the fishing village where there is more room, but it is a little bit rolly. We went for a quick stroll, had dinner and went to bed – a very exciting New Year’s Eve! Glenys and I were woken up by loud bangs at midnight, so we got up to watch the fireworks display.
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