We motored into the cut and hailed the marina to give us our slip number. They had earlier told us to have our fenders out on the starboard side but they’d had a change of mind and now it was port. As we approached the docks, Anne unhitched both their and our dinghy and took them to a safe place. We then approached the dock, span the boat and backed in against the wind. It went a lot better than last time.

Before Anne and Jim left, Sharon and Vaughn popped by and we discussed our plans for the Pitons. A new plan was agreed to meet up on Sunday in readiness of a Monday hike.

We said our goodbyes and got on with the tasks we had to do. I went to the marina office to check in. It took a while as the office was crowded and I had to wait my turn. Back on the boat we again met Jim and Anne who were busying around. I had asked for the marina staff to come and enable the power but they hadn’t turned up. So I stayed

on the boat while Helen when to the shops within easy walking distance not failing to bump into Anne and Jim yet again.

By the time Helen returned the power had just been attached – an overall wait of over an hour. I wasn’t too pleased but I guess it’s island time. Having started the batteries charging and equalizing I dashed off to Island Water World before it closed for the day to pick up a fishing lure along the lines of that recommended by the fisherman I spoke to in Marigot Bay. While there I bumped into Mario and his wife from Maltese Falcon who we met in Point-a-Pitre. Having discussed our summer options it looks like we’ll be in the same area in September so we may see them again in the near future.

Back on the boat we had a quick bite to eat then dinghied off to the local supermarket to provision for the next 5 weeks. Heading south we won’t see any big supermarkets until we hit Grenada so we’re stocking up on frozen and specialist stuff.

Leaving the supermarket with a full trolley we bumped into Vaughn and Sharon – seems we’re all doing the same thing. They were now having doubts as to climbing the Pitons as their quick in and out visa expires tomorrow and this may make things awkward. I let them know we’d just seen Bees Knees who would probably still be contactable. We dinghied off to our boats together and parted company when we reached Dignity. As Helen and I were putting the food aboard Vaughn popped round to say they’d run out of fuel. I was planning to fill our second spare can so I agreed to take them over to the fuel dock so they could grab a bit of fuel. By the time I made it round to where they had stopped they’d managed to get their dinghy going again by tipping it up but still wanted to get some fuel.

So over we went to the fuel dock and waited for the attendant to arrive. While waiting, guess who turns up. Anne and Jim arrived on Bees Knees to pick up diesel. Seems we can’t get away from each other. We again discussed plans for the weekend and more or less stayed with this morning’s plan with Sharon and Vaughn being maybes.

Now all the shopping is done and we can relax. The batteries will stay equalizing until this evening and we’ll continue to trickle charge overnight. I’ve asked for an 8am read of the meter so we can quickly depart and head south for our rendezvous in Soufrierre.

There were a number of boats anchored in Fort de France but we managed to squeeze into the anchorage and here we are settled. I walked round to the customs but found them closed. The guy on the gate said to come back tomorrow at 9am. I do wonder if they’ll be open but I may try.

Walking the half mile back to the dinghy dock I decided to check out the town. There were a large number of people milling around in red tee-shirts, clearly the aftermath of a demonstration. All the shops I saw were shut bar one little cafe. All the cash machines that I walked past had been smashed too. So it looks like the strike is very much on here. Fingers crossed for our guests who are arriving next week.

Fishing was not successful. In fact, something chewed up and bit right through my wire leader. So we must have had something for a bit. We never noticed. So we’re down one lure. Better luck next time.

Not sure what we’re going to do now. There are a few things to do on the boat and still plenty of books to read.

Back on the boat we had lunch. The weather turned a bet wet so we abandoned our idea of a walk south and instead worked on the boat and read up on Martinique.

We have left two of our propane tanks with one of the boat helpers who will have them filled and back to us by 8 in the morning. As soon as we have them we’ll be off to Martinique and on our way we’ll be trying out the hand line. Who knows – maybe Friday night curry will be fish.

On the suggestion of one of the blog readers I’ve caught up on a task which I’ve always meant to do which is to categorize my posts. You can now see which country we’re in at the bottom of each post. I’ve also noted where we’ve referred to other cruisers so individual blogs about particular folks can be found.

But moving on also brings the excitement of new places.  Martinique beckons.  We should be in St Pierre tomorrow and we have heard that is nice.  We need to keep our eye on the weather as the winds are moving to the north (which is rare) and the waves will follow.  This will make the anchorages with no northerly protection very uncomfortable.  That may in turn force us into Fort-a-France a day or two earlier than expected.

After lunch I popped over to Stevee Jean as I’d promised to show John some checks I’d learned. In the evening, we had John and Jill over for a BBQ. We’d also invited our boat helper / service provider, Alexis, and his girlfriend. It was nice to have them aboard and learn a bit about local life.

Tuesday was our day for the big hike. As it was long and at the other end of the island we had to be ready to leave the boat by 5:30. We managed breakfast and coffee and were ready in time. Alexis picked us up along with another 8 cruisers (including Sharon and Vaughn from Reality and Angie from Cirque de Soleil) and took as ashore where we boarded a minibus which took us to the start of the walk.

The weather started off wet and stayed that way only to occasionally pause and to often get wetter. The walk to the Boiling lake was along a “made” path starting at around 1,600ft above sea level and highest point of 3,200 feet before descending and climbing again. Along the way we came to the Valley of Desolation which was a large area of hydrothermal activity dwarfing the trifling patches we saw nearby close to Trafalgar Falls a few days previously. We spent some time here looking at the various pools and steaming vents. We were quite wet and cold from the wind and rain so we welcomed the warmth that blew over us from this region.

The walk onwards to the Boiling Lake took another hour crossing stream beds with more steep descents and ascents to keep us warm. The boiling lake was eventually reached as we arrived at a plateau looking down at the lake. At times you could not see it due to the mist, condensation and clouds. But when we could see it it was quite awesome; a crater lake looking like a huge boiling cauldron. We took plenty of pics. Many of them had to be deleted due to the lack of visibility.

Here also is another video montage. Unfortunately, the lake itself is hard to see in this.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB1PIFTdCRo[/youtube]

The way back was hard word. In particular, the ascent from the Valley of Desolation back to the high point of the trail was a real struggle. We arrived back at the start point in very good time only to end up waiting over 2 hours in the rain for the ride back. To add to this, the minivan driver stopped off to pick up a takeaway dinner in Roseau which added to the time it took to get back. We were back on the boat by about 6pm, ate, then fell asleep.

Today we’re a little stiff and plan to rest up. We will be doing some boat prep later today as we plan to sail to Roseau tomorrow and onward to Martinique on Friday.