Aboard Dignity (Lagoon 420) Blog

This is our last stop in Martinique. The winds were very light this morning but we sailed anyway as there was no rush. We anchored fine first time quite close to the dock. The beach is quaint but touristy. The beach front provides plenty of restaurants of which we availed ourselves to rid our wallets of our remaining euros. Checking out took about a minute as I had the files ready.

On our way onto land we popped by a British boat called Tiger Frightener to drop off some bananas. When we were back in Marin we managed to acquire a box of bananas off the back of a lorry for 2 euros. Despite placing the bunches in various parts of the boat they are becoming ripe mostly at the same time. We had hoped they would ripen while our guests were here. While we were able to send them home with a few we still have far too many. Tiger Frightener are also off to St Lucia so we may well meet up with them in a couple of days.

We were up early this morning (4am) to drop our guests ashore for their taxi to the airport. They didn’t have to wait long so at least that part of their journey went well. Having got up neither Helen nor I could go back to sleep so we’re feeling a little tired.

Today has been all shopping and provisioning. We first took a bus to the Galleria Mall outside of Fort-de-France. It very much felt like being back in the USA. We had a list of things to look for. We walked all around the mall and then all around the adjacent area. In the end, we did manage to find a network cable for a reasonable price in a Home Depot like store but nothing else on our list was to be found.

This afternoon we’ve made a couple of trips to the local supermarket to load up on what’s cheap here : cheese, beer and wine. We have quite a lot now on the boat which should last 2-3 months if we’re sensible.

Tonight we’re going to relax, watch a bit of TV and probably go to sleep early. Tomorrow morning we’re off to Grand Anse d’Arlet where we’ll stay a day before heading of to St Lucia on Monday. Plan still remains to stay in Rodney Bay for a few days and do some boat chores and our taxes (yach). Then we’ll head down the coast and see some of the places we recently passed by.

Tonight we had our last supper with our guests aboard Dignity. Being Friday, it was of course curry. In order to get to the airport we’re back again anchored off Fort-de-France. It’s been a good day here as the strike is really and definitely over. The shops are open, in particularly the supermarkets. We’ve begun loading the boat with the provision that are cheap here: wine, beer and coffee.

Our stay in Case Pilote ended up being quite short. All except for Helen did go ashore for a while but the charm of the ‘quaint fishing village’ was fairly limited. It was more of a fledgeling fishing factory with a bit of a town next to it. There was a pretty main square but that was about it.

We therefore left in the morning and headed to the other side of the bay from Fort-de-France. We first tried anchoring in Trois-Islets but found the water to be murky and the bottom muddy and hard to anchor in. We ended up off Anse Matin, a touristy beach, around the corner. The water was clearer and allowed for some snorkeling.

Later this morning we’ll be off to Fort-de-France so that our guests can leave early in the morning. We’ll do some more loading up of cheap French wine and will probably take a bus trip to visit the malls in the Industrial Zone. Most importantly we should be able to get an internet connection, catch up on the last weeks mail and upload all our pics.

Since we bought the trolling line in Dominica we’ve had it out on practically every sail with no effect. Last night, on a whim, I threw over a hook on a line with a shrimp from dinner as bait and left it overnight. This morning we found what I think was a bar jack on the line. Excitement. Not the only excitement we had overnight. Around 2am, the only other boat in the anchorage, a 51ft charter boat, slipped it’s anchor caught ours and nearly bumped into us. We were awoken by a commotion and joined in the shoving to protect our boats. Fortunately there was no damage.