Well, as Michael said, “Sometimes it is hard to be a Broncos fan… “ But Roberta, who is a fan of both teams, was delighted that two western teams were in the Super Bowl, even if it was a pitiful football game. It was also fun to spend time with friends on Cutter Loose in the Rodney Bay marina.

A window opened up to head north again, so although it was a little more windy than we like, we set out for St Anne once more, our friend Gerry aboard. And it was a ride – with wind in the mid to upper 20’s and a tight wind angle we were struggling to point high enough to make our destination under sail. A little squall blew through just as we were approaching Martinique with Roberta hand steering, a reefed main and the staysail out - she saw 37.9k on the wind indicator! Whew! We arrived salty and tired, and thankful for a little rain wash-down.

In town we found that a threatened strike was in progress and there was no gas or diesel to be found. So once again, neither rental car nor island touring – and judicious generator and dinghy use. But we did anchor amongst several friends, including Lady Hawk, friends we had been hoping to see on their way south. So a group of us spent a few days snorkeling together, exploring the town, and three evenings on one another’s boats noshing and tasting various island rums before heading in different directions. One of the hard things about cruising is the constant saying goodbye… but sooner or later we all see one another again somewhere.

After three nights, with friends on Scherzo, we sailed west around the corner and into Petite Anse D’Arlet, a charming little town, which, like the other coastal towns here, rolls up the sidewalks between 12 and about 4 or 5pm. Everything happens in the morning (especially if you want to find any produce, a croissant, pain au chocolat or bagette!), and the afternoon finds people napping on the beach.

Friends on Aspen were in the next bay up, so both Celilo and Scherzo moved 1.7 miles to Grand Anse, where upon arrival, we discovered additional friends on Banjo and made a new friend on As You Wish. There is also a protected snorkeling area here, so several of us enjoyed a rather cold hour in the water with wind howling and occasional spatters of rain. Eight of us had a delicious and hilarious dinner at a fabulous little café, under umbrellas that almost kept the rain off of us. Poor Gerry got pretty wet. It has been funny and fun to attempt to speak and understand French, and our hostess last night was patient and delightful – and spoke much better English than we spoke French, thankfully. These conversations in shops, restaurants, the market, and on the street lead to much pantomime, correction in pronunciation, many laughs, and a final French shrug and smile when we just don’t get it.

The overall weather has been squally a lot – mostly windy and rainy (with intermittent sun and we all start complaining about cold when it gets down to 74 degrees! And then remember how hard the States are getting hit this winter!) - but Feb 8 we awoke to a glorious sunny morning. Michael is struggling with our 7-year old house bank of batteries, which he is nursing along until we arrive in a place where we can replace them. Roberta repaired our American flag and is making a courtesy flag for Antigua.

Feb 9 we sailed 16 miles to St. Pierre, to stage for crossing to Dominica. The anchorage is tricky here – very deep, except for a narrow shelf and everyone crowds together. We parked a little close to a huge cat, and made new friends, Ron and Kathleen on Lady Amelie.

We enjoy St Pierre, with its sad history of being destroyed by Mt Pele’s eruption. The town has rebuilt using remaining stone walls and integrating them into the new buildings for an interesting juxtaposition of old and new. We found a new-to-us shop featuring products from Alsace with a charming small restaurant, comfortable couches, good Alsace beer, and great wifi.

One small disaster… the dinghy dock here is very tricky – high cement with no hand-holds and rings to tie up away from the few ladders. Michael was climbing out, with his backpack on, when the dinghy squirted out from under his feet and away from the dock. Kersplash! Aaaacccckkkk!!! Roberta’s ipad was safe in a dry bag, but Michael’s ipad case had an unnoticed hole and the salt water entered. No more ipad for gadget man ☹.

With no rental car to be found so we could all tour and hike up Mt Pele, and a tight anchorage with dragging boats (not any of our group!) we all cut our visit short and sailed off to Dominica.