Sailing North Trinidad to Martinique
02 April 2014 | St. Pierre - Martinique
Bert Blue Sky E 15kn Wind
After two weeks of very mild weather it was predicted that starting Monday March 17, 2014 the north/east trade wind would increase together with higher swells also from the north/east. To reach Grenada before this increase of wind and waves we left Trinidad on Sunday evening for a night sail. The first part of trip was great and Island Girl made good progress with a speed of 7.4 kn. close to her maximum theoretical hull speed. It was full moon and it was a very nice sail. However, around midnight we encountered a very large rainless squall which increased the wind for about 45 minutes to 35 KN and resulting higher waves. At the same time we had more current on the nose and this reduced the speed. But we still made good time and arrived in Grenada around 9:30 AM. It was our intention to clear immigration and customs and depart the next morning for Carriacou but during the day the weather deteriorated further and we knew from last years’ experience of the colliding currents north of Grenada near Isla Ronde and "Kick Em Jenny" that can generate very rough seas, so we decided to wait till the next milder weather window which would be Monday March 24, 2014 as all the forecasters agreed on.
So we stayed a week in Grenada and that was a very good decision. People we knew from our stay in Grenada last year during the hurricane season welcomed us like longtime friends and we felt home again. We did some shopping, Dorothy had her hair done in a salon in the marina, spent time on the Grand Anse Beach and snorkeled above the Underwater Sculpture Park with a circle of sculptures of children. The water in the area is crystal clear with an abundance of fish. We attended a presentation of fellow cruisers we met in Guyana and Trinidad about their experience in Guyana. Our taxi driver George who drove us many times in the past and who was going to take us to the restaurant in another bay where the presentation was going to take place had lunch with his colleagues and asked us to join them for a bowl of fish soup cooked by one of the other taxi drivers and we can say this was the best fish soup we ever had tasted. The soup contained large chunks of fish, craw fish that looked more like baby lobsters, dumplings, sweet potato, dasheen, carrots and lots of other vegetables in a very tasty and hearty broth. So we paid George for the ride and had a free lunch! Grenada is beautiful but its people make it even more special and we know we will return to this island. In Port Louis Marina the marina where we stayed last year we saw the world largest sailboat. The Eos is a three-masted Bermuda rigged schooner. The ship is one of the largest private sailing yachts in the world, and as of 2009 is owned by movie and media billionaire Barry Diller husband of fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg. According to a 2007 article in Harper's Bazaar, Eos features a figurehead of Von Fürstenberg sculpted by Anh Duong. Its overall length measures approximately 305 feet (92.92m). Sean, who took care of our boat last year and did all the varnish work on Island Girl is now working on this boat to update the varnish. All the railings of the boat on all 4 decks need varnishing and a crew of 4 including Sean is working on this job (See Pictures).
We left Grenada on Monday morning and sailed to Carriacou were we met Pantxe from “Banda A Part”. We met him and his wife in Suriname and later on in Tobago. Pantxe and his wife Arantrxa sailed with their 24 ft. boat from France to Brazil, Suriname, Tobago, Grenada to Carriacou and then realized that the Caribbean is too difficult for this kind of boat. Arantrxa flew home and Pantxe is fixing the boat in preparation to sell it and return by plane to France as well. After an early rise we sailed the following day to Bequia in The Grenadines. We went to bed early so we could wake up the next morning at daylight to make the longest sail of this trip to Antigua in one day. This is a distance of about 72 miles and we made it in a very exciting sail starting at 5:45 in the morning and arriving in Rodney Bay at 4:45 in the afternoon. Island Girl showed us that she knows how to sail with the wind close on the nose with an average speed of 6.5 KN and a maximum of 8.4kn. The only part that was difficult was approaching Baleine Point on the northern tip of St. Vincent; the “cape effect” delivers fifteen minutes of 35 knot wind gusts and waves of at least 10 ft. It appears that Dorothy and I are slowly becoming sailors as we did not mind anymore that Island Girl was heeling on a regular basis between 15 and 20 degrees. During the crossing from Bequia and St. Vincent we watched the largest dolphin show on our trip so far. We counted over 20 dolphins racing in front of us and making a big splash. This was really exciting. Arriving in Rodney Bay our depth finder suddenly stopped working so we had to anchor based on locations of other boats.
The next morning we checked into Rodney Bay Marina that we consider the best and cost effective marina in the Caribbean. After we read a story from Peter and Margie who are circumnavigating cruisers and fellow members of the Matheson Hammock Yacht Club how during one of the most difficult parts of the Indian Ocean in the middle of the night their boom fang got detached from their boom (http://blog.mailasail.com/peregrina/99), I checked our boom fang on a regulator basis and it was a big surprise to find a broken bolt on the deck and it turned out to be that 2 bolts of the connection of the boom fang and the boom were broken, one was missing and the other three were loose. So I felt lucky to be in the marina and to be able to fix this problem. We spent 3 wonderful days in St. Lucia. We visited the Saturday open market in Castries and it looked like that one half of the population is selling and the other half is buying mostly produce and fruit, but also many other items. We purchased a dominoes set so we can play on the boat. In a small alley you will find on both sides small food stalls with a table and some chairs outside. We ordered our lunch and asked for “a little bit of everything good” to be able to taste all the different dishes. And it was delicious and I consider it one of the best meals I ever had. Two cruisers from Poland joined us at our table and we enjoyed a good conversation. When we arrived back in the marina a group of passengers was boarding a small ferry in the slip next to Island Girl for the trip to Martinique and we started a conversation with a French couple on their way back to Paris, France via Martinique. The man helped putting a few fuel jugs on our boat and just when the ferry was ready to leave he jumped off the boat and gave us a bottle of Blush Wine from France! The wine was excellent and went very well with the pork roast we had that evening.
On Monday the last day of March we sailed to Martinique and took a free mooring buoy in Grande Anse D’ Arlet just south of Fort de France the capital of Martinique. We had a great sail with speeds up to 8.0 KN and east wind of 15 to 22 KN. The bay was very rolling and we had to put our mattress on the floor to have a good night sleep. The next day we sailed along the coast of Martinique to St. Pierre. Last year we stayed over 2 weeks in St. Pierre; this time we were planning to stay for one night only and sail the next day to Dominica, but Dorothy fell when the boat rolled during one of the big swells in Grande Anse D’ Arlet and hurt her back, so we decided to take an extra day on anchor to give her back more time to heal. Today we are also expecting to “re-connect” with a couple Ellen and Martin we met last year in Guadeloupe and who gave us the idea to sail to Suriname. This day will also give me the opportunity to do my administration and complete this blog.
So we will describe the remainder of our trip to Antigua in our next blog.