We sailed on to Martinique, stopping again at St Pierre where check was again very easy in the local cafe. The town was much more lively than on our previous visit with a weekend Rasta festival with stalls of local crafts and music til the wee small hours. In between frequent rain showers we hiked up the steep road to the statue of the Madonna overlooking the bay, stopping to pick and eat the odd mango from the trees by the wayside.

After 2 nights we sailed on to Petit Anse D'Arlet, again a place we had visited on the way northwards with Bill and Liz. This time, however, we spent 3 nights in this lovely quiet anchorage and explored the local area, including a couple of walks to nearby Grand Anse D'Arlet where we could check out, again in a local café. The roads are well made in the French islands, and this one even had a cycle/pedestrian track, albeit only about 50 yards long, which took us past some cattle and a huge but friendly (according to Dave!) bull. We treated ourselves to a pizza in a beach-side bar frequented by the locals and enjoyed relaxing for the few days we were there.