Visiting Roseau, and onwards
15 April 2019 | Les Anses d’Arlet, Martinique
Graham Walker
How did it suddenly become the 15th of April? We’re halfway through another month, and it’s now only two weeks until we wrap it all up for the season. Ouch.
Yesterday we slipped early and headed down the coast to Roseau. The last time we passed this way we had intended to stop at Roseau, but it looked really messed up with the hurricane and there was not another boat in the place. We were a little concerned for security at the time. So this time we were really pleased to see lots of other boats in the bay and Marcus, the local mooring and security man, out on the water welcoming people in. There were about 25 boats in the bay by nightfall. We went ashore for a walk through town. It’s a town of many parts; not picturesque when viewed from the sea where much hurricane damage is still visible, but neat, colourful, busy and lively once you get ashore. There was a local 5-a-side football tournament on so we were invited in to watch – two games being played side by side, with the commentator commenting on both games simultaneously. Then we took a wander through the centre of town, and were sent by a group of guys on a trip to the botanical gardens – once we’d joined them for a welcome drink. On the way back we were entertained to some great gospel music being played in the street outside the church, with loudspeakers larger than the singers. The people we met were ultra friendly and glad to see visitors - and we were glad we had visited.
A note on going ashore in Roseau: normally we always lock the dinghy to the pier when we leave it. This time there was no way to do this, but Marcus (the moorings and security man) said “no need to lock up your dinghy - I am the lock”! One look at Marcus, and you realise that no one is going to mess with him or his patch. After dark he made tours of the moored boats to ensure all was in order.
We enjoyed a lovely evening of dinner and cards on SY Cloud Shadow with Scot and Rose – lots of fun – many thanks.
Today we said goodbye to Dominica (until we meet again) and sailed south fast to Martinique, dropping anchor in the south of the island in a bay off the little town of Les Anses d’Arlet. We will use this as a jumping off point for a longer hop to our next destination, Bequia.