Fool Me Once, Shame On You; Fool Me Twice, You Raise My Ire
11 December 2013 | St. Anne, Martinique
Lynn
St. Anne is a lovely little Martiniquais beach town. There are a number of very nice restaurants, cafes, boutiques and generally touristy hangouts. It is the last place to pick things up before getting to the gorgeous beaches at the south end of the island at Pte Salines. St. Anne has the basics we require to enjoy our stay, but it does lack in some things that we seek out when in the French islands. They also don't have a Customs computer in town.
About 3 miles away, as the dinghy flies, or just over 4 miles away by road, is the marine hotbed of le Marin. This is nestled around part of the bay of the same name. There is a very large marina, which is accompanied by all of the marine suppliers and services one would expect with such a large collection of boats. The bay is full of boats moored or anchored, and there are little side bays that provide excellent protection when required (we know folks, Sheryl and Paul, who weathered a Tropical Storm in one of those bays this past Hurricane season, and filmed it for their TV show, "Distant Shores"). There are also a number of supermarkets, and the "Capitainerie" (marina office) has Customs computers available to check in and out. Maybe I should mention that the French Islands allow you to check in and out by filling out the info on a computer, then having the form stamped and signed by an employee of the marina/store/tourism office the computer(s) are in. We don't enjoy anchoring in that bay as the swimming and other things are much more pleasant, in our opinions, in St. Anne.
When we arrived after the PITA trip from St. Lucia on Saturday, we got the dinghy together for going ashore. By that point I had looked at a road map and decided that I would go by foot to le Marin the next morning to check in on the computer. I knew that it was roughly 4-5 miles, and I was up to doing a long run, with walking if necessary, to "get `er done". It ended up being 4.2 miles, one way, according to my GPS watch. The road wasn't so bad, nor was the run in both directions.
Our reasoning for not wanting to take the dinghy around to le Marin is that it is a LONG way to go by dinghy. The bay is also big enough that the fetch can create some decent sized waves for a little inflatable, making for a very rough and wet ride. We are not alone in this thinking.
Ken and I wanted to go to le Marin to check out a few things, and buy a widget or two for the boat. We decided to walk there, and catch the bus back. During my runs, walks and general out and abouts, I had frequently noticed the number 1 bus plying the route between St. Anne and le Marin. This should be easy. Ken was keen to do the walk, as he had been on the boat for the last couple of days fighting a flu bug. He was ready to go for it, and I am always up for a walk.
By the time we reached le Marin, Ken discovered that his new sandals, that we thought he had broken in, were not perfect for his feet. He had one miserable blister broken, and a couple more ready to join in. No problem, we picked up bandaids when we picked up the cheese, ham and baguette for our lunch at a supermarket. Besides, we had no intention of walking all that much farther.