Upon saying goodbye to friends on Sea Rose we returned to Marin Marina for a scheduled service of the engine for warranty purposes. The engine looked good, the work was done quickly and we pointed the boat northwards along the Martinique coast towards the pretty anchorage of Les Anses D'Arlet for an overnight, and immediately spied turtles as we set the anchor. On the way, we passed near Diamond Rock rising abruptly from the sea.

The next morning we continued on to St Pierre, a charming city near the base of Mount Pelee, a volcano that erupted in 1902, decimating the city and most of its population. While wandering the small city, we saw remains of buildings around every corner, dark stone walls that are a reminder of the power of nature. The weather had turned squally, rain then sun, repeat. The very kind harbor master who helped us pick up a mooring ball impressed us by bringing our clearance paperwork out to the boat in the evening as the office electricity had stopped working during the daytime hours. While in town, we found a beach side restaurant with a canopy offering good shelter from the rain. We splurged on dessert and decided to try a drink, as we were a bit thirsty. We asked the waitress about a drink called Ti-Punch, and she excitedly explained with a heavy French accent what the drink was. But we didn't receive what we thought was a traditional rum punch with fruit juice and rum, but a small glass of straight up rum. Apparently the national drink of Martinique, it's a special rhum (agricole) made from cane sugar. One adds a spoonful of sugar to taste, sip, enjoy. Kind of fun to accidentally try something new!

The next day we thought we would visit a museum dedicated to the eruption, but as we rounded the corner 3 tour buses were unloading their passengers; instead we read the outdoor information plaques describing the various ships sunk as we gazed out onto the harbor. We went a bit crazy purchasing treats and bread at 2 tasty bakeries, including sandwiches and decided to have a picnic after a brisk walk uphill. The walk was steep up a narrow road through the lush hillside, passing classic small Caribbean homes with million dollar views, small farms, sheep. The road ended with a gravel trail where a huge statue of the Virgin Mary resides, lit at night, casting her gaze over the entire anchorage. She was knocked off her perch during the volcano eruption but was lovingly replaced as the city rebuilt as the plaque explains near the statute.

We returned to the beach to eat and soon a huge pit bull came to drool near my shoulder, thankfully friendly, he plopped onto the sand near my feet and took a snooze. The family playing in the sand next to us thought it was our dog. We wandered the veggie market and returned to the boat to prep for a sporty passage to Dominica the next morning.