Week 40 started off in St Pierre and finished off in Le
Marin, the yachting centre for Martinique.
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| St Pierre |
Martinique was called the Island of Flowers – Martinique
Madinina by the Caribs. It is the largest of the Windward Islands and is the
first in the chain approaching from the north. It has been predominantly under
French rule since it was colonized – few times it has been under British rule.
Information taken from 2013 – 2014 Sailors Guide to the
Windward Island by Chris Doyle 16th Edition pg 64.
“The Empress Josephine grew up in Martinique on a 200 acre,
150 slave estate near Trois Illets which is close to Fort de France.
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| Diamond Rock |
In 1804 the British were largely in control of the waters in
the Caribbean. There were not many ships available, so someone suggested that
Diamond Rock on the south coast of Martinique was about the place the British,
if they had another spare ship, would station one. They commissioned the rock
as a ship and equipped the rock with its steep, barren and extremely difficult
terrain with enough supplies and water for a full crew of men. For 18 months
H.M.S. Diamond Rock was in operation and was an unpleasant surprise for ships
sailing into Martinique.
Napoleon was furious as this was the birthplace of his dear
Josephine so ordered Admiral Villeneuve to free the rock and destroy Nelson.
Unfortunately Villeneuve only managed to liberate and hand the rock back to
France, as Nelson was given some poor information and sent on a wild goose chase,
landing up in Trinidad so he was unable to defend the rock.
Napoleon was not very pleased with Villeneuve because the
British were still in control of the Caribbean high seas, so he ordered
Villeneuve to report in disgrace. Villeneuve preferred to die than be disgraced
so he put his ill-prepared fleet to battle against Nelson at the battle of
Trafalgar. Ironically Nelson died, while Villeneuve survived.”
St Pierre was once the capital of Martinique and at times is
still referred to as the Paris of the Caribbean. It is a relatively small town
but it has a very interesting past. It is also quite cultured – some
interesting decorative art sculptures around the town like lots of different
Totem poles.
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| Mt Pelee |
St Pierre lies at the foot of the Mt Pelee volcano and back
in 1902 it had a population of over 30,000 inhabitants. The surrounding areas
were rich plantation areas of coffee, sugar, cocoa and for distilling rum,
which made quite a few of the plantation owners multi – millionaires.
In 1658, the last of the Carib residents were wiped out by
the European settlers and it is said that before the last ones died they
uttered horrendous curses saying that the mountain would take revenge. Well on 8
May 1902 on Ascension Day, it eventually took its revenge.
In early April 1902, the volcano gave a few warnings. On April
23 a considerable eruption occurred covering the town with ash which lead to an
influx of country folk into the town centre. On May 2 another major eruption
happened, once again covering the town in ash and killing birds and animals.
On that very same day, a planter named Pierre Laveniere who
owned an estate south of St Pierre, went with a few of his workers to inspect
the crops, when they were swept away by a huge avalanche of boiling mud.
On May 5 the same fate happened north of St Pierre on the
Guerin Estate when a volcanic effluent of mud, ash, lava, boiling gases and
rocks buried the estate along with many of the family members and workers.
Despite the many warning, the people of St Pierre did not
evacuate. Why? Well, it would have been a logistical nightmare as the roads
were very primitive and under-developed and the ferries which were the main
mode of transport did not have the capacity to cope with the number of people
involved.
The Governor at the time was Governor Mouttet – he had only
been Governor for less than a year and was hoping that the problem would just
simply disappear plus he didn’t want to upset the wealthy landowners and
business leaders who would have experienced huge financial loss if the city had
of been evacuated. He also did not want to go against them as it would have
hurt his political career.
Other factors also prevented the city from being evacuated.
One of them was the up and coming elections in which the black voters were
challenging the status quo for the very first time.
A few hundred people decided to evacuate and many others
were eye witness to the event as they were approaching St Pierre from Fort de
France for the Ascension Day church service when the side facing St Pierre
burst open and a gigantic ball similar to an atomic bomb was released. More
than 29,900 people were burned to death.
Only two people survived – one was a cobbler – Leon Leandre
and an inmate Auguste Cyparis who was
imprisoned for murder in a stone cell which was built in 1660 and later named
after him – Cachot de Cyparis. There were twelve ships anchored in the bay –
all were destroyed while one managed to escape with a few survivors on board.”
When one walks around St Pierre, you can see many of the
ruins from the devastating eruption. Some buildings have been renovated and remodelled
around and some of the ruins have been included in the renovations. The wrecks
of the ships are dotted around the bay and are popular dive sights.
Back to present day…..
Monday morning we walked around the town centre looking at
the ruins and stopping off for a cool drink and a lovely French pastry before
heading to the Gauguin Art Gallery which was in Le Carbets. Gauguin spent some
time in Le Carbets. We had checked with the Tourist Information Centre who
informed us that it would be open – all day, every day. We took a bus to the closest
bus stop to the Art Gallery and then walked to the Gallery, only to find it was
closed for the summer period. I was extremely disappointed and a bit annoyed.
That evening Mel and I treated ourselves to a meal at a
restaurant called Le Tamaya which was
named after one of the ships that was
sunk during the volcanic eruption on Ascension Day, May 8 1902. Apparently its
sister ship was meant to have joined it in the bay but arrived after Le Tamaya
only to find that there wasn’t enough room in the bay for it to anchor so
sailed and anchored in another bay further down the coast. It survived the
eruption – obviously.
We had a great sail – the wind was behind us so it was very
comfortable. All three sails were out, we were going at 5 – 6knots in winds of
about 10knots and the seas were calm. We even “fooled” around on the deck – a
rule we have is nobody goes on the fore deck unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary
and not without their life jackets on. Well it was so calm that Mel went on the
fore deck to have a look at the whole structure of the genoa in all its
fullness and I even went ahead. It is HUGE and an amazing sight to see.
Tuesday we were keen to walk up to the top of Mt Pelee –
every day the mountain had been clear of clouds but today it was covered. Ivo,
Mira and Maya were adamant that they were climbing to the top whereas Mel and I
were indifferent.
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| Mt Pelee - some of the many totem poles found in St Pierre |
The public transport in Martinique is quite expensive and
unreliable. There were not regular buses to take us to Mont Rouge (the highest
town in Martinique) from which we would then have to walk 2,5km up a rather
steep and windy road until we arrived at the car park which was the entrance to the trail up to the top of Mt
Pelee.
Mel and I walked up to the car park and couldn’t see the
volcano or the view to the Bay from the car park – I wasn’t prepared to spend
the next 2 – 3hours climbing to the top to see cloud and then another 2-3 hours
climbing back down only to have to wait indefinitely for a bus which apparently
doesn’t go that route in the afternoons as Ivo, Mira and Maya, later found out.
Mel and I walked back down to Mont Rouge, walked around the picturesque town
then caught a bus back down to St Pierre.
Wednesday we set sail for the capital city of Martinique –
Fort de France.
We had a great sail – the wind was behind us so it was very
comfortable. All three sails were out, we were going at 5 – 6knots in winds of
about 10knots and the seas were calm. We even “fooled” around on the deck – a
rule we have is nobody goes on the fore deck unless it is ABSOLUTELY necessary
and not without their life jackets on. Well it was so calm that Mel went on the
fore deck to have a look at the whole structure of the genoa in all its
fullness and I even went ahead. It is HUGE and an amazing sight to see.
We arrived at Fort de France and our anchor was down in
front of Fort St Louis just after lunch.
Fort de France, as mentioned previously is the capital of
Martinique and it is a shopper’s paradise with its many Parisian type fashion
bouquets and markets.
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| Fort St Louis |
Fort St Louis dominates the peninsular. It was built in 1638
during Louis XIII rule and part of it is closed to the public as it is used by
the military.
A prominent feature of the city is the Cathedrale Saint
Louis which was built in the late 1800’s. It is actually built on the sight of
six other churches – the first was constructed in 1671 and the Cathedral was
lasted renovated in 1978. Henri Picq, a well-known French architecture designed
it. Many of the island’s former governors are buried underneath the choir
gallery in the Cathedral. The steeple is 57m high.
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| Cathedrale Saint Louis |
Close to the cathedral and a building also designed by Henri
Picq, is the Bibliotheque Schoelcher.
Information taken from D.K. Eyewitness Travel Caribbean pg.
378
“The Bibliotheque Schoelcher pays homage to the French
abolitionist writer Victor Schoelcher. The domed coral- and – white library, a
mix of architectural styles, was constructed in Paris for the 1889 World
Exposition then dismantled and shipped to Fort de France and reassembled in 1893.
Today it houses more than 130,000 books, many of which were donated by
Schoelcher himself”
Throughout Guadeloupe and Martinique, there are many
streets, buildings and parks named after Victor Schoelcher.
Thursday and Friday were spent pretty much the same way – on
the boat for the main part of the morning as we were experiencing a tropical
wave and boy did it rain. In the afternoon we went ashore to Mc Donald’s as
there was Wi-Fi although it wasn’t exactly free. (You had to buy something and
on the docket was the Wi– Fi code as well as the code for the bathrooms – they
are catching on!) KFC was free so we spent most of Friday afternoon and again
Saturday morning in KFC.
Sunday morning we were up bright and early and sailing out
of Fort de France heading for Le Marin and St Anne’s on the south coast of
Martinique.
It was an amazing sight to see as to the north one could
just make out Dominica and then to the south you could see St Lucia, quite
clearly and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
We passed Diamond Rock just as the heavens opened. Thank
goodness Mel had reduced sail – as the wind was about 25knots!
Le Marin is the sailing mecca of Martinique. In this part of
the Windward Islands, until you reach Grenada or Trinidad – it is where we can
have anything we want or need arranged for your boat. Unfortunately the prices
are all in Euro’s but even then SOME items are even cheaper than in the States.
It is also a great place to stock up on provisions.
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| Just one of the marinas - so many boats |
As we were
approaching Le Marin we were flabbergasting as to the amount of yacht masts we
could see. We thought Georgetown in the Bahamas was full of boats/yachts – when
we arrived in Georgetown there were “only” about 250 – 300 yachts (at times
there has been between 700 – 800 yachts) but Le Marin takes the cake – I don’t
think any photos will do it justice in describing just how many boats there are
- either in the boat yards for storage, on mooring balls, in the marina or just
anchored. ( I have only taken a photo of the yachts in one of the marinas)
St Anne’s is less crowded and more relaxed than Le Marin. It
is where we will anchor and stay for a few days before we leave Martinique and
onto our next destination.
Talking about our next destination……. Well we are not sure
how long we will be in Le Marin as Mel and I are undecided whether we are going
to St Lucia next or to head SE to Barbados. Ivo, Mira and Maya (Fata Morgana)
are keen for us to join them to Barbados and we are tempted to go. We need a
weather window that has a NE component in it and of course we have to watch out
for any hurricanes. St Lucia is only 24nmiles while Barbados is an overnighter
– at least 90nmiles.
Barbados is SE of the Windward Islands and not “many”
yachties go to Barbados because it is not an easy sail – remember the
prevailing winds are easterlies and at this time of year the winds are predominantly
east or SE. Barbados only has one main anchorage and that is Carlisle Bay which
is known to be a rolly anchorage. IF we
went, we would not stay for long – 2 -3 days and then head SW to Grenada where
we hope to get our new solar panels. (Mel is busy organising them from the
States and we just have to decide what we are doing so they can be sent out to
Grenada). We would then head up north to St Lucia and St Vincent and the
Grenadines before heading back south to Trinidad and Tobago before the year end
and Passages goes into storage.
Decisions, decisions decisions……. Life is tough I know!
Take care – until next time.
Love
Captain Mel and Admiral Caryn/xx
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| Mel fooling around on the bow sprit - He was doing his Titanic bit |
