We enjoyed a great sail from St. Lucia to Martinique and while in the channel a Wahoo decided to eat the Rapalla lure that Jonathon had set up. Look at the size of this fish! We will have a VERY nice fish dinner for our guests! John gave a few nice steaks away to other cruisers we met.
We are in Marin hoping for a spot at the marina but this week there are 100 yachts coming in for the finish of the Trans-Quadra race. It is a 15 day race from Madera (North of the Canary Islands) so there is no room at the inn but we have a nice spot in the anchorage to watch the Hobie Cat races and the local square-rigged Yole’s. We finally hooked up with friends from “Yapuka” and “Jambalaya” and invited them onboard for an impromptu Congratulatory (for finishing their Trans-Atlantic Crossings) Happy Hour complete with champagne from Tunisia!
Martinique is The Isle of Flowers. It’s beginnings started over 2,000 years ago by the Arawak Indians. Christopher Columbus landed here in 1502 during his 4th expedition. The Islands main industry was sugar cane…hence the ten rum distilleries here. A lot of the population has roots from Africa as slaves were brought over to work the plantations. In 1804 Josephine, wife of Napolean Bonaparte, was born here on one of the sugar plantations her family owned. On May 8th, 1902, Mount Pelee erupted and destroyed the town of St. Pierre, killing all but one inhabitant (30,000 people total). The one who lived was a prisoner spared by the prison’s thick walls.
Tonight we explored the town of St. Anne. Even though it was Sunday, a lot of pre-Carnival activity was going on. A woman on the street was frying some delicious smelling Creole-Crudite’s. The town was bustling with a lot of women dressed up as prostitutes and old junk cars with “police” painted on them barely getting up the hills. We sat, got a drink, and just watched all the crazy activity going on.
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