Diarmuid
Super Anarchist
I think he was from Minnesota originally. Just spent a decade or so as a ski/climbing bum in Western Canada. So we should cut him some slack.
Chasing Elegua
- Thread starter Ajax
- Start date
Elegua
Generalissimo
You guys move fast and make lots of miles. I saw you on ship tracker. We should be there by June. Just arrived in Martinique from Dominica. We want to climb Pele and explore some of the east side with some friends. Plus I need more Rhum Agricole. The Martinique rhums have an AOC and so are quite good. I’ve never done the E Caribbean so I will probably make a bunch of stops in the Grenadines , maybe St Lucia. We need to be in Trini NLT July 3rd.
I have a bottle of Trois Rivieres, 1976, that has remained unopened all these years after buying it in Sainte-Anne. It reminds me of my first cruising in the Caribbean in the late 1970s, and what a great time we had back then.
Opening it might break the spell of those memories. It's more of a talisman than a bottle of rhum agricole.
Elegua
Generalissimo
You went at the right time. It’s a bit crowded these days. Trois Rivières is a nice rhum.
Elegua
Generalissimo
Anyone have some good info on the East coast of Martinique? The West and South are pretty but super crowded.
We’re buddy boating with a much more experienced couple and we’re thinking about doing the East coast once the trades settle a bit.
We’re buddy boating with a much more experienced couple and we’re thinking about doing the East coast once the trades settle a bit.
Elegua
Generalissimo
Thanks. I found a couple but they were very vague.
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Jud - s/v Sputnik
Super Anarchist
Wow, looking at those links to the Outremer/Grand Large cruising rally is such a different world. Somehow repellent yet intriguing to watch at the same time.
Elegua
Generalissimo
I have to be careful saying this, as some of my best cruising friends drive cats....but thus far, 9 times out of ten, if there is light or sound pollution in an anchorage it is coming from a catamaran. 9.9 out of ten charter boats are cats and all the nonsense that comes with bare-boat charters comes with them. Many are ugly, take up a yuge amount of space, are running yuge ribs around at all hours and can be seen from space. Around 10% of cats are really cool boats that sail very well. That last figure probably holds true for the shrinking and aging mono fleet.
Elegua
Generalissimo
Dominica - worth a stop, maybe a week is enough. If you stay two weeks or less and don't change crew, you can check-in and out at the same time. Very convenient. Pick your day and a sail from the Saints in Guadeloupe, or even better, Marie Galant, it's a calm reach across 20+nmi.
The people are nice, the Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services are friendly and very patient even with the cheep kruzers that anchor and then start dragging to Central America. We saw that happen at least 3 or 4 times in the week and a half we were there. The PAYS guys would run out and catch the boat, hauling up the heavy all-chain rode and anchor by hand because people didn't leave their windlasses on. The bottom is thick grass and if you don't find a sandy spot, then the grass layer can just peel up and away you go...
They meet and "claim" you on the way in, though pretty relaxed in all. You can pick and choose what services you want. They even set up a "water buoy" where you moor up and for 50EC you can use as much as you want. We went a bit nuts filling and washing everything, including ourselves. It was a bit like Holi, but instead of throwing gulal, it was water. Dominica doesn't have a lot since the medical school left, so it's one of the few places that "yachties" are actively courted, but unlike many other islands it is blessed with a surfeit of water.
I'm cheep so we anchored in 5' of water at low tide and I carefully dropped the anchor into a sandy hole to avoid the ignominy of not paying, dragging and being rescued; perhaps a little too close to shore. People could paddle or swim out and ask us for things (including a French couple looking for a ride to St Martin).
They have the best restored fort I've seen so far. You can rent it out for functions.
Make sure you pay your bills before departure. These are the original cannons.
The fish is excellent, fresh and inexpensive. Unfortunately for the fisherman, poor outside links means their catch is for local consumption.
Pan seared fresh mahi with a vermouth, garlic, shallot, butter-lemon sauce. No veggies you ask? Saturday market was the day after and we were out of veg. Veg that like a lot of water - tomatoes, cucumbers, celery are cheap and plentiful. Veggies that like drier conditions like onions are imported from Guadeloupe.
The interior is interesting. Usually you need to have a guide which isn't cheep. There's an expat merchant marine AB seaman running a goat farm with very good cheese and a small chocolatier. Picked up a supply of genuine Dominica Bay Rum.
Departing Dominica for Martinique we used the squalls coming down the mountains to get us out of the lee into the channel between the islands. This time was more sporty, 8' swell with 6-7" interval and gusts to the high 20's, but it was a fast beam reach and it was the best conditions we were supposed to get for another week.
The people are nice, the Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services are friendly and very patient even with the cheep kruzers that anchor and then start dragging to Central America. We saw that happen at least 3 or 4 times in the week and a half we were there. The PAYS guys would run out and catch the boat, hauling up the heavy all-chain rode and anchor by hand because people didn't leave their windlasses on. The bottom is thick grass and if you don't find a sandy spot, then the grass layer can just peel up and away you go...
They meet and "claim" you on the way in, though pretty relaxed in all. You can pick and choose what services you want. They even set up a "water buoy" where you moor up and for 50EC you can use as much as you want. We went a bit nuts filling and washing everything, including ourselves. It was a bit like Holi, but instead of throwing gulal, it was water. Dominica doesn't have a lot since the medical school left, so it's one of the few places that "yachties" are actively courted, but unlike many other islands it is blessed with a surfeit of water.
I'm cheep so we anchored in 5' of water at low tide and I carefully dropped the anchor into a sandy hole to avoid the ignominy of not paying, dragging and being rescued; perhaps a little too close to shore. People could paddle or swim out and ask us for things (including a French couple looking for a ride to St Martin).
They have the best restored fort I've seen so far. You can rent it out for functions.
Make sure you pay your bills before departure. These are the original cannons.
The fish is excellent, fresh and inexpensive. Unfortunately for the fisherman, poor outside links means their catch is for local consumption.
Pan seared fresh mahi with a vermouth, garlic, shallot, butter-lemon sauce. No veggies you ask? Saturday market was the day after and we were out of veg. Veg that like a lot of water - tomatoes, cucumbers, celery are cheap and plentiful. Veggies that like drier conditions like onions are imported from Guadeloupe.
The interior is interesting. Usually you need to have a guide which isn't cheep. There's an expat merchant marine AB seaman running a goat farm with very good cheese and a small chocolatier. Picked up a supply of genuine Dominica Bay Rum.
Departing Dominica for Martinique we used the squalls coming down the mountains to get us out of the lee into the channel between the islands. This time was more sporty, 8' swell with 6-7" interval and gusts to the high 20's, but it was a fast beam reach and it was the best conditions we were supposed to get for another week.
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Elegua
Generalissimo
Here’s a clean and interesting little motor sailor M/V Nautical Disasters, home port St John’s NL. I wonder if it got here on its own bottom?
Elegua
Generalissimo
Getting through fringing reefs is a skill set I don't really have...We don't have these in Maine.
...but the payoff is good. Probably good practice for later. Now that I’m here it occurs to me the hard part might be getting out again…
Nice to cruise in the company of friends that do have the skills.
...but the payoff is good. Probably good practice for later. Now that I’m here it occurs to me the hard part might be getting out again…
Nice to cruise in the company of friends that do have the skills.
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sculpin
Super Anarchist
Pro tip: follow a boat that has deeper draft than you do...
pro tip 2: Don't try to visually navigate through reefs and/or coral with the sun ahead of you, or with no sun at all.Pro tip: follow a boat that has deeper draft than you do...
Elegua
Generalissimo
That’s easy. Board up we draw 4.5’.Pro tip: follow a boat that has deeper draft than you do...
TheDragon
Super Anarchist
Depth is seldom the issue, current was my major problem in French Polynesia, spent three nights outside hove to trying to get into Makemo atoll.
