Windy in St. Anne, Martinique

We are still plagued by sparse internet; decreasing our ability to communicate here and elsewhere.  As previously discussed, the changes in technology are the problem.  Not only have Wifi devices made it easier to provide the services, they have made it very easy for the owner to block the services to those who are not the targetted customer.  We have tried to catch up: paying when we could for poor service, using our devices in bars and restaurants where the conversation and socializing make it difficult, and even acquiring a smartphone to use telephone internet.  The problem with the latter is that the branches of the company: Digicel; will not work together.   We have followed their advice, but every time we change islands, Digicel empties the telephone account and leaves us to go to a bar or restaurant and send an email to attempt to get the money or credit back.  Specifically, this occurs each time we enter French territory, and has occurred three times!  We have given up, and will not activate the telephone again until we arrive in St. Lucia.

(Sorry about the out of order pics but using the iPad for this blog is something yet to figure out. The pics are from a hike along the beach today in St.Anne, Martinique with Al and Michele, Lorna and Brian and Steve and Maria.)

As far as we can tell, our last contact by weblog was February 14th, in Prince Rupert Bay, Dominica, with pictures of a sundowner party (which would have been a supper-party if they had not lost their running water), turtle pics from Guadeloupe, and carnival pictures from Isles des Saintes.  I'm not sure if we told you that our next objective was to meet Lorna (Dawn's sister) and Brian, s/v "Peace and Plenty" in Dominica.  As followers of their weblog know, they have arranged to have their rigging replaced, and have had terrible trouble getting it done: spending much of the season mastless (no-mast-eh) in Rodney Bay.  We got word that they had the spar up and were underway, so the plan was gelling.

Since that posting, we enjoyed a fun barbecue with the Dominicans, and took a tour of the island with Peter and Catherine of s/v "Charlotte D" and 2 other couples.  It  was fun to spend time with them, and that was the primary value of the day; as it was our third tour of Dominica, and easily the least exciting or informative.  However, with news that Peace and Plenty would be staying in St. Anne, Martinique while they waited for parts, we made plans to leave, and said our temporary goodbyes to the many people we know in the bay.

We left the next day, Wednesday the 18th, and once again spent way too much time with the motor running as we attempted to get to a safe anchorage in Martinique before dark.  Denis said it was only a fair weather window, but high winds would fill in afterwards and if we didn't go, we'd have to stay another week.  He suggested that we might get gusts over 30 knots in the opening between the two islands, so after attempting to sail all down the west side of Dominica in low and contrary winds, I decreased sail to the minimum for main and jib just before hitting open water.  I also angled 5 miles out from land to get out of the "acceleration zones" that typically exist along the edges of these tall islands.  We certainly did get up to 33 knots at times, and between times the boat had to trudge along in 15-18 knots in the outrageous seas and with little canvas up.  Denis had warned that 8 foot high waves would be greeting us - and they were - but it was the sharp four-footers that tended to cause the hard feelings as they slapped us around and filled the cockpit with salt.  Still, with properly shortened sail the stronger winds were actually interesting and enjoyable - a sign that we are getting used to these wildly varying conditions in the Caribbean.

However, our plans for a speedy sail were dashed by the variable conditions, and we dropped anchor off the Town of St. Pierre, the first real opportunity for good shelter in Martinique, and had a nice evening watching the shore and open streets while the town had their final Carnival night, with the final parades, drumming, and a gathering on the beach to burn some symbolic figure.

We checked in again with Denis, while we were under way down the west coast of Martinique, and he and others with internet access provided some evidence on how to approach the weather.  We again enjoyed high winds as we sailed past the opening of the great bay of Fort de France; but with the seas quite low it just made for enjoyable boating.  However, rather than carry on to Diamond Rock and round up for the 2+ hours of effort to St. Anne, we dropped into Grande Anse D'Arlet to await an expected 4-6 knot drop in the wind.  Hilariously, s/v "Tarentella" were in there, and Al ran out with his dinghy to assist in connecting us up to one of the remaining moorings.  Dawn suggested we should tip this Canadian boat boy with a Trinidad dollar (aboout 20 cents Canadian)!

We believe waiting until 2pm did result in a lowering of the wind, but still, the strong current against the wind at the corner resulted in monsterous waves that really banged at us as we pushed around.  The wind was still fresh as we turned the corner, and it took us about 3 hours to motor-sail in tight tacks upwind to St. Anne.

Since here, we've been welcomed into a large community of "expat" Rodney Bay cruisers, gotten parts from the chandlers and fixed key pieces of gear, hiked to the super beaches of the south coast, and enjoyed lots of French cuisine.

We'll be here until the next weather window, expected next Tuesday at which time we'll head south to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.