Mt. Pele, St. Pierre in Martinique

Last Thursday, the 24th, while in St. Pierre, Dawn and I hiked through the town to the north side of the river to visit an attraction called:  Centre de Decouverte des Sciences et de la Terre, or known to we anglophones as the Earth Sciences Centre, where we hoped to get more technical information  on Mount Pele and her penchant for mischief.  Mischief is probably not the best word when the earth rumbles and chooses to blow away approximately 30,000 people.  The building and exhibits were constructed in 2002, by the government on the 100 year anniversary of the disaster.

On the way, we passed the ruins of one of the larger former churches, this one having been almost totally obliterated on May 8th, 1902, actually during the church service, by the largest explosion of the volcano.  Estimates are that the pyroclastic flow took three minutes to get down to the hill, and likely very few of the worshipers likely even got to stand up from their pews.  Here is a picture of the ruins:

Church ruins where many people were the day Mt. Pele blew

Earth Science Center overlooking Mt. Pele

View of the center from the road

Mt. Pele taken from the Science Center

This is a view of the mountain from the Earth Sciences Centre, as well as one of the front of the Centre, which faces the mountain:

When we arrived, we found the staff had very little English to assist us, and my efforts at speaking french were not getting us too far.  However, almost immediately, they passed us two hand-held devices that had recordings in English to supplement the experience for English visitors.  We found that there were 19 stations around the complex, and the device had special recordings for each station.  In the end, we were convinced that the english visitors left knowing more than others.  As well, every hour on the half hour, they ran a fantastic movie in the enclosed theatre that covered the disaster as well as the developments in vulcanology that resulted from it.  It turns out, with the St. Pierre disaster being the largest modern volcano disaster, it pushed the great leaps in the science of vulcanology.

An exquisite map of Martinique using Google Earth Technology!

Laurie is trying to find the route we took a couple weeks ago to climb to (almost) the top of Mt. Pele.

Looking down at Fort de France, the capital.

Wandering around inside while we listened to the 19 stations while looking at photos.

A poster in the hallway giving us more insight into the center of the volcano.

Station 4 of 19

Laurie listening to the talk at station 6.

If I could digress for a moment, I wish to add that the science still has far to go, according to Bill Bryson, author of "A Short History of Nearly Everything".  Apparently, volcanology is still a dangerous science, and these scientists are constantly dying as a result of misinterpreting the signs of a pending eruption.   Not many old volcanologists around, I guess.

 

Other stops we have made since St. Pierre include Trois Islet and Fort de France.  This is a picture of the ruins of Josephine's family's sugar and rum refinery, followed by the Schoelcher library. 

Josephine's residence

Schoelcher Library

Schoelcher was a French cabinet minister who pushed very hard for the end of slavery, and therefore became a Caribbean hero.  The building is just about totally made of metal.  It was designed by Eiffel, manufactured in France, and then assembled here.

derelict building in St. Pierre

Cat Tales sitting on the far right

Our front yard that day!

Typical street in St. Pierre

 We'll be staying in Grand Anse d'Arlet for the next few days awaiting the next 'weather window' to safely sail back to Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.  Lorna and Brian have emailed us asking us to bring important French supplies.  The photo tells the tale!

Yup...5 red and 2 white!  Averaging about 9 euros a box or 3 euros a liter.

                          

back in Grand Anse D'Arlet, martinique

Laurie and I finally have internet again and will try to put up a post tomorrow with pics. We were in Fort de France for the last 2 nights and couldn't connect to a thing. The French are sharp that way...rarely do you see a connection that isn't locked down!

We went to the chandlery this morning, one of the places where you can check in and out of Martinique. We won't be heading to Rodney Bay St. Lucia until either Sunday or Monday due to the high winds, so we were able to check out right then and there for Monday next week. That's unheard of in the English islands! The French just seem to want to get the data, rather than officiate. We'll stay here and do a few hikes and a lunch or two on the beach. They serve you lunch at rickety old picnic tables and serve you the coldest beer ever, all with your feet in the sand and your eyes looking at the bay and your boat! We'll do a bit of snorkeling as well. Turtles and starfish are numerous here.

Mom writes and tells us that winter at home is a little coolish and depressing. February starts later in the week, so it can't last forever...that's from someone sitting in her bathing suit enjoying the 28 degrees on the boat!

Every weekend, we get a great long email from Liz at home in Flower's Cove. She tells of all the news at home; all about friends and the happenings, along with some of the world news. Always great to open her emails each week!

All for now. We'll try to get some picture up soon for you!

Anse Mitan

Laurie and I are sitting in Anse Mitan enjoying the touristy things they have here...food, music, water toys, jet skiis (sea fleas) etc. etc. We'll be moving on to Trois Islet tomorrow. More info when we get a good wifi connection!

Cheers, Dawn (& Laurie)

safe arrival in Martinique

After a wild ride from Dominica with a couple of squalls accompanying us, we arrived safe and sound in northern Martinique yesterday at 4:30 pm. We'll enjoy a walk and lunch in town and then will head to Anse Mitan tomorrow.

Leaving Dominica

It is approaching 9 PM and we are getting ready for bed. The sail is uncovered, the dinghy roped and tied, and most things tidied up for a day of sailing.

We'll rise in the dark and wait for some light to allow us to navigate through the anchored boats and out into the Caribbean Sea. Our weather advisor Denis advises that tomorrow is the best day of the week to travel back to Martinique, but the information he provided conflicts with 3 other sources. Regardless, the worst we will see is 22 knots, and 9 foot waves. As long as the waves are not too close together, we'll be able to do the 5 hours between the islands. The whole trip is 3 hours down the side of the island, 5 hours across the open water, and about another hour into a little town called Saint Pierre. We expect no trouble; and indeed, have inspected our fishing gear.

Chances are poor that we will have WIFI there, so there may be a little delay before our next weblog.

Hiking and BBQ's

That long hill off on the horizon is what we are attempting to climb today!

Sam pointing out our route through the rainforest

Sam picked us these grapefruit, some tangerines, bananas, cinnamon and papaya along the way on our hike.

Syndicate falls - sorry about not being able to flip this!

Another hike for another day

We arranged with our boat boy, Bounty to get a taxi hired to take us up to the Syndicate (Milton) Falls.  Laurie had been wanting to do this hike for some time and it just didn't seem as if it would ever happen, so he put it on the top of his list and began putting it together the minute we arrived in Dominica.  Our taxi driver and guide is Sam, one of the P.A.Y.S. members (Portsmouth Association for Yacht Security).  All members take courses and attend regular meetings to keep them working as a group and to maintain high standards of service to the cruisers.  Their efforts to keep us safe here in Dominica have brought back the sailing community in numbers.

We (the 2 of us and Paul and Janet from the boat 'Matilda') were picked up at 6:30 am yesterday and  were whisked up, up and up to near the top of Morne Diablotins (above 4000 feet) where we began a beautiful nature walk.  It was dark, lush and very cool with a tree canopy easily 300 feet high.  Sam pointed out the types of trees, some buttressed ones 20 feet wide at their base.  He was very knowledgeable and took pride in teaching us about the history and flora and fauna of the area.  After the nature walk, he drove us to a path where we picked through narrow trails and waded across fast moving streams to get to the water falls.  As well, we got to see some of the agriculture of the island.  Most of it is done by hand with rudimentary tools in small patches where the mountain is flat enough to allow it.  We saw all types of fruit trees, as well as plantings of banana, plantain, papaya, pumpkin, sorrel, sweet potato, pineapple, dasheen and callaloo; often mixed up in the same small, steep field.  What a beautiful day we had.  It was amazing that we put so much into the day and found ourselves back at the boat eating banana pancakes well before noon! 

Janet (from boat 'Matilda') and Laurie looking for parrots

After returning to Cat Tales, we had a brunch of banana pancakes  cooked up by the captain!

Dogs with jobs!

Sunset in Prince Rupert Bay in Dominica

Awaiting the Green Flash!  Beautiful!!

A mega yacht passing on our starboard side.  Notice the shine!

BBQ night in Prince Rupert Bay brings out the crazies...notice the plastic fork in this sailor's hair!

We lounged and read most of the afternoon after the morning hike and then got ready to dinghy in for the Sunday night BBQ.  The boat boys run a very organized meal, get the crowds through the line in jig time, serve up rum punch (unlimited) and then move tables aside and let the dancing begin!  The money they raise from the event goes towards all night security in the anchorage.  All night long you can hear the faint sound of a little engine going through the anchorage and once in awhile you see the flashlight shine along our boat and into a window.  Knowing that we're being looked after and kept safe at night makes this a fantastic place to be!

Our next plan for today is to hike the Cabrits, an area within walking distance.  We do this walk every time we come here.  It's nice and leisurely with only slight hills and with lots of shade.  Tomorrow, Laurie says he'd like to do a hike that he's heard of, but has only faint ideas about finding the trail head...always an adventure!

At this time, Laurie is laying in his hammock reading his kobo and I'm doing the computer chores, like putting up this blog!  The engine is running and we're making water (which we do every 3 to 4 days)

All for now!
Dawn

Sitting in Dominica and loving it!

Laurie and I left St. Pierre at 7:00 am on Friday and had a lumpy and bumpy ride up to Dominica. I finally laid down and napped until we were out of the big waves between islands. We snuck into the shadow of Dominica at around noon and the boat finally settled out and continued up the coast relatively flat and comfortable, although making it necessary to motor all the way. Upon arrival in Portsmouth, we were welcomed by several of our boat boy friends. Bounty came onboard for a beer and we chatted with Martin, Jeffrey and several others. Martin teased that we might be able to apply for a Dominican passport because of all the time we spent here last season!

This morning, we picked up Janet from the boat "Matilda" and walked to customs. Paul stayed onboard to try to fix their generator that quit last night in the middle of dinner. Of course, being Saturday, we had to go the the customs officer's apartment where he sat us down at his kitchen table and stamped all the forms required. Then he charged us 60 EC instead of the usual 10 EC because it was overtime. Official receipts were written and we were happy to get the job done. In Dominica, if you stay less than 2 weeks, you can check in and out all at the same time, which is very convenient!

On the way back to the boat, the vegetable market was in full swing in the little town. We picked up lots of fruit and veggies and then picked up rotis 'to go' and headed back to the boat.

We're picking up a nice little wifi signal from the boat from a local restaurant, so you can expect to hear more from us.

The Boat Boy BBQ is tomorrow night. We hope that Bounty can organize to get us up to Syndicate Falls tomorrow for a hike before the BBQ.

As I was writing this, a local guy on an inflatable kayak went by without paddling. On closer inspection a sweet dog was towing him to shore. Both parties looked very happy with the arrangement. I'll try to post a picture next blog!

missing blog

This is a blog we wrote up some time ago. Apparently, it didn't get posted as planned. Thus the large gap in our communication with home. When you read this blog, realize that it was written early in January. After you finish reading this, please check out yesterday's blog. Sorry about the confusion! We're heading from Grand Anse D'Arlet today for St. Pierre and off to Dominica in the morning (Friday)

Lymin' in French Territory - Ste Anne, Martinique (early January 2013)

Dawn and I are living slow, today, after a rather quiet evening with Terry and Kristin of Silk Pajamas, anchored nearby. Kristin, having been treated with Terry to a duck-breast recipe aboard the catamaran Cranstackie (apparently a mountain in Scotland), she insisted in recreating it for us last night. Very tasty indeed, and it went well with the French pate, bread, and variety of New Year's Eve libations we ran through.

Sunday, after Dawn had written the last weblog from the laundromat, Brian, Lorna, Dawn and I went back ashore and hiked to the southerly beach of Grande Anse des Salines. It is a pleasant walk under the trees which follows the beach for the most part, with extra trails out to the various points along the way. Among the trees are local families and tourists with picnics, hammocks, and toys; and the whole experience is rather delightful. One small bay, however, called Petit Anse Des Salines, is notorious for being predominately used by gay nude men, and Sunday was no exception, with approximately ten men of various shapes and colours, baring it all and enjoying the sun, the water, and each other's company in otherwise unobjectionable fashion (if you know what I mean).

The main beach, once we arrived, we found to be very crowded, and a great place to people-watch. However, as we had been walking for over an hour and had not enjoyed our lunch yet, we set ourselves up at an open-air beach vendor's stand and enjoyed barbecued chicken, salads and drinks. The food, at 7.5 Euros (~$11) per plate, which included a cocktail, was vastly superior to the Christmas Day meal we had with the crowd in Rodney Bay for a price of 98 Eastern Caribbean dollars ($36). The service was even better at the beach!

Although we had intended to stay for a swim, we now felt full and tired, and decided to walk back to the boat and enjoy our swims behind our respective floating homes. As for the hiking and heat, Lorna, who had been having some knee trouble, stood it fine; while I had an attack of sorts, feeling weak, losing all colour, and needing water and rest. This was troubling to me, who has had no problems like this before. I can only say that I had been up a greater part of the previous night with stomach/intestine troubles, and was not in full health to begin with. After a soak in the sea and a lot of water, I was able to partake in sundowners at the sun's beckoning. The problems may not only have been mine, as all four of us slept in excess of ten hours Sunday night, refusing to rise even for what were apparently excellent fireworks ashore at only 9 pm.

Yesterday started with the usual weather report from Denis of Tiger Lilly II on the SSB radio, announcing a proper weather window for the crossing; and the departure of Lorna and Brian with their boat 'Peace and Plenty' for Rodney Bay. I took the dinghy into Marin to look for a fitting to install the new oven we now have aboard. As I could not find the fitting, which is simply a compression ring and knuckle to fit over the 3/16" pipe for the propane, I must keep the old oven in place to allow the propane to continue to flow to the stove-top. An expensive, shiny oven sits downstairs on a bunk! ...And they say you can get anything done in Marin!

We're taking today really slow, with lots of reading and just a bit of boat maintenance and planning. Tomorrow, with Terry and Kristin, we intend to hike all the way to Baie Des Anglais, through the remains of a petrified forest, along the shore to Grande Anse des Salines, and finally back to Ste Anne. We'll need our rest as it promises to be over 6 hours of movement. We'll try to get some pictures up after that.

We get news from back in Canada, and are thinking about our friends and relatives as another year has passed. There are grave and annoying illnesses, significant weather, and pregnancies and births going on. We hope for the best for all of you in 2013!!

Heading to Dominica on Friday

We finally pulled up the anchor yesterday afternoon in Saint Anne and headed around the island to Grand Anse D'Arlet. We had put that anchor down just after Christmas, so it was definitely time to move on. As it was, Laurie had to dive on the rope portions of the bridle and rode and scrub the dirt and growth off it to save the deck from serious mess and smell. It would be pretty easy to stay in Saint Anne for an entire season and some people do. We hiked up and down mountains, did beach walks, enjoyed huge amounts of wine and cheeses and ate out almost every day. Today we'll have dinner onboard and I'll see if I can remember how to put something together!

This morning, Laurie got into the engine room and topped up all the batteries. He reports that they needed little water and all is well in that department. He also changed out an alternator for a more powerful one. The one he left in the box is the weakest of the 3 so it will become our spare. The alternators were all inspected and tweeked back in Grenada, so they're all working really well. (Better knock on wood!) While he was doing these chores, I did up some laundry using rain water we had collected awhile back. When the laundry was finished and hanging to dry, I took the laundry water and washed down the cockpit. Under the cushions really needed some attention. I also worked on some rusty marks left here there and everywhere after Laurie manufactured some replacement screws for the rudders back in Trinidad before we left in December. After he finished grinding all those bolts to a point, there were shards of metal everywhere just like they had been in a salt shaker and shaken liberally everywhere. Every speck is a mark of rust. There are still some to attend to, but enough is enough for one day! A product called 'Ospho' is what we use for rust, and believe it or not, it will even remove rust from fabric without interfering with the pattern or colour!

After looking at the calendar and also the weather, we think it would be a great time to head up to Dominica for a few days. We'll head up to the northern part of Dominica to Portsmouth where the boat boys are well organized and have a wonderful BBQ every Sunday, so we plan on getting going and attending it. Last season, we were there for 4 or 5 Sunday BBQ's so I'm sure they're looking for us!! We plan to spend less than a week and come back to Martinique. Lorna and Brian from s/v Peace and Plenty should be around by then, so we can meet up with them again.

We said 'farewell for now' to our friends Terry and Kristin from the boat Silk Pajamas. We have had a great time with them over the past month. They'll head back to Rodney Bay for awhile, we'll head to Dominica and we'll all meet up again somewhere before the season ends.

So, in the morning, we'll go to the local beach bar/customs station and check out of Martinique. This can be done on a computer provided to us and we just hit the print button and the gal at the bar will stamp our papers! (The British islands have a lot to learn from the French with regards to customs and immigration paperwork!) We'll sail to St. Pierre tomorrow (Thursday) and then will sail on to Dominica on Friday. The weather reports suggest low winds from favourable directions starting Friday and continuing for near a week.

Life in Martinique and Car Rental!!

Over the past weeks, we have been doing a bit of hiking with Kristin and Terry from "Silk Pajamas".  We walked along the Bay de Anglais side of southern Martinique and found it dry, scrubby with very rugged ground.  There seemed to be geologic formations that we hadn't seen before and the power of the waves against the cliffs was quite awe inspiring.  The hike, lasting 7 hours included a lunch along the beach.

Over the past 2 days, we rented a car and drove the distance to St. Pierre with the hopes of finally making it to the top of Mount Pele, the volcano that erupted in 1902 killing all citizens of St. Pierre except for 2 people.  The drive straight up into the clouds along  the narrow road with switchbacks  and vegetation rubbing both sides of the car took about  20 minutes.  With the steepness of the drive, we had to maintain a minimum speed to keep our traction making us constantly wonder what was going to happen if or when we met another vehicle coming down!  We actually did meet a small truck right on a switchback and it passed us before we knew what happened.  You have to love instinctive reactions, luckily everyone drives on the right here.

After a nice rain shower, we left the car and headed up the trail.  The air became cooler and cooler as we trudged along, up...up...and up!  The wind was howling and every once in awhile, the clouds would envelope the top of the mountain spitting windy rain at us.  About 2/3 of the hike or 85% of the height of the mountain,  and after Kristin nearly got blown off the trail a couple times and Dawn decided that  the very top of this mountain/volcano wasn't on her bucket list, we turned around and headed back down the way we came.  Laurie accepted the defeat, knowing that he wouldn't see into the depths of the volcano due to the mists anyway.  It would seem a few days later, that Laurie has put the climb back on his bucket list, so it awaits us for another year!

On the second day of the car rental, we drove up the beautiful east side of the island of Martinique.  Because we always sail on the west side of all islands, it was  pleasant to see the rolling, breaking seas of the rougher side.  We hiked,  dined well, complete with roosters crowing at our table and saw fields of banana and sugarcane.  Today, Laurie and I have decided to make a final trip into the grocery store and the chandlery and leave Saint Anne  and head around to Grand Anse D'Arlet, saying farewell for now to Kristin and Terry.

So sorry about the gaps in our blog, but we're having trouble finding Internet in Martinique!

Dawn & Kristin

View of the top of Mount Pele under cloud cover

Crazy car parking over deep culverts in St. Pierre

Laurie & Terry part way up Mount Pele...notice the depth of the below behind them

Getting cooler...getting windier...getting foggier

Resting before carrying on into the fog

rental car for 2 days!!!

mangroves on a hike

Just finished dinner at this restaurant...what a treat!

Banana plantations

bags around the bananas to keep the bats and rats out!

Would you eat here at this restaurant?  We did...twice!

mellon crops

ruins

Kristin snooping around a geological formation