Martinique (Spring 2007)

The anchorage in Fort de France, Martinique in the shadow of Fort St. Louis

Martinique differs from most of the other Caribbean islands in that this island is a Department of France while most of the other islands are independent countries. 

We only stayed at Fort de France for one night as the anchorage is open to the sea and with some bad weather anticipated we went around the southern end of the island to Marin.  One of the most notable features that we past on the south side is Diamond Rock.  The British and the French were arch rivals in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s.  Napoleon was master of the land  but the British were the masters of the sea.  The British navy dominated the Caribbean but ships were scarce so the British decided to commission Diamond Rock as ship due to its strategic location.  The men carried cannons and supplies and water for a full crew of men up the steep, barren, snake infested pinnacle.  For 18 months the H.M.S. Diamond Rock protected the island from the French.  The success of H.M.S. Diamond Rock incensed Napoleon as Martinique was the birthplace of Josephine.    

  Fort de France from the anchorage

We decided to weather the squally weather in Cul-de-sac Du Marin which is surrounded by hills and mangroves providing protection from the seas.  We picked up a mooring from Marin Yacht Harbor for about $6 US.  We stayed three days in Marin and rented a car one day which happened to be a Holiday so everything was closed.  We toured the capital as well as several of the smaller towns.  The streets are very narrow and hilly in some cases.  The architecture seems to be typical of the Caribbean.   One town that is very nice is St Anne which has a nice anchorage.  We will need to come back here by boat.  

We stopped at a small park with statutes as a memorial to the slaves who were brought to the island.  These particular statutes represent the last slave ship to the island which sank off the island killing all aboard.   

H.M.S. Diamond Rock, Martinique

Statues in Honor of the Slaves on Shores of Martinique

St. Lucia

We left our usual early morning time to head to St. Lucia.  Our destination was Soufriere Bay at the southwest end of the island.  We picked up a Bat Cave mooring at the north end of the Bay.  There was a great view of petit piton across the bay from our mooring.   We only stayed the night and headed out with the sunrise the next morning to head for  Bequia by-passing St Vincent.

Petit Piton, St. Lucia

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