Sainte Anne, Martinique

The anchorage off Sainte Anne   

Every other morning, on the VHF radio, there is Net sharing information on activities in the Le Marin area and offering assistance to yachts in need of local advice or technical support. There is even a ‘treasures of the bilge’ service facilitating exchanging or buying second hand yacht parts. It quickly became apparent that some yachts had spent weeks, if not months, in the same spot anchored off Sainte Anne. There were weekly barbeques on the beach, ladies’ mornings in the cafés and ‘noodling’ (keep-fit classes in the shallow waters off the beach), all organised by yachtsmen for other people in the anchorage.

Spice market in Sainte Anne   

We had no plans to stay that long off Ste Anne but we did stay until Sunday 5 March. Ashore we found the excellent boulangeries to keep us regularly supplied with baguettes and pain-au-chocolate, the spice and fruit market was a delight to the senses and the small supermarkets sufficient for any immediate food shopping needs.

As befits a holiday village, the waterfront and beaches were very attractive too. The activity in the floating village anchored just offshore was equally holiday like and social. As well as seeing the crews from Yin N Yang and Kealoha V, we also caught up again with Lars and Susanne from Sea Wind and met Suzie and John from Ballyhoo and, during our time off Ste Anne, enjoyed some lovely evenings with friends.

Somehow 4 days slipped away. Nicky sanded and started some touch-up varnishing work and we also gave BV’s bottom a scrub. Close by, in the clear waters of the bay, we enjoyed some pleasant snorkelling over the coral reefs and there was always the entertainment of the comings and goings in the anchorage. The highlight of this was watching the local racing sailboats [Ed: Yole boats] practicing for their annual regatta held in early June. Seemingly hugely over-canvassed these brightly coloured boats are steered by a large oar and the 8-10 man crew position wooden poles across the boat to allow them to hang outboard to balance the sail pressure [Ed: a traditional variation on the ‘wings’ of modern racing dinghies and skiffs].

A Caribbean rain squall   

The weather was a bit unusual with the normal northeasterly trade winds replaced by some westerly winds. Despite the change in wind direction, we still got a daily dose of rain as the Caribbean rain squalls passed, but at least the rain out here is warm. Definitely a better climate than the freezing and snowy conditions back home which, from the news, we heard had brought the whole country to a grinding halt.

We saw the green flash as the sun set (but I didn’t manage to photograph it properly)   

On Sunday 4 March we had intended to take advantage of the unusual wind and go around to the southeastern side of the island to visit the Baie des Anglais for the day before moving into the marina, ready for delivering our dinghy ashore for its repair. However, a quick radio call to the marina spoiled the plan because it became clear that the marina was full but “if we turned up and checked every now and then” during the day they might find space for us.

As a result, somewhat earlier than expected, we made our way back to Le Marin and anchored close to the marina ready to zip in and take a place if one became available.

Ste Anne, Martinique