“Oh Christmas Winds, Oh Christmas Winds…”

Route from Martinique to les Saintes

Motivator subscribes to weather guru Chris Parker’s email service for forecast information as do a lot of cruisers in the Bahamas and Caribbean.  Unfortunately, sometimes Chris has bad news for us:

“SYNOPSIS:
Some folks may call them the "Christmas Winds". Whatever you may
choose to call them...strong Trades, driven by a persistently-tight
wind-gradient arrive in E Caribbean as FrontalTROF settles S-ward
along N Parts of E Caribbean about tomorow night...and gradually
shifting S to S Parts of E Caribbean by late Sun8-Mon9.

Although we may see an occasional 24-36 <with> interval of slight
moderation (down to ENE@20-25/8'...for instance about Wed11 as a
ColdFRONT presses S&E in W Atlantic)...except for such brief intervals
of slightly-less-bad conditions, I see no break to strong Trades in
the next few weeks.”

                                                              Chris Parker @:                                                                                                                               http://www.caribwx.com/

He went on to say if you need to get somewhere, go now!

Fort de France, Martinique

I pulled Pollie out of the Fort de France’s dress shops, and we headed north. It was our fourth time in Fort de France enjoying the shopping and the feel of a French island city.  The crossing between Martinique to Dominique was easy, even when we were not in the lee of the islands.

Approaching Dominique

At Portsmouth, Dominique we did a touch-‘n-go.  We put up the Q-flag and did not go ashore.  We had hoped to spend some time there, but given the option of being stuck in Portsmouth or Terre-de-Haut for two weeks, we picked Terre-de-Haute. 

 Indian River, Dominique

Dominique is a very scenic island and the government is promoting ecotourism, but it is a very poor country.  It is hard for us to overlook the rampant poverty and enjoy the scenery.  We did get to visit briefly with our friend Martin and give him a donation of T-shirts he can distribute. 

Terre-de-Haut

Just twenty-one nautical miles away in les Saintes, Terre-de-Haute the situation is just the opposite.  It is a very popular tourist destination with clean streets and restaurants serving great French food. 

 But damn, more dress shops.

Motivator’s route into les Saintes

We managed to tuck in close to Terre-de-Haut in the lee of the island and take a mooring ball.  As I type this posting, the wind is at about 20 knots with gusts much higher.  As long as there is some northerly component to the wind, swells will wrap around the island making for some uncomfortable roll action.  By Wednesday the Christmas winds should be out of the east.

Please sing to the tune of Oh Christmas Tree:

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds!

How ever keen your presence

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds,

How ever keen your presence

You blow and blow us to and fro,

The white caps froth, palm fronds fly off.

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds

How ever keen your presence.

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds

How ever keen your presence.

Sea water sprays. Are nerves are frayed.

The dinghies swing.  The halyards ring.

Oh Christmas winds, Oh Christmas winds

How ever keen your presence.

                                    By: Pollie Howland

St. Lucia to Martinique

In the last posting I was crowing about the smooth crossing.  Pay backs are hell!  The crossing from St. Lucia to Martinique was anything but smooth.  On the previous crossing the waves were predicted at .8 meters.  These were supposed to be 1.1 meters and a 1 meter long period swell.  That might have been the case if not for the line of squalls between St. Lucia and Martinique we had to pass through.  The good news was that it was only a 23 nm crossing.

Normally, I like to leave early and miss some of the waves associated with the trade winds filling in during the early afternoon.  In this case we might have done better with a later departure from St. Lucia – hindsight.  However, we arrived early enough that we were able to dinghy into Marin and complete the check in procedures.  That allowed us to go to Accras Alley that evening.

Accras Alley

During the day Accras Alley is just another narrow street in Ste. Anne.  In the evening, the proprietors (three ladies) place table in the street and start serving accras and drinks.

Menu

Their accras are reasonably priced.  The “Morue” accras are made from salt fish, while the “Crevettes” are made from shrimp – we think.  We opted for 12 of the Crevettes at 6€.

Pollie waiting for her accras.  I only take her to the finest establishments.

We arrived a little early for French dining habits, but soon all of the tables were full and they were doing a brisk takeout service.

Ah, fine dining, accras and a Lorraine on a plastic table by street light.

Accras are “fritters” cod (salt fish), shrimp or lobster.  Each chef has their own special spices for the dough.  They are deep fried and served hot.  This is Caribbean health food at its finest.

You can only watch so many sunsets in Ste. Anne before it is time to move on.

The 14 nm motor from Ste. Anne to Grande Anse d’Arlet is very pleasant because for the most part you are in the lee of the island.  Petite Anse d’Arlet and Grand Anse d’Arlet are both little beach towns with very low level development.  We prefer Grand Anse because it has not received as much “remuddling” and the air quality is better.  Petite seems to have something burning 24/7.  Both anchorages have installed mooring balls that to date there is no charge for usage.  I saluted the HMS Diamond Rock as we passed.

Lobster fisherman in Grand Anse d’Arlet

French baguettes have a life expectancy of about a day, and then they turn hard as a rock.  These lobster fishermen were recycling baguettes as bait. 

On a previous visit to Gran Anse d’Arlet we noticed the “in place” on Saturday afternoon was Chez Evelyn, a little beach restaurant on the south end of the beach.  Previously we were turned away, but this time we made reservations.  Lunch of salad, accras, lobster, a mysterious but delicious baked squash dish, and desert took 3 ½ hours.  What a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.  We felt very French – oui!

When we returned from lunch, we had a new neighbor.  A three-masted schooner had anchored in the bay.

Stad Amsterdam

We now recognize most of the tall ships plying the waters of the Caribbean, but not this one.  I had to jump in the dinghy for a closer look.

Our next stop in Martinique will be 7 nm north at Fort de France before we cross to Dominique.

Jardin de Balata

Our guidebook said, “If a visitor was only going to make one day trip, this should be it.”

The guidebook was referring to the Jardin de Balata, a private botanical garden located 6 miles northeast of Fort de France, Martinique.

After paying the admission fee (16 Euros), you are free to roam the 6.5 acre garden.

It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to walk the prescribed route on the well maintained paths.

Horticulturist Jean-Philippe Thoze began the garden in 1982.

It was opened to the public in 1986.

The park is situated on former farmland with views of the Pitons du Carbet.

The park contains about 3,000 varieties of tropical plants from around the world.

The different varieties were labeled in both Latin and French.

Sorry, no English, but we did occasionally recognized a plant name.

Royal Palm Tree

The collection includes about 300 types of palm trees.

Many were quite unusual.

This palm tree grew large seed pods.

Then blew the seeds all over the manicured grounds.

Also enjoying the park were several different species of birds.  Most like the humming birds near the parks entry were too fast to photograph.

Other creatures did not mind posing.

Some creatures were caught doing what they do best.

For the more adventurous, there was a suspension bridge walkway.

It provided spectacular views of the park.

Even though the signs were in French, it is apparent you are not to bounces the suspension bridge and scare your husband, Pollie.

I am sure this damn thing is not OSHA approved.

More pictures:

Bamboo Stand

The guidebook was correct.