Martinique: Anse Mitan (via Fort de France)

The humans finally got everything repaired on the boat and fitted back into place.

You should have seen them carrying their repaired spinnaker pole back to the anchored boat in the dingy.  Half the pole hung out the front, like a battering ram, the other half trailed in the water behind the dingy.

They had no more excuses for ‘hanging around’, so off we headed for Anse Mitan.

A pleasant sail with the wind on our stern quarter we passed the famous pinnicle called Diamond Rock.

This was the last strong hold of the British when the French took over the island.  They stored, what few supplies they had, in the many caves and caverns and fortified the cliffs with canons.  The remaining soldiers harrased french ships as they passed.

The French were obvious anoided by this but the rock was too well fortified for them to take it over.  It is rumoured that the French got clever and let a raft full of rum drift onto the rock.  The poor stranded soldiers are said to have jumped upon the supplies and the French took them easily once they were drunk.

On our way north down the coast of Martinique we saw many charter yachts ignoring the favourable trade winds and motoring between the multitude of anchorages down this section of the coast.  Is it because they are too lazy, inexperienced or in too much of a rush to sail?

As we rounded the point both Anse Mitan and, the islands capitol, Fort de France came into view.

At this point the humans got a bit lazy.  What do I mean?

Well, if they continued on the present tack they would sail right into the anchorage at Fort de France.  If they wanted to sail to Anse Mitan, they were going to have to head straight into the wind.  That means they would have to tack (change the sails around) to get there.  They flipped a coin and headed to Fort de France.

The city has set up an anchorage right off the main town front to attract visiting yachts.

Now the humans do not always have the best of luck.

No sooner did they set the anchor then they noticed all the other boats starting to leave.  Two gentlemen is a small boat came and asked them to move as the anchorage needed clearing for a one day sailing reggetta.

Serves them right for being lazy!

Instead of going into the town marina, they did a quick half hour sail across the bay to their original destination Anse Mitan.

They got anchored just in time to kayak we for a run on the beach and get back to the boat for sun set.

Still no green flash yet.

Traditionally the humans try to have a drink at sun set.  The Caribbean term for this is ‘sun downer’.  And as they are ‘in the Caribbean’ this ‘tibble’ is now rum.  Here good quality rum is ‘ecomomical’.  But the strangest thing is that they not only sell it by the bottle but also in 3L cartons.  Just like wine cartons, these 3L rum cartons even have a handy pour spout.  My humans claim they are buying them now so that the empty diaphrams can be used as inflatable spacers in the bilge to stop things rattling.  It has nothing to do with their new love of a viarity of rum cocktail recipies.

Another fun thing about the Caribbean is the music.  Although the humans have not heard a lot yet, what they have heard definately has a regga feel.  They love regga so much here they put a regga twist of old songs.  Imagine ‘Simon and Garfunkle’ done regga style and we have just scratched the surface.

Back to the anchorage at Anse Mitan.  This place is a little strange.  In the south end of the bay is the long lovely town beach.

But, besides the usual restaurants and cafes right along the front, there is nothing else of the town.  Cheap apartment style accommidations run behind the beach front.

As you move north of the town, to the end of the penisula, half way along you run into a reasonably sized hotel complex.  They have set up a dingy dock for visiting yachts.  Between the hotel and the tiny Marina, on the back side of the peninsila, is a cluster of tourist shops.  A good selection of beach wear shops, a bakery and sandwich shop and a cluster of finer resturants.

A few steps further North, on the penisula, and you run into an abandon huge hotel, cinima and restaurant complex and a World War 2 fortification on the point.  The brick structure of the old cinima and resturant complex on the point is completely over run with plants and trees.  It looks like some sort of a modern Aztex ruin with trees growing on the top of standing walls with their roots draping down to the ground below.  The abandon hotel is nothing more then a seven store hollow concrete structure but the man made lagoons on the sea front have been taken over by the locals as a favoured bathing spot for families.

We are just anchored outside this lagoon and the humans paddle their kayak into here to take me for a walk in the early mornings and evenings when there are not so many bathers.

We are heading back to the capitol, Fort de France, today.  It is said to be the largest capitol city in the Caribbean.  I will get the humans to take lots of pitures for you.