On May 5 at first light we left Prince Rupert Bay, Portsmouth, and motored down the west coast of Dominica and crossed over the open sea to Martinique.  When we got into what is normally the lee of the island, we were surprised to find that we were bashing into steep, short-period waves.  The wind was out of the northeast, and the currents were flowing out of the south.  Current against wind can cause ugly conditions, and that is what was happening.  St. Pierre, up in the northwest corner of Martinique, is a lovely place to spend some time when the anchorage is not too rolly.  That day, it was definitely too rolly.  Fortunately, we had gotten an early-enough start that we still had plenty of daylight left, so we kept on plowing down the west coast of Martinique, pitching all the while, passing Fort de France and then finally tucking into Grande Anse D’Arlet for the night.  Another early start the next morning, and alas, another pitching passage.  Finally, when we rounded the corner at Diamond Rock, the wind and current were no longer in such severe opposition, and our ride smoothed somewhat.  And of course, once inside the Cul-de-sac du Marin, we were in Nirvana.  As is our custom, we turned south almost immediately after passing the Club Med peninsula and anchored in the peaceful waters adjacent to Ile Baude, far from the windy and crowded and dirty waters on the east end of the huge bay.  There we remained for four days, with a number of dinghy expeditions to shore.  Barb did some walking on shore with the ladies from Receta and Asseance, we all attended several happy hours featuring Ti Punches, and we all had one fine dining experience at Ti Toques.  During one such get-together, Barb took a panorama with her new iPhone, an operation accomplished by sweeping the camera from one side to the other.  She will need a little more practice, as can be seen in the picture below.  On another day, Steve, Ann, Heather and Barb took a rental auto on a wine-and-rhum expedition; Don and I stayed back to work on our respective boats.

When we left Le Marin, it was not because we were not having fun, but because we had a slight weather window to get further south, where we hoped to attend the Jazz Festival in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia.   But to read about our experiences in St. Lucia, you must turn to our next blog entry.