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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 The wind was out of the northeast, and the currents were flowing out of the south.\u00a0 Current against wind can cause ugly conditions, and that is what was happening.\u00a0 St. Pierre, up in the northwest corner of Martinique, is a lovely place to spend some time when the anchorage is not too rolly.\u00a0 That day, it was definitely too rolly.\u00a0 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\u2019Arlet for the night.\u00a0 Another early start the next morning, and alas, another pitching passage.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 And of course, once inside the Cul-de-sac du Marin, we were in Nirvana.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 There we remained for four days, with a number of dinghy expeditions to shore.\u00a0 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. \u00a0During 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. \u00a0She will need a little more practice, as can be seen in the picture below. \u00a0On 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.<\/p>\n
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. \u00a0 But to read about our experiences in St. Lucia, you must turn to our next blog entry.<\/p>\n\n\t\t