Well, it’s another windy day here in St Anne, and only a few days till we catch a flight back to the US. Interestingly, it’s not expensive to fly to CT or NY from Martinique as the discount airline, Norwegian Air flies here non-stop several days a week. Brenda and I were able to get pretty inexpensive flights of about $250 each, round trip. Not bad compared to some islands where it costs a lot more, takes two stops and sometimes two days to get home.
One thing for sure is that there isn’t any salt on the decks of boats here as it rains every day here, sometimes for a few brief moments and occasionally in great torrents. And with the wind, it seems like just about every day somebody’s boat or dink breaks free and must be captured and re-anchored because of the strong winds. That and the fact that there are about 350 boats anchored makes for a lot of action, wind or not.
Normally, squalls and rainstorms in the Caribbean come with an increase of 5-10kts of additional wind but with the wind already in the 20s, and a wind increase of sometimes 20+ kts, makes for some impressive moments with horizontal winds lashing Pandora.
However, wind or not, there is still plenty of sunshine here and that all comes with temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s, very pleasant actually.
Now that we have been here for about two weeks due to the wind, it’s becoming somewhat difficult to keep myself occupied as witnessed by my more than regular posts. Actually, to keep everyone from getting cabin fever from being pinned down with strong winds, today there will be a valentine’s pot luck on the beach. Brenda’s made a terrific almond cake. I expect that it will be a big hit.
The town center of St Anne is dominated by the Catholic church, the first thing you see when you arrive at the dock. It’s a busy place with services or activities most every day. It’s a beautiful building. 
The church is famous for it’s pathway depicting the stations of the cross, set up on the hillside behind the church. Each station depicts an event associated with the Crucifixion of Christ. 
As you make your way up the hillside, you go through a series of switchbacks with a station at each turn. 
From the top is an impressive view of the harbor and mountains in the distance. 
Pandora is out there too. 
The congregation of the church has gone to great effort to make everything just right with whitewashed walls lining the paths. There are even floodlights and loud speakers lining the pathway, designed to manage thousands of pilgrims that make the journey on special occasions.
Down near the water is a beautiful cemetery with many family crypts. Not a bad view.
I guess that this post is a bit light on detail but I thought I’d share it anyway.
Oh yeah, Happy Valentines Day. Pandora’s crew will enjoy some bubbly and sauteed duck breast for dinner aboard.
In a few days, back to the US and family. Happily, a local cruiser will be keeping an eye on Pandora while she’s on a mooring in la Marin. One less thing to worry about.
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