It’s windy in paradise. What’s a cruiser to do?
While many of my friends are freezing up in the northeast, we are still here in St Ann Martinique, unable to move, after nearly a week of quite strong winds. It’s ironic that the sun is out, it’s beautiful with occasional brief showers and yet we can’t go anywhere. And, there are hundreds of boats that feel about the same way. Nobody is moving, waiting for a lull in the winds to head off to their next stop, either south or north.
At this point it looks like the wind will begin to slacken in a few days but by that time it will be too close to our departure this weekend to make leave St Ann. In addition, I am still messing around trying to find someone to keep an eye on Pandora while we leave her on a mooring for the two weeks we will be away.
I have someone to talk to later today who has offered to watch her here in St Ann, but that means leaving her on anchor for the duration and I am not sure of what I think of that option. The difficulty of trying to figure the do with her for a short two week stretch, has made me leery of what will be involved in leaving her for many months down in Grenada or Trinidad. I am not sure that I have the energy to do that so perhaps it’s best to just bite the bullet and bring her home to CT in the spring. Besides, I enjoy working on the boat and I’d surely go into withdraw if I had to be away from Pandora from May to the end of the year. Besides, perhaps I can sneak away for a few short cruises over the summer. Fingers crossed.
The good news is that my crew for May, George and Bob seem flexible on my ultimate destination, which is good.
So, back to it’s windy and we can’t leave? What’s a cruiser to do?
In the world of cruisers, where it takes a whole morning to check email, shop for groceries or do laundry, there seems to be plenty to do to keep busy in spite of the fact that we can’t go anywhere.
As I wrote recently, the local cruiser’s community gathers at least once a week for a pot luck and they just announced a second event for this week, on Wednesday. We participated in last Friday’s event and it was fun to visit with others for a few hours. There was a communal grill for us to grill our meat and everyone brought some sort of side dish to share.
There was a really good turnout. 
One couple even provided some music to set the mood. Their choice of instruments really set the mood and was a good example of the diversity of the cruising community.
Cruisers helping cruisers is the norm just about everywhere and St Ann is no different. Cruisers are always quick to lend tools of do whatever they can to “pay it forward” and help others.
As I mentioned in my last post, James on Sophie lent me a heat gun, which was invaluable for installing the mast head light. One way that everyone stays in touch about helping out, sharing ideas and hooking up with others is on the local morning VHF radio net held three days a week. Brenda and I know that it can be tough to get parts or mail letters back to the US so on today’s net I offered to take any mail to post when we get home. I also know how tough it can be to get obscure parts in the islands and offered to bring small packages back when we return in early March. So far, I have been contacted by three cruisers who are looking for help, which is good. I expect that others will contact us in the next few days. I am happy to help as others have helped me in the past.
So, back to what’s going on and how a “pinned down cruiser” keeps busy. As luck would have it, this week is Carnival here in Martinique and St Ann and the locals were sure not to be left out. There was a very enthusiastic band playing local music. 
They even set up a large tent and chairs for the audience to enjoy the music and stay out of the tropical sun. 
Elsewhere in Martinique there are parades and a lot more going on but St Ann is trying hard to make it fun.
Later today, if I even finish this posts as getting good Internet isn’t so easy here, I am going to check out renting a car for tomorrow so we can tour the island with another couple who cruised here from Maine.
Perhaps I’ll close of a photo of Pandora sailing along the leeward side of Dominica last week by our friends on Raven. 
If only every day here could be like that day. For now, one thing is for sure, that being pinned down in paradise is surely better than being “brr” up north, that’s for sure.
So, what’s a cruiser to do? I guess I’ll just have to go for a swim this afternoon to wash out the shampoo. Besides, I do have to stay clean. Right? And, I just have to stay busy.
The steps…
And, I don’t even like football.
One more thing…
It’s been both sunny and rainy for the last week or so with a seemingly constant parade of showers every few hours interspersed by intense beating tropical sun. Rain or not, the sun outweighs the rain many times over. At night we are often awakened by a pounding rain that requires us to jump up and close the hatches.
Many cruisers love St Ann and it seems, hang out here for months at a time as evidenced by the algae growing on their anchor snubber lines, a sure sign that they haven’t moved for quite some time.
Laqua Scope? How about a “glass bottom boat”. Viewed from the bow?, you can sort of see the large glass portholes in the center hull. This contraption gave tours of the harbor, teeming with sea turtles, to all comers. It was out and about all day long ziging and zaging past dozens of snorkelers, including me. Want to go for a spin? 
If you followed my posts last winter you saw a photo of one of these
This boat proves, once and for all, that anyone can start a business as long as they are creative about it. How about the appropriately named “pizza boat” a mobile pizza oven on a catamaran? Brenda’s wondering if it’s safe to move about with a huge 500 degree oven and loads of compressed flammable gas.
Of course, like many cruising grounds, it’s important to pick your time to cruise in the right season. It seems like just about every harbor has at lease one of these “parked” on the beach. In this case, it’s right up against someone’s home on. Nice view.
Of course, if you are in a big hurry to get there, the Prince de Cancale, is for you. There are ton of really racy looking cats and tris in French waters to choose from. She’s had a very active racing career most recently sporting the colors below. With all the sponsor graphics, I had a hard time figuring out what the name of the boat was. I guess she’s done well as she has a lot of sponsors. 
Of course, to simply mess about in boats, or water, all you really need is your dad. 
Don’t want to risk your feet in the water? He can pull you along with your older sister pulling guard duty. 
One way or the other, there are a LOT of boats around these parts and as these photos show, they come in all sizes, colors and some aren’t even able to hold the water out.
Lion fish, an accidental invasive import from SE Asia have decimated the reefs in all areas of the Caribbean and are becoming a popular food fish. This shot isn’t very clear but it’s a pile of Lion fish. I have speared a few in the Bahamas and they are indeed very tasty. You have to be very careful of their colorful spines as they are venomous and very painful if you are pricked by one. 
The market has a very festive atmosphere with vendors selling most anything from T shirts to spices. There was a fun Caribbean band playing that livened up things nicely. 
It’s amazing to see the wide variety of spices and liquors that are available here. Hey, perhaps that’s why these islands are known as the “spice islands”. 
It must take hours to set all this up for sale.
The center of the town is dominated by the Catholic Church. Oops, crooked photo. Fire that photo editor!!! It’s lovely, the church, not the photo, if you” get the picture”. 
From the outside, it’s stone. Inside, an impressive use of timber. 
I mentioned that there are something like 350 boats anchored off of the beach here and where cruisers congregate they get together for meals and “sundowners”. The same day we arrived we were invited to a beach barbecue by a friend who’s been coming here for years. They get together at noon each Friday for a cookout. The folks here seem to know each other well and are from all over. Nice group.
Well, that’s about it for now. Lots to think about for the rest of the season and next year’s cruising plans, such as they are. For sure, St Ann will continue to be on cruiser’s plans as it does have a lot to offer. Nice spot.
This is the view as you enter the garden. Beautifully arranged and very inviting. 
In the distance mountains give scale to the garden nestled in between valleys. 
With views of the ocean just outside the harbor where we were anchored. 
The way that the “artist” as he’s described in the audio tour, used plants to create visual patterns, like this row of palms, is stunning. 
From another angle it looks very different. The close cropped grass and moss looked like green velvet.
How about a view from the treetops? 
Prefer terra-firma? Even up close, everything was perfect. 
Everywhere I looked called out as a wonderful photo like this bamboo lining a path. 
I loved the visual patterns. 
Some so tiny you’d miss them if you didn’t look closely.
Wonderful patterns in the foliage. 
Clusters of colorful bromeliads growing on a trunk of a tree fern.
Fiddle heads, destined to tower over your head, emerging as thick as your wrist. 
Ferns so large you expect to see T Rex in the distance. 
Wonderful mix of textures and colors.
Glorious subtle patterns of green. 
Serene water lilies facing the morning sun. 
Everywhere plants competing for space, constantly adjusted to perfection by the gardeners. 
Flowers so perfect they don’t look real. This one stands shoulder height and is the size of a melon.
Hard to imagine that this is real. 
And, the familiar. 
Some much more dainty but equally beautiful.
All and all, a wonderful place and unlike any other garden we have visited. Very “painterly” where the plants are the artist’s medium to create his ever changing palate.