Beginning when I was about half way through my run south to Antigua in November, I confidently stated that I was leaving Pandora in Trinidad this summer, talking a year off from the north-south tedium each spring and fall.

I went on then and a number of times since, about the reasons, kitchen remodeling, wear and tear on me and Pandora, simplicity of getting on a plane to get home, plans to travel in the UK this fall, and on and on.

Over the last few months Brenda and I have tried hard to come to grips with the details of taking Pandora to Trinidad, identifying ways to get clothing and gear home and back again in the fall, insurance, lining up tradesman to work on the boat and such.  After trying to get everything in place we rather abruptly decided to just bag it and take Pandora home once more.

Oddly, I have not been able to find a reasonable cost insurance option even though Pandora would be below the hurricane belt for the summer and out of the water.  In spite of this, the cost of insuring her for this period was going to be considerably more than taking her north.  It doesn’t make sense to me but the cost of insurance has gone up a lot as a result of the last few years with major hurricane losses.

I also do a good amount of the work on Pandora myself and to hire all of it out was really going to add up and it was beginning to look like it was going to cost me upwards of twice what I would pay to make the run home and back and that was before having paint work done, the major reason to have her there in the first place.

Perhaps the biggest factor in deciding came up rather abruptly last week when I learned that a friend of mine had started a company to import lithium batteries from China.  I have confidence in him given his technical engineering background along with the fact that the OEM manufacturer, is also a major supplier to BMW and their EV efforts.

I really need to replace Pandora’s battery bank and I hate to just go with lead acid again as I have heard from other cruisers that lithium is just so superior, with substantially faster charging rates and tremendous weight savings, more than 500lbs.

There will also be a number of changes required in my charging system to accommodate the upgrade but, with his help, I expect that I will be able to get it done.  A possible wrinkle will be that some insurance companies will not cover boats with lithium house banks, due to a history of fires from earlier battery designs.  I am told that the chemistry of this generation of batteries today do not have the risks of older designs.   I guess we will have to see what the insurance options are.   Fingers crossed. Luckily, I might be able to secure a bear river insurance policy from a trustworthy insurance company.

I really don’t want to have to do so much of the work on Pandora myself this summer with other things on tap at our “land home” but that’s what we are heading for.

The plan will likely be for Brenda to fly out of St Lucia and back to the US around the 8th of April.   My friend Craig will fly down to spend some time working our way to the USVI and on to the US, in early May.   Details to come…

So, for now, we are here in Martinique, currently anchored in this lovely cove, Grand-Anse,  enjoying the laid back pace with beach bars and a nice long sandy beach.  Our time in Fort de France was punctuated by constant rolling by passing ferries so it’s nice to be away from that.

The beach is lined with small shops and bars with a nicely maintained promenade. A particular highlight of this area is that there are loads of turtles.  Yesterday I was swimming under Pandora and saw one, perhaps 20′ in diameter, munching away on grass under the boat in about 15′ of water.  I swam down and was able to touch, more like pet him on his/her shell.  He didn’t seem to be particularly alarmed by my attention and slowly swam away.    It was quite thrilling, I’ll admit.

For those who don’t want to get their feet wet and still enjoy the turtles, this crazy looking boat makes it’s way slowly around the harbor multiple times a day.  I have no idea if this is a one-of-a-kind glass bottom boat it’s the only one we have seen.  It was in a nearby harbor in 2018 when we were last in the area.  I havent’ been able to find a reference online to this design or where they are made.   There are also a number of pretty amazing boats here, including two restored French fishing boats.  Biche, is the last surviving traditional tuna boat.  She was brought back from an abandoned hulk a number of years ago when she was restored in France.  She’s quite impressive with her unusual yawl rig.  We had seen her sailing in Les Saintes a few weeks ago.  She is accompanied by a smaller and not quite as well maintained cousin, on a nearby mooring. Of course, Pandora looks ok herself, framed by trees on the beach. There are a lot of folks snorkeling in the bay with dive boats heading out multiple times a day.  Some are heading far afield with others just bringing folks to nearby rocky beaches.  Yesterday, when I was talking photos of those two classics, I saw a group on the beach nearby, waving wildly to a dive boat and.  A short time later a rescue chopper appeared.  They hovered over the beach and dropped two EMTs while an inflatable launch ran up on the beach at high speed, delivering a patient.The chopper continued to circle around the area, kicking up sand and spray before landing in a nearby field.The took the stricken swimmer up under some trees and for what seemed like way too long, they worked aggressively to revive him with a series of techs applying CPR.Eventually, an ambulance arrived but there didn’t seem to be any urgency at that point to transport the patient to the hospital.  I am guessing that the outcome wasn’t good.

I often wonder, especially when we are far out to sea on passage, what would happen if one of our crew fell ill.  The prognosis would likely be bleak.

Anyway, the experience of watching the whole episode unfold was sobering and reminds us how fragile life can be.

So, here we are taking it easy aboard Pandora today.  Brenda is hoping to participate in an online webinar by a weaver in Scotland this afternoon and I guess I’ll spend some time “turtling”.

So there you have it, another day, another plan.   So, what’s the plan?  For now I’m positive, sure?, fairly certain?, perhaps? that I am taking Pandora back to the US.

For now, that’s the plan.  I think…

You’d think that after more than 65 years that I’d have just about used up all the stupid moves available to me.  

They say that “experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want”.  Ok, so I had yet another experience and I hope I learned. 

Well, two days ago I discovered that there is no reason to keep my wallet, with all my credit cards, insurance cards, driver’s license, a good amount of US dollars and other items in my with me at all times.

I wasn’t thinking about the fact that you can’t exchange Greenbacks for Euros here or that I had no need for my US drivers license…or that my various insurance cards are not valid here.  In spite of all this I went everywhere with all that stuff in my wallet.

I also never thought carefully about what would happen if I lost my wallet, which I did.  I have no idea exactly how it happened but I don’t have it anymore with plenty of US cash, about $150, and about $80 Euros, or my three credit cards and debit card, etc, etc, etc…

Where did I loose it?  Hard to say as Brenda and I walked all over the city, stopping at green grocers in the market, along with various other stops along the way.  Sadly, as Brenda did most of the credit card transactions that day, I have NO IDEA when I lost it as I can’t just think about the last time I used it.  None, nada…

It might have dropped out of my pants pocket, which I generally keep zipped closed and fallen in the water when we were heading back to Pandora in the afternoon or it might have dropped somehow when I was pulling my camera out of the wheelie bag that we were dragging everywhere.  I have no idea. 

Anyway, I spent several hours that night compulsively poking through Pandora, time and time again, hoping against hope that my wallet was stuck aboard somewhere weird.   They say that doing the same thing over and over and yet expecting a different outcome is a marker for insanity.  Fair enough…

At this writing, two days later, still no luck.  I also retraced my steps from that day and again, no luck.  Not that I expected anyone to turn in a wallet stuffed with cash and other valuable things, well valuable to me…  I even lost my membership card from the Antigua and Barbuda Royal Navy Tot Club.  

I called Bank of America and they said that as long as there are no weird transactions posted, that we can keep using the same cards (Brenda’s of course but the same account).    Dud I mention that I lost my wallet?  Thought so…

The nice guy at BOA also told me that they could send out new cards and we’d likely have them within about 5 days, allowing time for them to make their way through Customs in Martinique.

Anyway, so far so good, with no suspicious transactions.  Fingers crossed.  As you can imagine, I was really upset when I could not find my wallet and didn’t get a lot of sleep that first night.  However, after spending some time on the phone with the, ever so soothing, BOA rep, I felt a lot better.  He suggested that one option is to do nothing and hope that no weird charges are posted as that will trip the canceling of the card, which would be bad.

Not sure what I will do so for now, perhaps nothing, that’s easy, and I’ll just keep my fingers crossed…

So, back to Fort de France, where we are currently anchored.    The last time we were here was two years ago, less than two weeks before the pandemic shut down everything.  And, once again, this weekend, Carnival will kick into high gear, for the first time since our last visit.

Brenda and I are not certain that we will be comfortable with being in the midst of thousands but we will have to see how the week progresses.

The view from the harbor, with a modern city on one side and a French fort to the other, offers an interesting contrast of old and new with tropical rainforest in the distance. The city skyline is dominated by the St Louis Cathederal, constructed in the late 19th century, the sixth cathedral to occupy that spot.  It’s five predecessors, the first built in the 17th century were all destroyed by earthquakes or hurricanes.  This one is constructed of cast iron which has held up well for more than 100 years.  In spite of many old buildings there are also ultra modern office buildings to the north.And an ancient fort to the South.  Every morning at dawn, dozens of locals swim off of the beach, making their way about a half mile out to a channel marker and back.  The group seems to be overwhelming women that talk loudly as they make their way out to the buoy and back to the beach, clearly taking their time, chatting the entire way.  The fort dominates the southern side of the harbor and at the very end there are design features that look just so French.  I can almost hear a French soldier up on the wall tormenting the English, just like in the Monty Python movie, The Search for the Holy Grail.  It’s hard to believe that such a beautiful harbor is in the middle of a busy city and with water so clear that you can see down 25′.What harbor shot is complete without a photo of Pandora at anchor? And, with Carnival beginning later this week, it’s getting busier every day.  Most nights there are local groups practicing drumming, the constant beat that is so much a part of the celebrations.  Brenda and I went out on Sunday evening for a drink and watched as a truck holding dozens of huge speakers made it’s way past us.  The crowds were nothing like we will see when the celebrations begin in a few days.  As you can imagine, this sort of partying brings out all sorts of interesting characters.  How about this set of buns?  And, it is a guy.  I expect that many women would kill for a set like his.   He seemed to be having a great time showing his stuff.   I also saw a woman with screaming green hair and an outfit to match.  Sadly, no photo…There is plenty of skin on display here in the French islands.  The other night, while Brenda and I were enjoying a G&T in the cockpit, a couple motored slowly by in their dink, I guess in the midst of an evening harbor tour.  Perched in the bow, unconcerned was the women, topless.  Sorry, no photo. 

On a nearby small boat, another couple, and every afternoon, she is out doing chores in her birthday suit.   “Honey, can you help me reach this block?”  Boy buns, girl buns.  I need to be fair, right?There is a very long dock on the waterfront to tie up dinks to, it’s several hundred feet long, part of a waterfront park.   Adjacent to this is an extensive historic area with narrow streets and alleys.  Some of the buildings are scruffy but most very interesting to look at.  I enjoyed this café with loads of plantings.  It was Sunday when I took this photo when most everything is closed.I thought that this building had some interesting details.  Note the contrast of the modern office building in the distance.
There is also a large daily green market, likely where I lost my wallet.   I could have purchased a lot of bananas with all the money in that I was carrying.  I sure hope whoever picked up the cash had a lot of trouble converting those US dollars.As of today we aren’t sure if we plan on staying here in Ft de France for Carnival but I’ll admit that it is tempting.  I guess that depends on how confident we are that our two vaccine doses and booster will be in keeping us safe.

I have no idea where my wallet is but perhaps this photo of Pandora from our friends Stephanie and Jim on Hero offers a clue.  Nearby, at the end of the rainbow, perhaps?No wait, is it here aboard, at the end of the rainbow?There you go again Bob, betting on leprechauns.  Don’t forget, you are in France, not Ireland so it’s not likely.

Ok, ok, At least I won’t have to worry any more about loosing my wallet.

Live an learn.  I wonder what I will learn today?  I cringe to think…

One of the best parts of being in the Caribbean, aside from avoiding the FREEZING winter conditions at home, is the nightly show as the sun sets to the west.

Sunsets in the Caribbean are nearly always impressive and last nights was even better than usual with a local fisherman out for one last set of his net as the sun set to the west.  More about how these industrious fisherman practice their craft a little later in this post.Of course, as Brenda and I sit in the cockpit or up on deck with a glass of wine,  we wonder if we will see the elusive green flash, a momentary pulse of bright green as the sun sets below the horizon.  This phenomenon only happens when the horizon is perfectly clear and lasts less than a second.  Last night was one of those nights and while I sort of missed the “flash” by a fraction of a second, we got it, a green flash!  If you don’t see it in this image, I guess you just had to be there, and we were.

I put the camera on sports mode, taking photos about twice a second as the sun sets.  It drops fast enough that you can see it move lower and lower.And, that iconic flash that, I almost, caught.  I’ve done better but you can sort of see the change of color. It was beautiful and a perfect way to end the day.

Today, the day got off to an equally impressive start with a parade of showers rolling off of Mt Pele, bringing with it a variety of rainbows.   First a partial “bow” against impressive clouds. A bit later, a full rainbow.  This photo doesn’t really give a sense of the scale.  It was really huge. And the colors looked brighter in “real life”.  This close up gives a better feel for how bright it was. The streets in St Pierre, once the capital of Martinique, are a mix of old and really old.  In 1902, Mt Pele, in the distance, capped in clouds, exploded with little warning, leveling the city and killing some 30,000 in a brief moment as superheated gas and ash, in excess of 1,000 degrees, rushed down the mountain.
In the aftermath of destruction, not a building was standing, only charred ruins.  Some of the remains of these ruined buildings are left as a memorial to that fateful day. The destruction was total, leaving not a single building standing. Every person in the city perished except a single very lucky guy who happened to be in jail when Pele exploded, and survived.  Check out this three minute video of the story of the destruction of St Pierre and one man’s very lucky day.Following the eruption, the capital was moved south to Ft de France, which remains the capital to this day.   We will be heading there, I expect, within the next few days so stay tuned on that front.

On that fateful day there were many ships anchored off of the city and most were sunk in moments.   The shore drops off steeply off of the beach so today boats have to anchor as close to the beach as they dare.  This view from the center of the city south, is more peaceful than that day in 1902.   Pandora is anchored way to the south, near the point, as there is a fairly shallow shelf in about 25′ of water so it’s a better spot than near the center of the city.

The problem with anchoring near the city center is that the drop off is so fast that if you were to drag your anchor, even 100′, the anchor and chain would be hanging straight down as you drifted to sea.  There are many spots in the ruins in the city that offer a juxtaposition of old and older like this lovely courtyard.   Notice the sleeping dog near the back wall.  Happy Rover.
I particularly liked the way that this home was built into a stretch of old stone wall.  Nicely done. And, a view of the water over the rooftop.  I love steel roofs. A few days ago we visited what has become our favorite distillery, Depaz, built into the foothills of Pele.  The facility is the only steam powered distillery, I think in the Caribbean if not the world.   It sits on the edge of thousands of acres of cane fields. Heavy machinery is used to move the ground up cane into the crusher which extracts the juice. After the cane is crushed and juice extracted, the remainder is set aside and fed into the boiler that provides steam to the engine that powers the plant. If a picture is worth a thousand words, nothing can do justice to this wonderful steam engine like this little video that I shot of the machine at work.   At less than 30 seconds, it gives a real sense of this wonderful piece of engineering in action.   Enjoy…After extracting the sugar juice it is fermented for two days and then put into a distillation tower that gasses off and then collects the alcohol.Then the distilled alcohol is put into oak barrels and aged, in some cases for a decade before being bottled.  Each year about 10% of the rum evaporates from the barrels, an amount called “the angel’s share”.  As a result of this, a bit more is added each year to top up the barrel.  So, if you purchase a rum that has been aged for a number of years, some of the rum has been added on a yearly basis to keep the barrel full.  In some cases, the barrels that the rum is aged in are discarded Port barrels or other types from the US and Europe.  The use of old barrels gives rums a special taste.

These barrels are actually empty, waiting to be filled.  When they are full, they are placed on their side. The rum business has always been profitable as witnessed by this impressive manor home, once the home of the owners of Depaz. Nice view.  I can imagine Mr Depaz sitting on the front porch, perhaps sipping an old fashioned rum punch, feeling pretty proud of himself, master of all he can see and such.  The manor homes on these estates are always sited upwind from the factory.  As you can imagine, boiling sugar water and the near constant crushing of the cane gives off a sickly sweet smell of molasses.   Not something that you’d want wafting into your home, day and night.  Following lunch at the Depaz restaurant with some friends, Brenda and I opted to walk the 1.5 miles back to town.  Down hill all the way and rain showers kept us from getting too hot.  It was a very nice walk.  Brenda has a new straw hat that she has decorated with a lovely scarf.  I finished the ensemble with some fresh flowers plucked along the side of the road.
It’s always a treat to see what grows in people’s gardens and long the roadside.  How about a mix of orchids and bougainvillea?Ok, so back to the fisherman I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

In spite of the fact that the next piece of land to the west as we look out to sea, is probably Honduras, it’s fairly settled along this coastline.  However, before dawn each morning the rocking and rolling begins when the many small fishing boats head out to fish.

In many cases, they are fishing for pilchards, or large sardines.   These 8″ long fish are considered a local delicacy that is sold in the market every morning, fresh from the boat, along with a good variety of other options. Yesterday I purchased a good sized chunk of tuna.  See the tuna “mother” off to the right of this photo?  That was where the tuna I purchased came from.  It was yummy. Also in the market, a huge variety of local vegetables.  We are particularly fond of the tomatoes, very different from the bio-engineered tasteless variety that are available in the US during the winter. So, these small boats head out to fish, early in the morning, often very close to where we are anchored.  The boats generally have two fisherman on board.  First they toss bits of palm fronds onto the water which will bring the fish to the surface.

When they see a promising school of fish, they power in a large circle, paying out their purse net over the side. This boat did their work right in front of anchored Pandora. After securing both ends of the long net together, they pull on the draw string that closes up the bottom of the next, trapping their catch.  Notice the guy on the left who is beating the water with an oar, to scare the fish back into the middle of the net to keep them from escaping under their boat before the net is fully secured.  They then pull one end of the net back aboard, slowly closing in on the school.The net gets smaller and smaller as they draw it aboard.As the net is brought back aboard they carefully pull the individual fish and toss them into a basket.It is an amazing process to watch these fisherman pursue their craft.   I expect that with the exception of using outboard motors, not much has changed for generations.

St Pierre has a long history and it is hard to imagine the horror of that day in 102 that captured the attention of the world.

We aren’t sure how long we will remain here but for now Brenda and I are enjoying spending time in St Pierre, what was once called “The Paris of the Caribbean”.  It’s still lovely and a nice mix of not to shabby and pretty chic.

That’s about it for now as Brenda and I are heading to a local Gauguin museum with our friends from Higlander.

More to come…

It’s hard to say what the best part of being in the French Islands this winter.  It might be the fabulous cuisine, or perhaps the wonderful assortment of fine foods in the markets.  Gone are the rows and rows of junk food that you find in American markets.  Who needs hundreds of yards of chips, soda and sugary cereals.  Here are rows of fine chocolates, cheeses and pates. And, don’t forget about all the great wines and rums to choose from, all at prices that are unimaginable in the US.

Perhaps it’s the simplicity of clearing in and out of the French islands.  Yesterday when we went ashore to clear into customs in St Pierre, we were greeted warmly by the customs officer.  We filled out entry forms on a freshly sanitized computer.  After a few minutes, I printed out my papers and had them stamped.  When I asked what I owed, the official pointed casually to a donation cup, seeming to say  “pay what you want”.   In Deshaies, Guadeloupe the fee was 3 Euros.  I’ll pay that.

I guess the French just want us to spend money on wine, cheese and pastry.  I’m all for that.

Are the sunsets that greet us each evening while we are enjoying a “sundowner” what makes this so special?  Sure, they are great but in the interest of fairness,  sunsets are fabulous at every island.  Perhaps it’s the magnificent scenery of the tall cloud shrouded mountains looming over the quaint villages that make visiting here so special.  We won’t think about the more than 30,000 that died in 1902 when Pele, this peak and still active volcano, blew it’s top and wiped out St Pierre in few scalding moments.   Is it the near hourly rainbows that we see in the mornings and late afternoons as the showers in the nearby rainforests pass through the anchorage?Those short lived showers are a great way to keep Pandora salt free after a sporty run between islands.  We buddy boated with our friends on Highlander to get here a few days ago from Les Saintes.Everyone wants a photo of their boat under sail and I got a few great ones of Highlander.  What’s not to love about a view from Pandora of St Pierre in the late afternoon light?
Or, perhaps the passing of a classic Cornish Crabber as she sailed into the harbor in Les Saintes.Or, the view of the harbor from Fort Napoleon. Ok, perhaps it’s the turquois waters of the nearby reefs that makes these islands so special. Or a visit to a nearby beach.   Ok, the view to the left was sandy but not quite a dramatic.  Complete with swaying palms.  Admittedly, it was, as Brenda woud say, “blowing a gale”. If you like spying local color, look up and see a hefty iguana, feeling pretty proud of himself seeming to say “hey, what you looking at buddy?  You can leave now!”But, the best part of all, and what makes visiting most any island, is time with fellow cruisers, fellow Salty Dawgs, that hang out much of the season together.  “everybody into the pool!”
Whatever it is that makes cruising in the Caribbean great, it’s surely better in the French islands.  Ok, it’s at least as good as most any place other than enduring the cold up north, here in the French Islands.

And, al0ng with great food, wine and terrific scenery, is the rum.  Today, off to nearby Depaz distillery for a tour, tasting and a great lunch.  Yup, cruising with al the basic food groups with the Dawgs.

So, that’s my report and I’ll wrap this up so I can head to the market to buy some fresh tuna for dinner tonight.  Perhaps a baguette too.

It’s all this and more that’s “best” about being in the French islands this season.

 

When we first visited Les Saintes a number of years ago, Brenda’s reaction, when she saw the brightly painted homes with red roofs, was “this is the prettiest place I have ever seen”.   And, like the other French islands we have visited, the food is great too.  Beautiful scenery and great food.  That was on our first year cruising the Caribbean and we still feel that way, years later.

We are on a mooring very close to an active ferry dock.  Hundreds of tourists, mostly from France, arrive daily from the big island of Guadeloupe, overnight bags in tow.   It makes for a rolly harbor during the day.  Not great, I’ll admit.  Off to the north is the big island of Guadeloupe and the view is pretty spectacular in the late afternoon.  This morning I was greeted by a partial rainbow.  It was very windy overnight with a series of strong squalls moving over the island. The first thing that comes to mind when I arrive here is that it looks like a seaside village in the Mediterranean, well at least what I imagine that would look like, as I have limited experience with such places.  Having said that, it feels quite French.  Last night Brenda and I went out to a favorite restaurant.  She had duck breast and I had octopus.  They were both quite good followed by crème brulee.  Yum. This archipelago of islands is only about 20 miles from Pointe de Pietre and yet has a very different feel.  As lush as Guadeloupe is, this island is very arid, more so than most of the others in the area.  The islands are just not tall enough to wring out much rain from the trades.

I am struck by the color of the water.  We’ve been here for a few days already and aren’t sure if we will leave soon for Martinique, about 70 miles from here, or wait until the next weather window, perhaps by next weekend.

Unlike other areas that we visit, here we take a mooring as the area near the town is quite deep and unless you are willing to anchor far out, it’s really the only option.  They seem to be well maintained and even though the water is nearly 40′ deep, you can clearly see the bottom.

The islands, and there are a number of them, ring a large harbor or bay, that is fairly well protected from the ocean swells.    This are is controlled by France and back in the day, when they were duking it out with the English, each nearby hilltop had a fort or lookout.  Yesterday a number of cruisers hiked to the top of one of the highest peaks.  You can see the tiny fort on top of the hill in the distance.  The group hiked up a well paved road that got steeper and steeper as we gained elevation.   The view of the harbor below was amazing. If you zoom in Pandora is in the middle of the harbor. Off to the right of the harbor are many local colorful fishing boats.  The light blue along the edge is shallow water.  It’s very clear water.  On the eastern or windward side of the island, not so placid, with waves crashing on the rocky shore. Zoom in and you can see the beautiful textures in the rocks and foam of crashing waves. Our friend Mark, from Roxy, takes pictures with his iPad and I could not resist getting a photo of him concentrating on the perfect shot. While I was looking at the local color, they were busy watching me.  Goats are a scourge on most islands, eating everything in sight.  As a result, many native plants can never gain a foothold so much of the island is defoliated.  So, here we are in a charming harbor, unsure about what’s next.  But hey, what’s the rush?

Perhaps I’ll go ashore for a baguette.  Brenda had some leftover from her dinner last night so lunch will be duckbreast and cheese on a baguette.  Double yum.