St. Anne Waterfront
Community fishing in St. Pierre 
Martinique lady selling peanut brittle and peanuts on the street
Anse Mitan Sunset
Our friends Renate from Emerald Seas, Kennedy from Far Star, and Tom from Jade posing on the wall of Canal de Beauregard
Carol hugging the wall on the canal walk
Jon walking up the road with the 25% grade before we knew we were going the wrong way!
Mount Pelee, the volcano in St. PierreWhen we left Dominica to sail to Martinique there were three of us leaving at the same time; Emerald Seas, Far Star, and then us. It was pretty typical seas and winds for between-island sailing. The seas are usually choppy and large for awhile, and then calms somewhat, only to build again when nearing the next island. This day was no different. With 20+ knots of wind we were all sailing at 5 knots or more. We messed around with the trim of our sails so much in the beginning that Emerald Seas and Far Star quickly left us behind. Before long we were in the groove and moving towards Martinique at a fast pace. All of a sudden, our stay sail came crashing down. Jon had to go to the front of the boat to pull it in and tie it up, and discovered that the ring at the top of the sail broke. Without our stay sail we slowed somewhat, but still made good progress. Then we noticed that our depth finder was not working. This is not good when it comes time to anchor because we need to know how deep the water is and how much anchor chain to put out. We figured that we would call our friends when we arrived at our anchorage and they could help guide us to a good anchor spot. So we continued on…..
When we reached Martinique and sailed into the lee of the island, the wind and seas calmed down. We decided to put away our sails and turn on the engine to motor in the rest of the way. As we were motoring, the engine rpm’s kept slowing and then speeding up again……oh no…..please just get us into the anchorage!! Well, this happened over and over and we hoped we would be able to make it into the anchorage at St. Pierre just ahead about a mile. But no, the engine decided it had enough and just quit. As we bobbed around we considered raising the sails again and sailing back out as Jon checked the fuel filters. But it was calm so we decided to sit where we were and check it out. Sure enough, the fuel filters were clogged. Quickly Jon changed them out and we tried the engine again……it started! Ok, so that is 3 things gone wrong, we are done!
We reached St. Pierre and called our friends to let them know our depth finder was not working, however, as soon as got in close it began to work again. Evidently, it was just so deep between islands that the depth finder just stopped reading until it got shallow again. Whew!
St. Pierre lies at the foot of Mt. Pelee Volcano and has an interesting history. In 1902 St. Pierre had a population of about 30,000 and was known as the Paris of the Caribbean. It was the cultural, commercial, and social center of Martinique. In April of 1902 the volcano began rumbling and on May 2 a major eruption covered the city with enough ash to kill some birds and animals. Later that day a planter went to check on his crops with a group of workers on a large plantation. A torrent of volcanic mud, lava, and boiling gasses completely buried the estate. Many people had been killed in and around St. Pierre, but people still stayed there. Why?? Well, the new Governor of Martinique was overwhelmed at the idea of evacuating everyone, and plantation owners who were afraid of suffering financial loss convinced him to sit tight. So a committee was put in place to monitor the volcano and they enlisted the support of the local paper to tell people that there was no danger. A few people left, but the majority stayed, and on the morning of May 8, 1902 the side of the volcano facing St. Pierre burst open sending a giant fireball of superheated gas that flowed down over the city, releasing more energy than an atomic bomb. An estimated 29,933 people burned to death leaving only two survivors in town: a cobbler who was in his cellar and the famous Cyparis imprisoned for murder in a stone cell. Even the many ships that were in the harbor at the time burned. The city still has many ruins, and many new buildings share at least one wall with a ruin. It was amazing walking around the ruins in town at the base of the majestic looking volcano and trying to visualize the disaster that happened to the city.
The anchorage in St. Pierre is near the town dock which is right next to the market where farmers sell their fresh vegetables and fruit . On some days you will even find the local fishermen selling their catch of the morning. Most of the town business is near the town dock, so it was very convenient for us! We even decided that while we were in St. Pierre we would tackle our laundry duties. This was one place that even had its own Laundromat! We took our laundry, soap, and Euros into the Laundromat and attempted to figure out how to work the machines. Since we don’t know any French it was quite comical. A woman who was doing her laundry finally took pity on us and with great theatrics demonstrated how to use the machines. We got the first loads started and Jon left to go get some more change at the nearby store. Carol had just settled in to watch the clothes sloshing around in the washers when Jon came running back in and said our boat was moved and it looked like some of our friends were on it! So he took off running to get the dinghy and get out to the boat. Carol waited and watched from the beach across the road. Sure enough…….our boat was dragging its anchor and was drifting away! Our friends saw it and took their dinghies out to rescue it. By the time Jon got there, they had released some more anchor chain and stopped it from drifting. Time to re-anchor! Jon moved it to a more secure area and with several more attempts finally found a place where the anchor held better. Geez!
With our laundry finally done and our boat secure it was time to relax! But not so fast…..our friends Jim and Renate on Emerald Seas had another idea. They convinced us that we needed to all go hike the Canal de Beauregard in the mountains south of town the next morning. The canal was built by slaves to bring water around a steep mountain to supply the distilleries of St. Pierre. We read about it in the cruising guide and since Carol is afraid of heights she really wasn’t so sure she wanted to do it. But they talked us into it, saying that there were only a few places where it was really steep. So, Carol gave in and decided to go along.
The next morning we all met to catch a bus up the mountain to the beginning of the canal. The bus curved around the steep mountain road…up and up and up….and finally stopped at an intersection in a tiny village. Jim went in to a restaurant and asked for directions to the trailhead. The men told him to go up the hill to the right so we all trudged up the hill on a road with a 25% grade. It didn’t seem right, but we just kept on going until we reached an observatory at the top of the hill! When we got there we knew we had been deliberately mislead….not surprising since the French are not at all fond of foreigners. So, we walked back down the road and took another turn. We decided this time we would ask a little lady in her empty restaurant if she could tell us where the trail started. She was very sweet and motioned to us where to go since we did not speak French and she did not speak English. We all decided to buy a beer from her and sit for a minute to cool down after our hike up the hill. She watched us for a few minutes and she was clearly concerned about these 6 hot people sitting in her restaurant sweating profusely! Next thing we know she is delivering Pringles on a plate for us and telling us we needed to eat them. We all ate the Pringles, drank our beer, thanked the sweet lady and moved on up the road. We walked through this village that was so sparkling clean that it looked unreal. FINALLY we found the beginning of the canal. There were signs in French with clear pictures of people falling off the wall and the word DANGER over and over! Still, we marched on through a tunnel that was collapsing (did we have a death wish or what?) and onto the wall. The wall was 18” wide and on one side was the canal that was about 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide and on the other side was the drop off to the country side below. On and on this trail went and it was not just a few times that it dropped straight down it was over and over!! Needless to say, Carol was freaked. She didn’t say anything, she just went Zen and kept on going. Jon and the others were not bothered. They just kept stopping and turning around on that 18” wall high up the side of the mountain to discuss the scenery!! People would come from the other direction and we had to find a place where we could all pass each other. There were a few places where the trail would get a little wider and that was a relief. We ate lunch on one of those wide spots overlooking the farms below (Carol tried not to look).
Finally we reached the end of the canal. We still had a LONG way to walk back to a town where we had to find a bus to get back to St. Pierre. We wandered through farms and fields of sugarcane and just when we all thought we could not go another step we staggered into the nearest town. We found a little store and all the locals were very amused watching us buy cold drinks to guzzle down. Then we found a bus stop and figured one would be along any minute to take us back to St. Pierre. No bus. Finally a woman who spoke English told us no more busses were coming that day. Just when we were planning on hitchhiking back a “Taxi” (more like bus, but they called them taxis) showed up and we were on our way back. Exhausted we stumbled back to our dinghies and back to our boats at the end of a looonnnggg day.
When we left St. Pierre we sailed down the island to Fort de France, the capital. We checked in and then were told that the next day was a holiday (every French island we visited was having a holiday!!). It was also the weekend, so we didn’t get to see much of the city. We sailed over to Anse Mitan because we were told it was like a little Disneyland. That would be nice! Well, it was definitely a tourist destination for people from Martinique, but like every other day on the French islands, most places were closed. We continued sailing south the next day and stayed in a little bay about half way down the lee side of the island. We anchored near a few boats close to shore and thought it was a great place, except for the fact that a giant cockroach flew onto the deck of our boat. Jon did a great version of the Mexican Hat dance as he quickly ended the life of that cockroach!!
When we reached Martinique and sailed into the lee of the island, the wind and seas calmed down. We decided to put away our sails and turn on the engine to motor in the rest of the way. As we were motoring, the engine rpm’s kept slowing and then speeding up again……oh no…..please just get us into the anchorage!! Well, this happened over and over and we hoped we would be able to make it into the anchorage at St. Pierre just ahead about a mile. But no, the engine decided it had enough and just quit. As we bobbed around we considered raising the sails again and sailing back out as Jon checked the fuel filters. But it was calm so we decided to sit where we were and check it out. Sure enough, the fuel filters were clogged. Quickly Jon changed them out and we tried the engine again……it started! Ok, so that is 3 things gone wrong, we are done!
We reached St. Pierre and called our friends to let them know our depth finder was not working, however, as soon as got in close it began to work again. Evidently, it was just so deep between islands that the depth finder just stopped reading until it got shallow again. Whew!
St. Pierre lies at the foot of Mt. Pelee Volcano and has an interesting history. In 1902 St. Pierre had a population of about 30,000 and was known as the Paris of the Caribbean. It was the cultural, commercial, and social center of Martinique. In April of 1902 the volcano began rumbling and on May 2 a major eruption covered the city with enough ash to kill some birds and animals. Later that day a planter went to check on his crops with a group of workers on a large plantation. A torrent of volcanic mud, lava, and boiling gasses completely buried the estate. Many people had been killed in and around St. Pierre, but people still stayed there. Why?? Well, the new Governor of Martinique was overwhelmed at the idea of evacuating everyone, and plantation owners who were afraid of suffering financial loss convinced him to sit tight. So a committee was put in place to monitor the volcano and they enlisted the support of the local paper to tell people that there was no danger. A few people left, but the majority stayed, and on the morning of May 8, 1902 the side of the volcano facing St. Pierre burst open sending a giant fireball of superheated gas that flowed down over the city, releasing more energy than an atomic bomb. An estimated 29,933 people burned to death leaving only two survivors in town: a cobbler who was in his cellar and the famous Cyparis imprisoned for murder in a stone cell. Even the many ships that were in the harbor at the time burned. The city still has many ruins, and many new buildings share at least one wall with a ruin. It was amazing walking around the ruins in town at the base of the majestic looking volcano and trying to visualize the disaster that happened to the city.
The anchorage in St. Pierre is near the town dock which is right next to the market where farmers sell their fresh vegetables and fruit . On some days you will even find the local fishermen selling their catch of the morning. Most of the town business is near the town dock, so it was very convenient for us! We even decided that while we were in St. Pierre we would tackle our laundry duties. This was one place that even had its own Laundromat! We took our laundry, soap, and Euros into the Laundromat and attempted to figure out how to work the machines. Since we don’t know any French it was quite comical. A woman who was doing her laundry finally took pity on us and with great theatrics demonstrated how to use the machines. We got the first loads started and Jon left to go get some more change at the nearby store. Carol had just settled in to watch the clothes sloshing around in the washers when Jon came running back in and said our boat was moved and it looked like some of our friends were on it! So he took off running to get the dinghy and get out to the boat. Carol waited and watched from the beach across the road. Sure enough…….our boat was dragging its anchor and was drifting away! Our friends saw it and took their dinghies out to rescue it. By the time Jon got there, they had released some more anchor chain and stopped it from drifting. Time to re-anchor! Jon moved it to a more secure area and with several more attempts finally found a place where the anchor held better. Geez!
With our laundry finally done and our boat secure it was time to relax! But not so fast…..our friends Jim and Renate on Emerald Seas had another idea. They convinced us that we needed to all go hike the Canal de Beauregard in the mountains south of town the next morning. The canal was built by slaves to bring water around a steep mountain to supply the distilleries of St. Pierre. We read about it in the cruising guide and since Carol is afraid of heights she really wasn’t so sure she wanted to do it. But they talked us into it, saying that there were only a few places where it was really steep. So, Carol gave in and decided to go along.
The next morning we all met to catch a bus up the mountain to the beginning of the canal. The bus curved around the steep mountain road…up and up and up….and finally stopped at an intersection in a tiny village. Jim went in to a restaurant and asked for directions to the trailhead. The men told him to go up the hill to the right so we all trudged up the hill on a road with a 25% grade. It didn’t seem right, but we just kept on going until we reached an observatory at the top of the hill! When we got there we knew we had been deliberately mislead….not surprising since the French are not at all fond of foreigners. So, we walked back down the road and took another turn. We decided this time we would ask a little lady in her empty restaurant if she could tell us where the trail started. She was very sweet and motioned to us where to go since we did not speak French and she did not speak English. We all decided to buy a beer from her and sit for a minute to cool down after our hike up the hill. She watched us for a few minutes and she was clearly concerned about these 6 hot people sitting in her restaurant sweating profusely! Next thing we know she is delivering Pringles on a plate for us and telling us we needed to eat them. We all ate the Pringles, drank our beer, thanked the sweet lady and moved on up the road. We walked through this village that was so sparkling clean that it looked unreal. FINALLY we found the beginning of the canal. There were signs in French with clear pictures of people falling off the wall and the word DANGER over and over! Still, we marched on through a tunnel that was collapsing (did we have a death wish or what?) and onto the wall. The wall was 18” wide and on one side was the canal that was about 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide and on the other side was the drop off to the country side below. On and on this trail went and it was not just a few times that it dropped straight down it was over and over!! Needless to say, Carol was freaked. She didn’t say anything, she just went Zen and kept on going. Jon and the others were not bothered. They just kept stopping and turning around on that 18” wall high up the side of the mountain to discuss the scenery!! People would come from the other direction and we had to find a place where we could all pass each other. There were a few places where the trail would get a little wider and that was a relief. We ate lunch on one of those wide spots overlooking the farms below (Carol tried not to look).
Finally we reached the end of the canal. We still had a LONG way to walk back to a town where we had to find a bus to get back to St. Pierre. We wandered through farms and fields of sugarcane and just when we all thought we could not go another step we staggered into the nearest town. We found a little store and all the locals were very amused watching us buy cold drinks to guzzle down. Then we found a bus stop and figured one would be along any minute to take us back to St. Pierre. No bus. Finally a woman who spoke English told us no more busses were coming that day. Just when we were planning on hitchhiking back a “Taxi” (more like bus, but they called them taxis) showed up and we were on our way back. Exhausted we stumbled back to our dinghies and back to our boats at the end of a looonnnggg day.
When we left St. Pierre we sailed down the island to Fort de France, the capital. We checked in and then were told that the next day was a holiday (every French island we visited was having a holiday!!). It was also the weekend, so we didn’t get to see much of the city. We sailed over to Anse Mitan because we were told it was like a little Disneyland. That would be nice! Well, it was definitely a tourist destination for people from Martinique, but like every other day on the French islands, most places were closed. We continued sailing south the next day and stayed in a little bay about half way down the lee side of the island. We anchored near a few boats close to shore and thought it was a great place, except for the fact that a giant cockroach flew onto the deck of our boat. Jon did a great version of the Mexican Hat dance as he quickly ended the life of that cockroach!!
We moved on the next morning to Le Marin, the boating capital of Martinique where we replaced our anchor chain, got the stay sail repaired, and purchased a few more things for the boat. Then we moved over to St. Anne before leaving our last French island in the Caribbean to sail to St. Lucia. St. Anne is a beautiful little town except that everything was closed – again – so we didn’t get to visit many places. The French islands are a mystery to us! The businesses open late, close 3 hours for lunch, and have more holidays than any place we have ever visited. They won’t speak English even if they know English and friendliness in not generally their strongest trait. Still, they have such beautiful islands, so we are sure we will be back!
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