John Marten

Left the Pitons and headed up the coast under 7-15 kts of wind. Stopped for lunch and a lovely snorkel at Anse Cochon. Then back up the coast. Provides assistance to a local? boat with engine trouble - towed them into Castries. Then final sail close hauled with a few tacks into Rodney Bay. Great trip!!

Nice broad reach on approx 17-20kts of wind from Martinique to St Lucia. Wind a little lighter sailing down the west coast of St Lucia, but also had lovely flat seas. Picked up mooring ball between the Pitons well ahead of schedule. Lovely days sailing.

Stayed an extra day in St Anne’s to enjoy the amazing crepes at Ti Cozy and have a more favourable wind direction tomorrow to cross to St Lucia. In the afternoon motored around the headland to Salinas Beach. Use sonar overlay on Navionics to help find a good route in and avoid sand bars. Easy anchoring in sand. Ok for a lunch stop but too exposed for overnight. Fantastic beach.

Unfortunately the wind had swung to the SE and so, annoyingly, we had to motor all the way to St Anne’s despite reasonable wind strength. Anchored easily in the huge bay.

Left at 6am motoring south on east coast of Dominica in almost no wind. As we cleared the lee of the island wind came up to 12-14kts so we had a great crossing to Martinique. Again, as we passed into the lee of the island the wind switched off so we motored the last little but into St Pierre and picked up a mooring ball. Arrived nicely on time at 3pm for provisioning U Express.

Left in very light wind under motor. Wind started to fill in - reached 10kts so we tried to sail but after some time at 2kts of boat speed abandoned our attempt and motored in. Picked up mooring ball with PAYS. Joined beach BBQ party organised by PAYS. Good food and lots of rum punch. Stayed a day in Portsmouth. Early morning trip up Indian River with Martin. Climb up to Fort Shirley and East Cabrit in the afternoon.

Another fresh French pastry breakfast. Set off in what seemed like no wind but had a reef in the main nonetheless. As we entered the channel clear of the lee of the island, the wind jumped to over 20kts with big swell on a tight reach. A little further out in the channel the wind direction raised to a broad reach with waves rolling across our beam. Had several hours of champagne sailing. Approaching Dominica the wind and seas built again but once we entered the lee of the island, dropped to less than 10 kts. Sailed into Roseau and picked up a mooring ball with the help of Desmond from SeaCat. Later moved to a more picturesque mooring ball as we will stay two days. Next day went on amazing day trip with Kevin to the Emerald Pool, Titou Gorge and the Trafalgar Falls.

Dinghy trip to the bakery yielded fresh pastries for breakfast, and then we headed out for the north end of Martinique. Initially in the bay south of Fort de France we reached along in 18kts of wind but as we rounded the headland and continued up the coast the wind got progressively lighter. We passed the sailing school in Schoelcher which was running Opti and Laser races. Finally we gave up on the wind and motored the second half of the trip. Arriving in St Pierre, we calibrated the compass which had been giving strange readings. Then we picked up one of the many mooring balls available.

After leisurely breakfast and swimming with turtles headed out in what looked like calm conditions. Around the headland went from zero knots to 20 kts of wind especially as a squall came through. Able to sail on close reach along the shore. Anchored towards the northern end of the bay on edge of mooring field. Good holding in 15ft.

Left St Lucia on 20+kts of wind. As we got out in the channel, wind settled in around 18kts on a tight reach. Waves around 1.8m, from the east. Closer to Martinique wind swung more behind us until shelter of the island prompted us to drop sails and motor into the bay. Picked up mooring ball. Nice little town.