Kategorie: Martinique

As planned, the next morning we started our sail to Le Marin. Approximately 5 hours was planned for the sailing, what was not really matching to my plans, as I had to work this day. Like ordered in the universe the bottom rope from our Mainsail crushed, so we had to switch to the motor. The bay of Le Marin is the main meeting point for sailors in the Carribean. Its hard to guess but approximately 1500 – 2000 boats are on anchorage in the bay. As we entered the bay we had to pass a transport ship for motor yachts and sail yachts. I never have seen something like this before. A huge vessel where you drove your ship into. Crazy!

The plenty of boats around left their traces. The water around us was blurry and greenish. Not to compare with Trinidad but definitely not the water where you are lucky to jump into every day. 

As Martinique belongs to EU, my regular phone contract with data should work here, but the coverage at our anchorage was pretty bad. By Dhingy you easily can drove over to the Marina nearby. Prices in the Marina Bars was high as expected, but WIFI was good. I spent the first day with working full time, and then in the afternoon, I tried to figure out what SIM card options are available. Here I have to say – fail Martinique – all available Data plans was something around 2GB/40€ which was unacceptable for me. So I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in Mc Donalds as they offered free WIFI too. So my options were to sit on land, day by day and use the WIFI from the Bar at the Marina, or a similar place or to pay 40€ on average for 2 days mobile WIFI. All in all, it was clear that I could not stay here until the middle of February. 

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So, I decided to look for flights and I already had figured out that the cheepest way to get away from Martinique is to fly through the US (Miami or Fort Lauderdale). Flights on my earlier research was around 300€ and I was happy in the end to find a flight for 200€ through Miami to Panama. Sadly the flight was on the 1tst of December which shorten my stay on Jabulo one week down. But on the other hand I looked forward to be back on my own. I figured out that the flight from Miami to Panama is a regular flight on every day and so I thought by myself – why not stay one night longer in Miami and visit the famous Miami Beach?! Accomodation was a bit pricy but in the end I found a Hostal near the Airport for 80€ / 2 Nights.  After all my worries and a bit of sorrow, I thought that this would be a perfect adventure to move my mind to other thoughts and booked it. 

Later, when I was back in the Marina, I started a conversation with a guy I met there. His name was „Nacho“, coming from Spain and an engineer in renewable Energies. He told me that his boat is on sale and so I asked him if Martha and I can come around for a visit later on. He agreed and after we cooked something we took the Dhingy and headed over to his boat. The boat was an old Endevour. He explained to us, that this boat model was used in the series Miami Vice. Sonny Crocket was living on a boat model like this in the series, what make this model kind of famous. He also explained, that only 80 pieces of this model was build and aproximatly 20 of them was used in the series. Anyway for me this was not a boat what I would love to own, as it was very heavy and the interior was made from dark wood. This take so much light in the inside that I imagine to get depressions if I had to life there.

Then Nacho told us about some live music later on, and some friends with a brand new Catamaran who do a party on the boat. He wanted to ask if we can join and we arranged to meet up ashore around 7. It turned out that the live music was a karaoke event in the bar of the marina. We stayed for some drinks and as the music becomes louder which each song, we decided to leave around 10. The situation was perfect, as was able Nacho took us directly to the party boat. On the boat was a young crew from mainly polish people, loud music, and enough drinks. The boat was impressive. Brand new, and with a lot of luxury details. The people of the crew was amazingly friendly and it was a lot of fun, to mingle around, talking and enjoying the night. With a good portion of rum, Uwe and I decided to leave around 3 in the night and we both was astonished that we was able to stay that long.

Next morning I woke up with a strong hangover, but still happy about the funny night before. It was planned to go out for dinner in the evening, but as Martha had stayed overnight with one of the guys from the party boat, it happens that she wanted to head over to his boat over the weekend. That made our dinner a bit uncomfortable and not like a goodbye dinner as it should ment to be. Anyway this only confirm my decision to leave the boat.

It was not possible to figure out a clear plan of how to get to the airport, but Uwe has promised me to help with my luggage. As this luggage was intended to be for 6 month and traveling on boat, it was challenging to take this super big bag to the airport. 30° and straight sunlight made me sweat and this pushes my anger about the situation a bit more. Somehow Uwe and I managed to arrive at the bus station and he asked some people around to figure out what is the right bus. I don’t understand French that much but the explanation from the people sounds like I had to wait a bit longer for another bus. But Uwe told me it is fine and placed me on the next bus that appears. I understand that I had to switch to a shared taxi later on, and thought by myself that I will reach the airport somehow.

The drive with the bus was nice. Soon as we had left the area of Le Marin, the landscape looked very beautiful and like it wants to be explored. Also the switch to the shared taxi was not a problem and overall I did the way to the airport for 4€ in total. The shared taxi drop me off at the exit of the motorway and just from looking it was clear that I had to walk about 2km from here. The bag was horrible to carry, as it always crushed into my legs. Only the anger inside of me makes it happend that I made the way. 

The airport was still asleep when I arrived at 10 a.m. I got a coffee, and some food and then I felt the release in my mind. From that moment I was sure that I did the right thing. So it is – goodbye Jabulo – hello Miami

After our three nights in the Keys we had to left up north again to reach Martinique in time. The passage is easy to sail in two days if you consider a one night stop in St. Vincent or St. Lucia. We decided that we go up to St. Lucia and then spent the night in the bay of the two Pitones, as we last time have missed to go for snorkeling there.

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In perfect sailing conditions and in a good mood it was a very nice trip. Martha dominated steering the boat as usual, and Isabell and I chilled through the trip. The light was so nice and also my biggest wish has been fulfilled – Dolphins and rainbows in the sky!

The group swam for approximately 10 min. in front of our vessel and shortly after the disappearance a much bigger single Dolphin showed up. Sadly he was so quick that I couldn’t caught him on camera.

Each time you reach the Deux Pitones its super impressive again. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I guess the reason is, that you see them already from very far away and then, as more close you come, as more huge they become. The form is somehow unusual for mountains as the both have such a sharp tip. It seems impossible to climb them and the trees and roots on them has totally merged into the picture. Also each time when we was here, the sunset was amazing and so this time too.

The next morning Martha and I jumped from board to do a quick snorkeling trip. The water above the mooring was pretty deep, about 100m. It takes some courage to swim over to the snorkeling spot, cause the color of the water differs from the other spots were we have been so far. Its a deep blue and as you can’t see the ground neighter see fish around you on your first look it feels a little like a step into a unknown space. 

I told my mind not to look down and instead just look straight. I spoke a straight word not to think about the deep and swam over. The reef reminded mine on a snorkeling that I did last year on the Maldives. It was like the outer reef where you just can look along the edge of it, down into the deep. As deeper it gets, as bigger the fish is going to be but you only see them raw and not really sharp. So its more about shadows and your imagination. Near to the surface, the fishes are smaller and there was plenty of them. Swarms – and they seemed to have no fear, come close to my camera and I nearly could touch them. The reef was not super spectacular but nice. On the way back we had to untie the rope around the mooring. Same as last time it was wrapped many times around the mooring string. This happened cause of the wind during the night.

Next morning we started to Martinique. I had agreed with the captain to make a final decision about leaving the boat or not if we arrive Le Marin. As the boat will stay there until the middle of February. This was a little pressure on my mind. I figured out the decisions, in general, makes me nervous. I fear to do a wrong one, I guess – even if I have learned that it makes no sense to complain about the past. 

The sail to Martinique was easy and chilled. We headed for Fort a Fance, the main capital of Martinique. The Bay of Fort a France is huge. So huge that speed ferrys crossing from one side to the other like subways. Green and red tons guides us the way to the aanchorage and it was a surprise as the anchorige dosn’t look that ugly as I have expected. We place the boat in front of the wall of an old fortress and it was just some meters to reach the shore. 

As this was Isabelle’s last evening we decided to go ashore for dinner. The area around the dock looked pretty nice. Many old buildings, a lot of people on the streets, music playing everywhere, palm trees and a soft warm wind surrounded us. On top, we found a veggie restaurant where we eat a small plate for plenty of money. Anyway, I liked it here and so my hopes were growing that Le Marin might be worthy to stay. 

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The next day Martha and I explored the city a bit more. It was Sunday and mainly all the shops were closed but it was nice walking around. The area looked like it might be fun staying around. People were super friendly. After we took a look into an old cathedral a man in the street stops us, and ask if we might want to have a look at his art gallery. We agreed and he opens the door only for us. All stuff that was on sale was unique and handmade by local artists. There was wonderful paintings, upcycled jewelry, and handmade clothes. Sadly all the stuff was a bit too expensive for us, but in the end, I bought a pair of earrings. Made of wood in the shape of pineapples and burned patterns on it. 

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As we returned to the boat we become a witness of a sailing race done on traditional sailboats. The hull of the boats was made of wood, the shape of the sail was a square and the crew hand to lean out of the boat on long wooden bars to keep the boat upright in the wind. They were astonishing fast and just by watching it, it was clear that it must be fun to be part of the crew and sailing. 

Then it was time to say goodbye to Isabelle and Michael, who had to head back home. The evening was quite and I spent a lot of time with thinking about my options how to go on. Next morning, so our plan, we would go to Le Marin and than I had to make a final decision.  

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