We needed to check-in with the authorities in Martinique still though, so we went into Marin after a quick fettle of the outboard to unblock the telltale. We stopped in for a French breakfast of espresso and pain-au-chocolat for me and a baguette for Kevin. We walked into town and found the immigration office easily, where we were directed to a computer terminal to enter the information ourselves. It was a great system and we were in and out of the office within 10 minutes.
Tanker through the squalls
Next job was to check out the chandleries to start accumulating the bits we need to complete our list of boat jobs. We were looking to get a longer continuous line for our Facnor furler, however, none of the dealers had one. We did have great walk around in the sunshine around the small town of Marin though. We went back to the boat via the Champion supermarket to stock up with some French wine and fresh fruit for the boat, plus some champagne to start our celebration proper that night.
We were back at the boat and lifting the anchor by 13:30 for a very pleasant sail of 17 miles over to Saint Lucia. Kevin decided to add some fun to the sail by racing another larger catamaran that had set off at the same time and apparently to the same destination. They had obviously decided to race us too and I am pleased to say that we won! There we a couple of large tankers waiting to get into Castries (the capital) as we arrived which caused some confusion, but we heard them on the radio requesting a pilot so we worked out they were not heading towards us after all. It was a really lovely short sail, a taste of the Caribbean cruising to come we hope and we even enjoyed some lovely fresh French baguettes and a glass or two or chilled wine on our way across.
Arriving into Saint Lucia
Some large squalls also decided to join the fun as we rounded Pigeon Island heading to Rodney bay, so the boat got another good wash. We could see Martinique in the distance had torrential rain all afternoon though, so we’d obviously made the right choice. In addition, just by looking at the chart you could see you were in English territory again, as one of the rocks offshore was called Barrel o’Beef! Saint Lucia like Martinique is lush and green with a great landscape and interesting looking coves. We made our way into the marina just before dark. The bay is very sheltered with a narrow channel between a spit to one side and the other end of the bay creating a harbour. An attendant was on the dock waiting for us and we were given the dock number to aim for over the radio on the way in, making it one of the easiest entries so far. We showered and changed and drank some celebratory champagne before heading ashore down the impressive large pontoons to the Scuttlebutts bar via the cashpoint for our third currency of the Eastern Caribbean Dollar.
Celebrations start again
We had a lovely evening in the bar overlooking the marina through the windowless frontage. We had some nice cocktails and Kevin had his steak. I had some grilled Mahi Mahi as we hadn’t manage to catch one yet which was delicious so I think Kevin will be getting his new rod and reel soon. The only disturbance was the workmen pouring concrete paths well into the night as they are frantically preparing for the arrival of the ARC.
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