I wake up early to make up for yesterday’s oversight. I forgot to clear out of Martinique and then discovered that the local office is closed today and instead I need to travel to the next town, Le Marin. By 7:30 I am riding the dinghy to shore to catch the 7:50 bus for the 20min ride over. Only the bus never shows up, despite plenty of others also waiting. “Es que vous attendez pour l’autobus a Le Marin?”. I manage to ask the question; as for understanding the answer, I am not sure sure. My French really needs work. After 30min I abandon ship, buy some baguette and croissants instead and return to JACE. Now I have a different plan: take the dinghy! It’s only 6nm and it works out. A bit choppy as I have to head upwind but it only takes me 10min. After clearing customs and riding back, I even save 10min over what the trip by bus would have been. Perfect.
By 10:30 we are on our way. It has become quite blistery and the gusts are well into 25 to 30kn. Thankfully it is just aft of the beam and just under genoa we sail between 7 and 8kn. The wind has built a considerable swell so it is rocking and rolling us a fair bit. But the sun is shining and we have a good time talking about all sorts of stuff while we take turns steering.
By mid afternoon we are back in Marigot Bay, a place I had really enjoyed and vowed to return to. After getting the boat properly anchored and cleaned up and swimming and relaxing for a bit, we head to one of the local Creole restaurants for a drink and dinner.
Overnight it turns rainy, and not just showers but sustained and frequent rain out of low hanging clouds. We turn that into an advantage and do some work. Anika will graduate with her bachelor’s this summer and it is time to work on applications for her next academic step.
By early afternoon we decide to push on and head south for a good hour to the town of Soufriere. This is where the famous pitons (two cone shaped mountains) are and where a marine park makes snorkeling and diving particularly wonderful.
Given the mix of rain and sun there is no shortage of rainbows.
Upon arrival we grab a mooring (no anchoring in the marine park) at one of the prime snorkeling spots and jumo in right away. And we are not disappointed: a magical underwater world awaits us literally right below our boat.
Over the course of the next two days here we go back multiple times to enjoy nature’s wonders and try to capture the beauty in photos and videos.
If you are interested, here are more videos: Video 2, Video 3, Video 4, Video 5, Video 6, Video 7
The other big project we have for our time here is to climb atop one of the two Pitons. We pick the smaller as we are told it affords the better views and because it is easier for us to get to. We wait for a good weather window (still uncharacteristically frequent and prolonged rain showers) and leave by 1:30p.
Naturally, we ignore recommendations along the way and trust our electronic guide. From the base of the Piton the ascend is incredibly steep and we both quickly agree this is the steepest and probably most strenuous hike we have ever done.
We’re on all fours almost the entire time and many sections are secured by ropes.
But it is a fun challenge and we push on up, higher and higher, over 700m of ascent in barely 2km.
Of course we encounter some rain along with the obligatory rainbow.
The view is worth the effort even though we don’t make it all the way up. It is almost 4p and just two hours of daylight left and we are a bit worried about the way down. So we call it some 150m below the top. Bummer! Next time we make it all the way!
It has been a wonderful two days here and no sign of “suffering” in Souffriere. In the early afternoon we let go of our mooring and enjoy a lovely reach north to Rodney Bay.
We make it just in time to clear out of St. Lucia for departure tomorrow morning and do some shopping for food. It is Toast Hawaii for dinner and some fresh passion fruit and water melon and then early bed time. Tomorrow is a longer and potentially bumpy sail back to Martinique. Hard to believe: it is already halftime of Anika’s visit.