It is simply impressive and breath taking to witness the largest five-masted fully rigged tall ship in the world passing by your own stern while at anchorage under the settling sun.
SY Royal Clipper moving South along Martinique‘s shoreline on a cruise in the Caribbean.
Go for it, make your booking to catch a bit of tradition in our modern world.
Fair winds…
It was one of the many evenings we spent together with Cornelia and Volker, either on SY Hexe or on our boat.
Driven by a sms message Volker received just in time, we explored “Appel à Tous”, a new start-up company committing to deliver groceries to your boat at anchor. Obviously some personal and close friendships back in Europe involved. We were in the mood to place a small pilot order via the App, paid in advance and hoping it will be delivered as promised by this young and dynamic, visionary company.
Antonia and Mike, representing “Appel à Tous” on Martinique, were very much on time with the delivery only 24 hours after order placement, as committed and agreed. With a highly motivated and very pleasant approach our fridges got replenished. Well done! Thank you.
Some more brainstorming and feedback was provided over dinner and drinks. We wish the company and its team all the best on the way to turn the business plan into reality. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ five stars for the service provided.
Fair winds…
The mooring set-up in this bay is a bit weird. There are areas nominated, which are not all clear and some of them not suitable for yachties to anchor.
Yesterday afternoon, one of the areas got cleared by the officials and half a dozen of boats had to move out. We were lucky and could stay in our place. Based upon the underwater mooring block next to our anchor I concluded for myself, what is allowed and which area shall be kept free from anchoring yachts. The discussion around “makes sense or not” can become an endless argument. Clear on the set-up is, that nothing is clear and specific websites do not bring more clarity either.
Keeping mooring buoys under water like the one next to our anchor is a no brainer and more than questionable practice.
Next time we come here, we will dive for the mooring buoys to be sure we are within the correct space.
Fair winds…
We woke up early as usual. 7:30am the anchor got lifted on both SY Hexe and SY Hullu Poro. It was still a bit cloudy but pure sunshine was promised later the day. The promise became true.
I wanted to refill the diesel tank and we motored into Marina du Marin. Great service in this place of the world, whatever is needed for boaties. After refuelling and disposing our rubbish, we followed Cornelia and Volker under a quick and easy foresail cruise. Passing historical Rocher du Diamant our anchor dropped after 17nm only in one of the three main coves named after the municipal of Anse d’Arlet.
It appears we have closed the gap towards paradise a bit further.
Fair winds…
Our days in Saint-Anne passed by quickly. Logistic rides and some boat work while spending time with Volker & Cornelia from SY Hexe filled the days. We ensured enough time left for the afternoon nap and a Caribbean sundowner at our favourite bar.
Fair winds…
The mixed weather is still ongoing. Strong winds gusting above 30kn paired with occasional fierce rain showers followed by extensive sunny periods. In other words, warm European April weather. I don’t think this is typical trade wind weather. It shall be over coming Monday.
We moved closer towards the shore and dropped the anchor just 0.3nm in front of the dinghy dock of Saint-Anne. Plenty of boats here under German flag, one showing Titisee as its homeport!
SY Peter von Seestermühe just hundred yards away from us. Another legendary boat, which participated in the first ever Withbread Round the World Race in 1973/74 (under German flag and the name “Peter von Danzig” at that time). She competed against Eric Tabarly and his SY Pen Duick VI, which we saw just recently in Grenada, now under helm of his daughter Marie. Sailing history. Two beautiful heritage boats so close together again after 50 years. Amazing. Yacht spotting goes on.
Susan and myself both remember, that we saw the good old SY Peter von Danzig at the ASV in Kiel just before she took new ownership in 1991.
Fair winds…
Long live the tradition! Invented by SY Hexe we had a Champage Friday today on SY Hullu Poro. It marks the end of a busy week for a well deserved start into the weekend. Enjoy!
Fair winds…
There are currently some stronger trade winds going through peaking above 30kn but we got used to it in the meantime. It is still a very pleasant anchorage here at Saint-Anne.
There are only two downsides: the water is a bit choppy and does not invite for a swim and our dinghy is not suitable to go ashore under these conditions from our current location, which is 0.7nm away from the closest dinghy dock. Perhaps we go a bit closer tomorrow.
There was a job on the list. The first SMS from Volker came in at 5:57am asking to remain on stand-by. It was still a bit dark and we were looking for a place to shade from the wind to take the foresail down, which was scheduled for the Sailmaker today.
Shortly after that Volker picked me up, we lifted the anchor and motored to a place nearby…sail down, back to anchorage while enjoying tasty Cappuccino and cookies, sail delivered.
On the way we also dropped some of the old batteries, did some grocery shopping and refilled the outboard engine.
At 10am we called it a day, ready for the weekend.
Fair winds…
Our sailing day became as dramatic as the cloud looks like covering La Soufrière, at the northern tip of St. Vincent, an active Volcano since April 2021. It appears to me that St. Vincent is a very interesting island to keep on the list for the future.
It was clear that all the way up North was clause hauled sailing against the north easterly trade winds but the cape effects at the northern tip of the islands can add another challenge. The waves are rolling in from the Atlantic at times straight onto the nose. Hitting these relative steep waves at 25 to 30kn wind gave the lady a good wash all over. Some squalls added a bit of an extra topping and we felt everything against us on this passage.
On the other side, we motored along the shorelines of the islands as close as possible. Therefore the engine was running for some hours charging the battery bank constantly.
Watching the batteries closely, one of the four service batteries reached cooking stage with the other three being at higher than usual temperatures. We also had acid smell inside the boat. I called Christian from Gesang Yacht Elektronik and we got the plan of action confirmed. Disconnect and control the load into the remaining batteries.
I have learned in the meantime, that the way the test on the batteries was conducted by a certified Volvo dealer might have given a misleading picture on the real SOH (Status of Health).
As we still needed the engine and the Volvo charger is not smart at all, we had to control the battery charge load through consumers. While sailing, – minimise consumers, while motoring – maximise consumers, to prevent further batteries to heat up. Sailing into the night required to adapt the settings as we need more energy at darkness. Totally pathetic but worked.
We arrived around 10pm at our anchorage in Saint-Anne on Martinique, just in time when another squall released its fierce force on us. We accepted by now, it can only get better. With a hefty grip, the anchor did bite into the sandy ground and after a short while we felt first relief after quite some hours of excitement.
We cleared the mess trying to catch some sleep. It became a short night. Susan had to work 3am in the morning and managed very well.
After all, one more time I feel, that my nose smashed finally into the cream!
We were planning to meet Cornelia and Volker from SY Hexe, very good sailing mates from Puerto Calero/Lanzarote. Our anchor dropped just behind their stern!
With great help and little push from Volker (I was still energy low) we picked up new batteries from Yachting Engineering Services, one of the shops you can reach by dinghy.
The new battery bank was installed by 1pm and put on generator loading.
What a final relief. Thank you Volker!
