Having chartered a couple times with the Moorings out of St Lucia headed south to the Grenadines, my crew is looking for something different. Has anyone started from St Lucia and gone north? Wondering if I could put together a reasonable 7-10 day itinerary headed north and returning to St Lucia. Looking for secluded anchorages and good diving. I haven't asked the Moorings yet about their policy on heading to Martinique and Dominica but I am assuming it is acceptable... This trip would most likely be for January 2014. Thanks for any advice.

Sean

There are some very nice anchorages around the southern end of Martinique, also in the Baie Fort de France. St Pierre up in the north is an interesting stop and also a port of entry so you can leave from there for Dominica.

Dominica is less developed than anywhere else in the Leewards or Windwards which has its good and some bad points.

I would allow at least 10 days if you want to include Dominica.

Can't comment about the diving as I don't dive.

Ditto about Martinique. Many great bays in the south, *love* Ste Anne, Les Trois-Ilets area and definitely St Pierre- one of the most interesting towns in the Caribbean. Friends have been by land to the eastern side where there is some sort of banana arboretum that is very educational. And because it's French, the food is wonderful... We stopped at Portsmouth in Dominica and hightailed it to Iles des Saintes. Not sure if that is too far north for you.

Thank you for your suggestions. I am able to locate surprisingly few resources on the internet for Martinique/Dominica itineraries.

Sean

My sailing there was with charter boat friends moving boats to or from Trinidad or Grenada. Most of the folks we saw were cruisers. As everyone said, the infrastructure is not like the BVI. Jerry jugging fuel, searching for fresh water, looking for a store open on whatever day you need a store... All fun stories years later, but not so fun at the time. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

You must tell the Moorings where you are going when you book the boat. NOT all the boats have the papers and documentation needed to travel to French waters!

We loved Martinique twice. The food is outstanding and we spent much more time ashore and inland of the beach.

There is a strong rumor going around that the Moorings is moving it's base to Rodney Bay. If so this makes the Martinique itinerary very easy. Regardless, you'll likely depart Rodney Bay for Martinique; Cul De Sac Marin is a large and well protected bay. Le Marin is a good size town with excellent provisioning in the Supermarchés, if you like French wines and delicacies; it will shame the Moorings provisioning. Personally I would only provision what I need to get out of St Lucia and do real provisioning in Martinique.

Lots of interesting things to see and do on Martinique, it is a full Department of France (like Hawaii is a US state) so you get a real blend of metropolitan France with a full carib overlay.

Diving is very good by Carib standards with a number of wrecks and interesting sites, Dominica is likewise very good diving.

Have you considered charting from Martinique? or my favorite Guadeloupe. Reasonable sail to Dominica from either, but you get the Ile Des Saintes from Guadeluope. DYC will let you do one ways (for a fee) between them. In January the prevailings will be north of east, so a sail down island from Guadeloupe might be easier on the crew.

Last January we had the horrid task <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Groovin.gif" alt="" />of delivering a 45 from Bequia to St. Martin. After suffering a week delay leaving Admiralty Bay ( I should have this kind of bad luck more often) we headed to Martinique. On the way an old repair in the main failed forcing us to stop in Le Marin for repairs. The folks at the loft tried to do a quick patch but were unsuccessful and it would be at least 10 days to do it right do to their workload. This turned into the best stretch of bad luck I’ve witnessed in my 60 + years.
Martinique is one incredible Island.
The people bend over backwards and are earnestly warm & friendly. The further you get from the water the fewer spoke English and by the time I left, do to their effort, I could speak some reel crappy French
The towns and ports mentioned by Nutmeg are spot on. San Pierre when the Cruise Ship busses aren’t around is really quiet and quaint with a great market. If you take the time to get into the history is horrific and sad.

Thank you for the recommendation on DYC. I have more than 10 charters with the Moorings and haven't used anyone else. Any idea how DYC stacks up against the Moorings in terms of service and quality of boats? Thanks.

Sean

A BiG +1

We have found far more worthwhile to do ashore in Martinique. Playing tourist is usually not our thing. Martinique is different. The food, the history, the interesting old world beauty at every corner. You can easily spend three days in the St. Pierre anchorage.

The real tour of real Rhum making is a great education. There are several options on the island here is one with lunch we enjoy.

http://www.ministryofrum.com/producerdetails.php?t=42

It is virtually impossible to buy the real Rhum's of Martinique in the US. The french simply do not bother to ship the good stuff here.

Please note it is the islands. The culture is different and everything will take longer than most americans expect. Yes, even slower than many BVI offerings. Your good manners and at least respect of french will go a long way here.

We have picked boats up on St. Lucia that is easy to fly to. Sailed off to St. Pierre and Martinique to decompress, do the history and provision. Then when we are ready sail overnight to the Grenadines. After the Grenadines we sail back and spend a night under the Piton's before returning the boat.

Like you I have lots of Moorings experience; 19 worldwide. Hell, I'm even a Commodore, if they still use that designation <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" /> I've also used TMM, CYOA, PV and a few no longer around. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend DYC, they are right up there with the Moorings et al in terms of service and the boat quality is IMHO better.

I will qualify that by saying I'm speaking only of catamarans. I haven't sailed a mono since 2002.

Their Catanas are very high quality, go fast, and well equipped, with watermakers, solar panels, twin helms, daggerboards, latest electronics, etc. ALL of which worked perfectly on my last charter.

Their base in Guadeloupe is small, without bells & whistles, but you get impeccable personal service, backed up by the base manager's own cell phone number.

FYI: Guadeloupe is arguably the best sailing base outside BVI in the Carib, with the Iles Des Saintes and Dominica easy sails. Diving is some of the best in the Carib with several Cousteau world sites. That it is largely unknown to Americans makes it even better. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

The absolute only bad thing I can say about Martinique is don’t try to get your CO2 cylinder for your vest through security and if you have an early flight eat before you get to the airport. The concession didn’t open till after 9:00 AM when I was there.
For the first time ever the check point would not let the CO2 cyln. for my harness/vest pass. Oh well, maybe it’s been X-rayed enough.

It's been several years but we took a Moorings Benatau single hull 40 from St. Lucia and ran it back to Tortola. Loved the Saints, Dominica, Martinique, A little further between islands than we were used to but had a great trip.