TravelTalkOnline Forums Trip Reports (Read Only) Trip Report and Photo Archives Days 10 & 11 - Martinique

Feb. 10, 2012
The taxi arrived at the scheduled time and dropped us off at the airport. Our Liat flight went off without a hitch; and both we and our luggage arrived in St. Lucia on time and in one piece. We caught a taxi to the marina and made our way to Skyelark which was tied on F dock. Kevin, my friend from home, had arrived yesterday and we met him on the dock as he returned from his morning shower. It was nice to be back on the boat and this was the first time Kim had seen Dan and Em since they got married so she was finally able to congratulate them. We were due to set off on our adventure before mid-day, so we stowed our gear and then First Mate will gave us the safety briefing. Kevin and I took a quick walk up to the store in the marina for beer and rum. We made a detour to the Island Grill and Roti restaurant just down the street from the marina. I got a chicken roti (13 EC) and Kevin got a curried goat meal (18 EC); I can’t say enough good things about this restaurant the food is great and the prices very reasonable. On the way back I dropped off some things I had brought for my friend Trendy at the Boardwalk Bar in the marina. Trendy has gotten a job at the boatyard and we would be gone before his lunch break. Dan and Em returned to the boat, got our passports and cleared out of St. Lucia. We were soon underway, and as we were leaving the marina, Trendy waved to us and wished us well form shore. We hoisted the sails just off Pigeon Island and headed north to St. Pierre, Martinique, our first stop on the trip. The wind was fresh and the seas choppy, but Skyelark handled it with no problems as usual.

We pulled into the anchorage just as the last bit of sun was going down, and set the anchor. After drinks in the cockpit we dingied to shore in search of dinner. We went to La Tamaya, a few blocks back from the waterfront. This is a nice little restaurant, but the food was a little disappointing. I had the octopus in cane syrup, the octopus was tougher than I like and the sauce was a little too caramelized for my taste. Kim had the chicken fricassee which she didn’t care for at all. In all fairness to the restaurant neither of us are big fans of the French sauces so that may have played into our opinions.


After dinner we went back to Skyelark and had a nightcap or two; by 11:00 we were all ready for bed.
Feb. 11, 2012
We awoke to an overcast day and headed to town to get some pastries and coffee. We found a nice bakery café a couple blocks from the waterfront. We enjoyed some pain au chocolat, coffee and espresso. After coffee we wandered through the market, it is very nice with a great selection of fruits, vegetables, and fresh fish. Some of the crew decided to take do a hike in the mountains, the rest of us hired a large car and toured the island. With Dan at the wheel we stopped at the visitors center at the volcano ad took some pictures of the surrounding hills.

We then continued around the island to the Sant James rhum distillery, We skipped the tour and went straight to the tasting room and museum located just off the parking lot. We sample many of their rhums and purchased a few bottled to take back to the boat.


From the we headed on to a place Will knew in Robert for lunch. I was unaware of how much agriculture there is on the island, we passed many banana and sugar cane plantations as we made our way through the countryside. The restaurant we stopped at was just across from a small seaside park, it may have been called L’estate Robert, but I’m not sure. The entrées were around 16 Euros each, but well worth it. Em and I had lamb shanks served over couscous, Dan went for the duck breast, Kevin the curried chicken special and Will had marlin tartar. All were perfectly prepared and the portions were more than ample. We choose a nice red wine to accompany the meal. Kim didn’t have anything, I think she isn’t going to order off a menu she can’t read after last nights dinner.

We continued on down the coast to a waterfront park. There are a couple of wind surfing shops located there and many people were enjoying the sport in the bay. There is a sandbar that extends far out into the bay and a lot of people were wading out in the knee deep water. As we continued our journey we drove through Fort d’ France, which is about the best thing you can do there, it being very urban in nature. The sun started to set as we continued down the west coast, stopping to take some pictures along the way. Back at the market we met the rest of the crew and dingied back to Skyelark. We were all still quite full from our lunches so we noshed on some crackers and an assortment of cheeses. About 11:00 we called it a night in anticipation of our sail tomorrow to Dominica, my favorite stop on the charter.