Martinique, day 6 – Sante Anne Beach

Sunday 22 April: Decisions, decisions! Now that we are 5 on board with different routines we are struggling to have any clear plans what to do next.
We start out at our anchorage off Saint Anne. After a night of very heavy rain, the wind has decreased now. All good for a crossing to St.Lucia but first we need to check-out with customs from Martinique. That means going back to La Marin.
So after breakfast we pull the anchor and motor out passed the reef, then back into La Marin bay. We decide to try to anchor further in this time, to be nearer to the marina office. As the depths decrease we rely, as ever, on the plotter and maybe not enough visual attention.
And all of a sudden we drive Cloudy Bay hard onto a muddy reef! And there we are, locked in place, oops! It’s clear the only way off is to reverse but even full aft on the throttle she won’t budge. Oh dear!
Then we switch on the bow thruster and manage to wiggle the bow left and right a little bit. This, plus full 180HP in aft thrust and Cloudy Bay gradually, very gradually, slides free. Luckily it was soft not hard coral!
We continue, at a much slower speed this time. We get around the shallow area and up to where we want to anchor. Looking backwards, with the sun on our backs, the coral shallow we just hit is obvious, but heading towards it with the sun in our eyes there was no way to see it without someone looking out on the bow. We’ve hit the bottom a few times, but this was clearly the worst so far. Lesson learned.
After anchoring we head to the nearest marina pontoon and walk along several pontoons to the marina office where we can check out using PCs set up in a special room. All very efficient, all very easy. Well done France, for that.
Then a quick top up on pampers at a small supermarket, another visit to the boulangerie for bread then back to Cloudy Bay where we arrive just before the heavens open up, yet again.
As it’s now getting near to lunch time, and our guests can’t imagine lunch while under passage to St.Lucia, we anchor again on the Saint Anne beach, only this time at its northern end, next to the Club Med resort.
Glen dives to see the anchor and the damage to the keel. There’s significant scratching and gouging of paint from the bottom of the keel bulb for about 30cm upwards. In some places there is now bear metal :(. That’s going to need some repair work the next time Cloudy Bay is out of the water.
We then take a quick trip to the beach to check it out and have a swim. It’s a very nice beach so decision is made to stay here for the rest of the day. After only 30 mins we head back to Cloudy Bay for lunch before starvation takes effect on our guests.
After lunch 3 have a nap while aunty Oana and Darius play nicely together in the cockpit. Oana is so good with him. She certainly loves her little nephew.
Then it’s back to the beach for round 2. This time no swimming but a walk along the beach to Club Med and up to the sandy peninsula at the mouth of Marin Bay.
On the way, Darius loves the water and it’s tough to persuade him that we need to walk along the beach and not just paddle at the waters edge! He has a good walk and the light is lovely, for once, to snap some photos before the next rain cloud comes over.
Soon Darius’ batteries are running out and he ends up on Glen’s shoulders, sucking his thumb on one hand and playing with Glen’s ear with the other. It reminds Glen of a certain daughter who used to do exactly the same 26 years ago ….. and still does!
Before we finish walking the entire beach our visitors are hungry (again!) so we set off back to Cloudy Bay before dark, for dinner and an early night all round.