We were sad to leave Dominica before we had explored more of the island; yet as always, the weather dictates the schedule. So, on March 26th we left Dominica, arriving later in the day in St. Anne’s Martinique. These day sails between islands is such a treat, it’s hard to even describe.
One of my favorite parts of cruising life is how different each of these countries are. Where Dominica was lush and green and English speaking, Martinique is very French, with lush tropical scenes, but also more defined towns near where we anchored with a more urban feel.
St. Anne’s was absolutely incredible. The town was built on the remnants of the original town that was destroyed by an unexpected volcanic eruption in 1902. During the eruption super heated gas descended on the town almost immediately. This gas ignited everything flammable and killed over 30,000 people. Yet there were no solids in the eruption so all the stone walls and foundations were left behind.
At that time there wasn’t labor or money to remove the destroyed buildings so the people used those old walls and foundations to rebuild when they decided to move back. The result is a very interesting aesthetic of ancient remains surrounding more modern homes. Sometimes the old walls are part of the newer structures while in other cases they act as garden walls or property dividers.
We went to the museum in town that describes the catastrophe. It was extremely moving. One room was dedicated to all those who died during that eruption. It was mind boggling to imagine everyone in a town being killed within two minutes. Yet, the most amazing part to me is to think about how resilient people are to come back, and rebuild right over the top of all that loss and destruction. People are incredible.
The one issue in St. Anne’s was that the anchorage had a terrible roll. We couldn’t stand it after a few days. Moving on from St. Anne’s we found Le Marin, which is a huge and well protected marina with tons of services like laundry and marine stores. We picked up a mooring there and spent a few days hanging out nearby. We enjoyed the town, doing laundry, going to the market, and several great restaurants.
Unfortunately it was impossible to find cars for rent without advance notice, so we weren’t able to explore more of the island. Looking at the wave forecast we decided to head to St. Lucia a little earlier than planned so that we wouldn’t end up having a miserable trip. We certainly were left wanting more, but also super grateful for our time there. What an amazing adventure!
