We headed to Martinique and came into the town of St Pierre to clear customs. This town sits under Montaigne Pelée, which is an active volcano. The volcano erupted in 1902, killing all but two of the 32,000+ residents, one of whom survived due to being in the local jail at the time! Pelée looms menacingly over the town, which is otherwise colorful and vibrant. Unusual westerly winds made the anchorage uncomfortable and the dock difficult to land at, so we moved on after one night.

We moved down to Les Trois Ilets, across the bay from the capital, Fort de France. The village has a lovely old market square, but not much on its waterfront. We took a ferry over to Fort de France for some errands: Ferry services in the French islands is cheap and efficient. Les Trois Ilets gave us great protection from the westerly wind but was less comfortable once the wind shifted back to the east.

Multiple small harbors in the area encouraged us to gunk-hole along the coast. Next on the list was Anse à l’Ane. This was a pleasant beach town. Due to the frequent ferry service from Fort de France, the beach was lined with bars and restaurants. We could still see Fort de France so it never seemed particularly peaceful. One morning the French Navy anchored nearby and did helicopter search and rescue drills for a couple of hours.

After a couple of days we moved on again. We tried to get into a couple of charming small bays nearby but were told by local fishermen that we’d have to leave by 4am when they start putting their nets out. We ended up at Grande Anse d’Arlet. This was another pretty beach town, this time with no ferries and no city views. All over the bay, you see turtles, huge starfish, and snorkelers looking for them. We hiked over to neighboring Petit Anse d’Arlet, had some excellent snorkeling under the cliffs, enjoyed an excellent meal at a local restaurant (L’Escale), and were treated to some lovely sunsets.

Our final stop was Marin, at the southern end of Martinique. This is a huge sailing center, and apparently accounts for about 30% of the tourist economy on the island. There are often over 2000 boats anchored between here and neighboring Ste Anne. Jeremy was thrilled to find some excellent chandleries, and I was happy to find some good supermarkets, as supplies were definitely getting low! We also enjoyed watching yoles sailing by – these are traditional local boats that are sailed by crew members hanging precariously off poles. Somehow they make it work!

Martinique was not my favorite island, although to be honest, Dominica was a hard act to follow! Much of it felt quite suburban, and it wasn’t particularly friendly to yachtsmen. In several places, to get ashore we had to scramble up 6 foot high concrete ferry docks, hoping that our dinghy wouldn’t be scratched up too much. At the same time there are lovely old towns and traditions. Each island is different from the last one!