Sailing to Martinique and Saint-Pierre

On the 4th we wake up at 4:00 AM to make sure we reach Martinique by nightfall. The normally chipper morning person Amy becomes as ornery as a teenage schoolgirl at this hour, especially without coffee (to prevent sea-sickness). We are off into the darkness navigating moorings, a narrow island pass, and a reef all without markers. As the sun rises we are well on our way to Dominica in 15 to 20 knots of wind on the beam. Behind Dominica the wind shuts off in places and reverses direction in others. It is a good thing we are lake sailors and are familiar with holes and auto-tacks. However, we have been pursued from Guadeloupe and after keeping the 131 foot Ocean Pure 2 at bay so far she makes a move and passes us behind the island only to hit another hole where we pass her. She eventually goes further West for clear air and leaves us in the dust when the wind picks up. After clearing Dominica the wind picks up to 20 knots and we are hard on the wind to make our waypoint in heavier seas. As we get closer to Martinique the wind eventually goes back to the beam and we remove our reefs. We make port at Saint-Pierre at 3:30 PM.

Saint-Pierre is a very unique spot. After checking in on the 5th we went on a walking tour. The town was destroyed in 1902 by a volcanic eruption of Mount Pelée in which 28,000 people died. The current town is built on the ruins of the old but some areas were left undeveloped such as the ruins of the large theater and the prison where sole in-town survivor amazingly lived through the disaster. The former white sand beaches are black from the eruption and the harbor is marked with sunken ships that caught fire. We plan to stay here a few more days.