The South Coast of Martinique

It's amazing, but after all these years in the Caribbean we are still finding new places to explore.

This time it was Le Marin and St. Anne on the south coast of Martinique.

Neither of us was prepared for Le Marin.  We knew it was the boating center of Martinique with every kind of marine service available.  But that didn't prepare us for the size of the bay, HUGE, with more then a 1000 boats at anchor, on moorings or in the marinas.  It's not exactly a swimming bay but it is close to lots of shopping and restaurants.

Customs office in Le Marin.

Looking downhill toward the crowded bay.

The small town is colorful and picturesque.

Poor weather kept us on board for the first 4 days.  The wind blew 20-25 knots with frequent rain squalls.

This wasn't the only flag unraveling in the wind.  We are on our 3rd French courtesy flag in 4 years.

Less then 3 miles from Le Marin is a beautiful beach and the small town of St. Anne.

These beautiful racing boats were out practicing for the upcoming Bastille Day regattas.

Hauling in the sail.

Half-full of water after a rigorous practice, this one is sitting a little low in the water!

Street scenes from St. Anne.

Our lunch spot on the beach.  We had acras morue (fishcakes) and poulet coco (chicken in a coconut sauce).  Tres bon!

On Sunday afternoon, a large catamaran with about 16 people on board anchored next to us for the afternoon.  Girls in bikinis, bare-chested guys and photographers who seemed to be shooting a video. 

Nice eye-candy!

The only downside was that we had to listen to the same song blaring for 4 hours.  We couldn't make out the words but Jim thought they were singing "Who's got the hockey puck, who's got the hockey puck?"

Yeah right, on a French island in the Caribbean!

Photographer getting the close-up butt-shot.

Photo shoot is over and we are left alone to enjoy another beautiful sunset.

A quick position update for those readers who are wondering where we are currently.  We are on a mooring between the Pitons in St. Lucia.  Tomorrow at dawn we'll sail to Bequia in the Grenadines, approximately 57 nautical miles south.