Martinique - 24th to 31st January

Martinique – 24^th January to 31^st January 2013

 

We spent a week in Martinique visiting Marin, St Anne, the capital Fort de France and Saint Pierre. Martinique is French so we were back to another language and had to dig out our euros.

 

We had a pleasant sail from St Lucia to Martinique which is about 20 miles. It was Russell’s birthday and he had never been sailing on his birthday before. We met up with friends from Intrepid Bear and enjoyed a few beers whilst the kids jumped in off the boat and swung into the water off the spinnaker pole swing Russell had made for them. We went out for dinner and somebody thought it would be a good idea to have a champagne mojito to kick start the evening. It seems rum and champagne do not agree with me as I was instantly feeling the effects of the alcohol. The next day I was very hung over and the boys took full advantage by persuading us to go to McDonalds for lunch. I tried to shop at the large Leaderprice which had a dinghy dock, but my brain was too muddled. After an early night and no alcohol I was much better and we were able to stock up on water at much cheaper prices. They also had a good selection of frozen meat and we treated ourselves to a leg of lamb.

 

We spent the afternoon doing a little trip to a nearby bay so that the kids (including the little bears and the Dads) could play on the new inflatable toy called the outrage. This is an inflated disc that you tow behind the dinghy as fast as possible. The aim of the rider is to stay on and the person driving the dinghy to get you off. The photo’s below demonstrate (they were actually taken a few weeks later in Iles de Saintes near Guadeloupe. We managed to anchor back in the same spot just before it got dark having enjoyed a lovely sunset on the way back in.

 

The next day was Saturday and Intrepid Bear had been here for a few days and checked out an inflatable water park that was like total Wipeout. It was situated in the bay of St Anne’s. We have no pictures as we were all having too much fun and it was just not practical to try and capture the moment. There was the big bouncy cushion that kids sat on and Dads jumped on. Harry being 5 and weighing nothing did a spectacular dive into the water much to the gasps of onlookers, mainly me and his Mum Sara. This was maybe a bit too extreme for Harry and he decided his cushion bouncing days were over. A competion ensued to run across an inflatable tube from one side to the other. It obviously twists as you step on it. James (Intrepid Bear) was first across and that put the pressure on Russell, who amazingly did it on his next go. Then Ethan made it across next and managed another 4 on top of that. Oli also managed it 3 times. No girls managed although we did try. Harry so nearly made it. There was also an iceberg that was a big inflatable climbing wall. We all did this apart from Sara who still suffers from breaking her coccyx in Tenerife, she also saw me freeze at the top and scream all the way down. It didn’t look that high, but once up there it was a sheer drop rather than a nice slide down. I also got to experience some of the pain Anna goes through in “that book!” and had no intention of doing it again. If I ever have to jump from a height like that again I will be keeping my ankles firmly locked together!

 

We decided to BBQ ashore and as the BBQ’s were not keen on lighting we made a fire and used our big grill bought in Porto Santo and used again in Bequia. The kids loved collecting firewood and swam in the sea until the sun set. It was dark by the time we left but we had sensibly brought mosquito repelling candles to aid packing up. We hadn’t brought torches for the way back but we made it. To get the sand off we all jumped in the sea and then continued to have a few more drinks. Russell and I decided to have one more after the Bears had left and somehow it turned into 4am! Not unsurprisingly we had a hangover from hell a few hours later. We did manage to up anchor and travel up the coast to Fort de France the capital only to find that it was carnival day. This resulted in many, many hours of people walking round the streets with big drums, painted cars that revved the engines and back fired to make everyone jump. I had by now begun to feel more human but Russell was still feeling every beat of the drum. A chocolate crepe was enjoyed by all and then we opted for an early dinner and bed.

 

The next day we took it easy and explored Fort de France a little. The next morning we used Intrepid Bears hire car to drive to the Yamaha dealer to purchase a new killcord switch for the dinghy. This had been bashed in Bequia on the dinghy dock on Christmas Eve and died in Marigot on my Birthday. The only way to get the engine to start was disconnect it. We had tried in St Lucia to get a new one but no luck. We knew the dealer was near the airport but the Chris Dolye book was not much more helpful so we asked for directions at a petrol station. A very kind person said he was going near there and to follow. We did for quite some time and he got us there and then just waved and drove off. In any other Caribbean island it would have cost us a tip. We would never have found it without him as it was in a small back street. 50 euro later and we had a new kill switch. We stopped at a huge supermarket which turned out to be very expensive and then it was time to get the hire car back. It was certainly cheaper than a taxi.

 

We left to go further north to St Pierre. This bay lies at the base of Mount Pelee where nearly 30,000 people died when it erupted in 1902. I have copied below an article from Chris Doyles website which those interested in history may like to read. The place felt quite eerie knowing that so many people had died – only 2 survived one being a prisoner. Even 12 ships in the bay failed to escape and lie as wrecks in the bay. We looked around the remains of the theatre and the prison and the museum before bidding farewell to Martinique and heading to Dominica.

 

A task for the boy’s school was to imagine they were there when the eruption happened and to tell the story. Oli got a little carried away setting the scene and ran out of time to finish. Both were really good pieces of work and can be found below.

 

 

 

Photos

Marigot Bay St Lucia

 

St Pierre Martinique

 

 

Link to more info Mt Pelee's 1902 volcanic eruption, by Chris Doyle

  http://www.doyleguides.com/volcano1902.htm

 

 

BOYS SCHOOL WORK

 

The thief who lived

There I was running from an army of men holding shot guns. I loved this bit it really got the heart going. As I ran bullets zoomed past me. I was holding thousands of francs. I could see my ship now the crew had made ready the sails and left the dingy on a long line back to the boat as planned. I would be towed to safety. I hoped in the dinghy. Hauled myself to the boat then I climbed aboard to see all guns ready and a navy fighter getting closer I stumbled to the helm and gave the signal “fire!”

There was a rupture of cans and borders then he was told that there was hole and they were sinking I said “put 10 men at the balers bring them up in 5 minutes.”

Then there was a crash as the mast fell down and the yacht sunk and my crew were all dead. There was no way he couldn’t get out of this one. I would be in prison for the rest of my life… 

When I was dragged to my cell I sat and waited for my food which was barely enough to keep me alive. I thought I would starve. As the month past there were rumours of the volcano erupting then in 2 Weeks and 3 days it did. Hot ashes fell from the roof and all the other cells were destroyed as I heard the screams of the other prisoner’s end I thought my fate would be the same. It was torcher and there was so little food. Then my cell was broken by a banana and coco tree. It broke the roof but there was food and a fire I roasted the banana in the coco pod with the beans to sweeten. It was better than the prisons foods. The water from the tree made good a sweet drink when mixed with coco beans. In 3 Weeks the supplies were gone and I started to starve. But by the end of the month I was found by a lady called Beatrice Walt they married and lived happy with their baby girl and boy.   

By Oliver Hawkins

 

 

Mount Pelee Project

 

November 1902 Mount Pelee erupted. I was in prison at the time, A big ash cloud swooped all over the sky as boiling hot lava came thundering out the top! 30,000 people were in this place at the time, the Mayor and rich people did not want to evacuate. So there I was in my prison cell with boiling lava coming down the hill with people evacuating! in the meantime Mount Pelee was getting higher bit by bit, starting at 1343meters and now 1571meters. By then the lava had reached my cell it was getting really hot then it was in the middle of November and ashes were starting to get through the bricks and I was starting to get really badly burnt! All of the buildings were on fire then and already half the people were dead, the lava started to gush into the water and rock started to rise from the seabed! Then Mount Pelee was 1608meters high before crashing down to 1513meters that very same day. By then almost ¾ of the people were dead then I was getting more and more burnt. Mount Pelee crashed down again on the 24^th it was 1380meaters then everyone except me and one other was dead then when it stopped at the end of November it was only 863meters high and three people came to see what was still intact then they found me sent me to get looked after.

 

By Ethan John Hawkins