Leaving st Anne's for Grand Anse d' Arlet, Freyja's determination to sail even with just 6knots of true wind up the chuf began to get serious. With the main up and the jib goose winged we made highs of 3.7knots. At least we had the peace and quiet of no engine and Freyja seemed satisfied!
Upon our arrival to Grand Anse we were excited by the prospect of more beautiful beaches and a possible beach bar to quench our thirst. We had heard rumours of piña coladas served in fresh pineapples.
The little bay had the typical Caribbean look with towering palm trees, colourful buildings and a sandy beach. The sand in this eastern part of the island is much darker due to the Volcanos that surrounded us. After an unsuccessful mission to find our piña coladas we planned for dinner ashore. After finding this was also an unsuccessful venture we settled for a beach bar and had flaming flambé bananas and ice cream sundaes instead! Returning to the boat for some pasta we celebrated our latest night up yet with a game of scrabble! Come 10pm everyone was almost asleep on the table.
A very rolly night with our mooring bouy gently tapping us awake despite all efforts to stop it. Amy awoke early to stretch out our bumpy night....
After a few days of sunshine we awoke feeling tired and crispy! A group vote was cast and a unanimous decision upon looking at the weather was made to start our journey north and put some miles behind us. After a car wash of a squall (Amy and Pippa jumped onto the deck to de-salt there skin with a rather chilly but natural shower!)
We set out for the most northerly town that we could clear out of, St Pierre. When European settlers wiped out the last of the Carib residents it is said that they invoked the mountain, St. Pelée to take revenge. This revenge came years later in 1903 where despite early warning signs the volcano burst open at the side and enveloped the town wiping out nearly all of the towns 30000 inhabitants.
St Pierre upon first impression gave the feel of a old colonial town, with rustic houses. It looked like we had wandered into the set of 'Pirates of the Caribbean'. The luscious landscape was steep and the diverse foliage incredible shades of green? It's shining glory was the dominant Mt St. Pelée dominating the skyline to the left of the town. Now with 55nm to cover we leave under the cover of darkness tonight, next stop Portsmouth, Dominica.
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