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N 14° 27.69′   W 60° 52.25′

Marin, Martinique.

We are leaving the land of the Euro soon. We like to keep a few coins handy to make purchases from the street vendors and other places where credit cards aren’t accepted. Otherwise we are trying to avoid having extra Euros when we leave Martinique, the last of the French islands on our itinerary.

Learning the local currencies has been an interesting part of visiting new places. The Bahamas was easy, since 1 Bahamian dollar = 1 US dollar, with a fixed exchange rate, and the paper bills and coins look similar. Then there are places like the Turks and Caicos and British Virgin Islands that use US dollars as their official currency. Easier still! Dutch Sint Maarten, while officially using the Netherlands Antilles Florin (NAF) or Guilder, made it easy as vendors dealt in US dollars too. I don’t remember ever seeing a Guilder the whole time we were there.

The Dominican Peso, used in the Dominican Republic, is currently valued at 1 peso = .0261097 USD, or about 2 ½ cents. Our first trip to the ATM in Luperon offered choices with many more zeros than we were accustomed to seeing. I didn’t do the math correctly and ended up with the equivalent of about $26 when I was trying for closer to $100. Taking out units of thousands of pesos just seemed like too much.  The good part was that $26 lasted longer in the Dominican Republic than it would have back home.

The French Islands (St. Martin, St. Barts, Guadeloupe, Martinique) use the Euro, which has a variable exchange rate, currently about 1 EUR = 1.27 USD. The other Eastern Caribbean countries (Barbuda, Antigua, Dominica, and upcoming St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Grenada) use the Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD), with a fixed exchange rate of 1 XCD = 0.370370 USD or 37 cents. Lots of coins are used here, including a 1-euro coin, a 2-euro coin, and a 1-Eastern Caribbean Dollar coin instead of paper bills for those denominations.

Vendors in some places accept US dollars but you often pay a premium. Credit cards have been widely accepted thus far and those transactions are usually easiest for us so we don’t have to worry about carrying a lot of the local currency. The credit card company will make the conversion on the statement. Switching to a bank that does not charge international transaction fees has been a plus. The only problem we had with credit cards was in Guadeloupe where some European credit card scanners wouldn’t accept our cards.

Shopping where the metric system is used along with the different currencies further complicates decisions since multiple conversions are required. Meat and produce are sold in kilograms, fuel by the liter, dockage by boat length measured in meters. If a piece of meat is priced at 6 euros per kilogram, what does that really mean to the American cook used to shopping in dollars per pound? What about fuel at 3.28 XCD per liter? Or a boat slip at $.25 euros per meter per day? On-line conversion calculators are helpful when we have internet and I set up a spreadsheet to make those two-step calculations when we are off-line. Doing math in my head was never a forte. Given limited shopping opportunities in some places, if we truly need something, then we have to pay the going rate regardless of the conversion. It’s still nice to know the damages though!

Our generation spent a lot of time in school studying the metric system with the warning – “It’s coming!” Changing the way you think about things is hard. Like many people I was just as glad when the metric system never became mainstream at home. The US is now one of three countries in the world that has not adopted the metric system, with the other two being Liberia and Burma.  Despite the country’s historical interest in going metric as early as 1875, with the signing of the “Treaty of the Meter” and the “Metric Conversion Act of 1975”, there was too much public opposition and the Act was repealed. We travelers are getting some payback for resisting a change that makes a lot of sense.

Checking the exchange rates for some of our upcoming destinations, 1 Colombian Peso = 0.000557103 US Dollars. Yikes. That means that if we want to carry $20 in our pockets we will need 35,900 pesos. Sure hope they don’t use a lot of coins there.

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N 14° 27.69′   W 60° 52.25′

Marin, Martinique.

After Grenada, we are headed west! The Captain keeps asking “Are you sure?” I’ll be less likely to change my mind now that it’s public. So unless we have a REALLY nasty passage between here and Grenada, yes, I am sure!

It was a big decision, made after lots of discussion and studying the Pilot charts which summarize historical wind and sea patterns. We will not spend the hurricane season in Grenada, a highlight for many cruisers, and won’t retrace our path northward along the familiar Eastern Caribbean, Hispaniolan and Bahamian waters we have so enjoyed. Along the chosen route stops will include the ABC islands, Colombia, the San Blas Islands, Panama, Honduras, Belize and Mexico. It is a less traveled path than the Eastern Caribbean and offers very diverse cultures to experience.

There are longer passages on this route, partly due to geography and partly due to troublesome areas that are best avoided. Venezuela is considered dangerous and many boaters totally bypass that long and otherwise inviting expanse of coastline. Current guidance recommends skipping Nicaragua. Cuba, which would otherwise provide wonderful cruising between Mexico and the Keys is off-limits to we Americans. So this route will involve several two to three-day passages, a new challenge for me, but pretty mundane for the experienced boater. The Captain, knowing my preference for shorter passages, left the choice up to me. Cruising the southern and western Caribbean is a once or twice in a lifetime opportunity, and I think I would regret passing up it up.

Many others have inspired me. Fellow boaters who completed major ocean crossings. Capable women skippers, including several single-handers who often make multi-day trips. Laura Dekker, who completed a year-long solo circumnavigation at the age of 16. Sailors and authors Lin and Larry Pardey, who toured the world in a tiny 24 foot sailboat many years ago, before the availability of electronic navigation technology. Their accomplishments make a couple of two or three-day passages on a motor vessel seem like a simple outing to the beach in comparison. Our lovely friend Hildegarde on the sailing catamaran Bicoque shared a different seasickness medication, Marezine, that has worked amazingly well with little drowsiness. I think with time to pick careful weather windows, as we have done all along, the passages will be okay.

We are still hanging out here in Marin, where we had an unusual weather pattern bring a ton of rain over the last week. There were many soggy boat-bound days. Bob was wrapped up in his battery project, I did a lot of cleaning and on-line courses, tried to do laundry (!) and the poor dogs just looked incredibly bored. They were so happy when a rare dinghy ventured by and provided an opportunity to sound the “Warm Mar Azul Welcome” bark. Today the rain has stopped and the sun is struggling to reappear!

The new batteries that Bob has spent the last few weeks carefully researching will be shipped to Grenada. Spending the majority of our time at anchor depletes traditional golf-cart batteries quickly, and we don’t have solar panels or wind generators like our sailing counterparts. Energy needs are one of the areas we wish we had calculated more specifically before we left home. We might have made different decisions in equipping the boat, including installing more efficient refrigeration systems, or maybe adding solar cells. At this point, improving the batteries, which are nearing the end of their useful life anyway seems the best option. We hope Bob’s efforts to be an early adopter of longer-lasting lithium-ion battery technology in the marine environment will prove worth while.

From here we will make our way to the southern Grenadines where we meet our friends Chuck and Dustin in June for a 10-day visit that will conclude in Grenada. We are so excited to have guests coming once more!

After some time in Grenada we will venture West.

The view from the cabin this week. The covered deck was uninhabitable at times. I know – it rains in the tropics. What did we expect?

 

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N 14° 27.69′   W 60° 52.25′

Marin, Martinique

Traveling the western Martinique coast, the town of Carbet sits below the Piton mountains. A church steeple can always be identified in each town we pass.

So far we have been favorably impressed with Martinique. For an island that suffers from what Bob calls “too many people disease” it has been surprisingly charming. From the small villages to the large towns, all have been friendly and clean, each with a prominent town church close to a town dock, local vendors offering beautiful produce, good roads and evidence that many French tax dollars have been spent on infrastructure and maintenance. Unemployment is very high but the French seem to support their overseas islands well.

We loved St. Pierre but felt it was time to keep moving. Case Pilote (CAHS PEE LOWT) was a delightful and well kept residential village with an active fishing community. The anchorage was rolly but we enjoyed a quick stop, a restock on some Northern Lights generator filters, and a chance to practice our French with some patient and friendly kids fishing from the breakwater who had lots of questions about boat dogs Lady and Bandit.

Clean and colorful village of Case Pilote

We arrived in Fort-de-France, the capital city, and settled in a scenic spot next to Fort. The anchorage was graced with a beautiful new dinghy dock, a pretty waterfront park and nearby sidewalk eateries with all sorts of goodies. More frequent torrential rain showers limited our shore time and made for a soggy stay.

Approaching Fort-de-France, Martinique’s capital

 

Impressive new dinghy dock at the Fort-de-France anchorage; Fort in the background; Mar Azul in the distance.

 

Downtown Fort-de-France behind the dinghy dock

 

Great waterfront park at Fort-de-France. The turnstyles (to keep out kids on scooters?) were a puzzle to Lady who had never passed through such a thing. She kept getting her leash wrapped around the poles.

 

Shopping looked to be exciting, and when we finally set out to explore, May Day brought an uexpected holiday. Everything except for McDonald’s was closed in this city that is supposed to be as close as you can get to Paris in the Caribbean.  May 1^st back home was never a big deal. Were we missing something?

Some quick research found that over 80 countries celebrate the day, most as “International Workers Day”, and some as a transition to Spring. We in the US chose a September date to honor our work force since the roots of International Workers Day lie in the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago. That workers strike for an 8-hour workday became deadly and was later used as a rallying point for demonstrations by socialist, communist and anarchist groups. The US Department of Labor website that discusses the history of Labor Day doesn’t mention that fact.

As we have seen with our island travels, holidays are taken a lot more seriously in other parts of the world. In Fort-de-France, 99.9% of the workers were fully enjoying their day off. Keeping me away from those French shops surely helped the boat’s budget but I was disappointed that we needed to quickly move on.

Rue de la Republique, a pedestrian shopping paradise, closed for May Day

We thought we would find a good shipboard wifi signal in Fort-de-France so that Bob could work on arranging a battery replacement. If I haven’t mentioned it before, when the Captain is preoccupied with a project there is no peace until a decision is reached and arrangements completed. We will need batteries within a few months, and there are new technologies to weigh and shipping timeframes to consider since we want to meet up with our purchase in Grenada.

We had heard boaters complain about poor internet access throughout the French islands, but we found good service in St. Pierre, as we did at all of our stops in Guadeloupe except for Marie Galante. The only reasonable wifi options in Fort-de-France were to purchase a phone SIM card and wireless plan (too expensive for a short stay) or spend one’s days at the local McDonald’s where wifi was free. Availability of Egg McMuffins aside, the Captain likes his shipboard access. So we decided to move across the bay in search of the perfect anchorage, which at this point was defined as one providing shipboard wifi, reasonably calm conditions, a small market and dinghy fuel, a growing priority.

The bay to the south of Fort-de-France has a vacation holiday feel, with several seaside towns catering to tourists and weekend visitors. We checked out each and every potential spot. Coming into Trois Ilets (TWAH ZEE LET) we had a close encounter with the bottom. We will not classify it as a grounding . . . but it was very close. Perhaps we were distracted as we searched for a wifi signal and the depth came up really fast. The boat stopped for a time as mud swirled and then the port engine stalled. An underwater excursion found a large fish trap wrapped tightly around the port propellor. It took many hours over two days to cut away the sturdy wire. Fortunately there seems to be no damage that might require a haul-out.

Once free of the fish trap we moved on to Anse a L’Ane (AHN SAH LAHN). The best internet we could manage was slow wifi at Nid Tropical while we lunched on delicious salads. We purchased dinghy fuel and a few supplies, then repositioned to nearby Anse Mitan (AHNS MEE TAHN), where the Bakoua Hotel wifi signal beckoned. I tried to no avail to talk the resort into selling us some time. No dice, access was for guests only. In hindsight I should have made a better appearance on that call, presenting as a somewhat disheveled-looking boat person. The women here don’t wear shorts, preferring slacks, chic casual dresses or stylish jeans, even in the heat. A wardrobe refresh is in order.

A French lunch on the beach + wifi = not a bad way to spend an afternoon

Thursday we continued south with a plan to try Grande Anse d’Arlet (GRAHN DAHNS DAR LEH) and Petit Anse d’Arlet (PUH TEE TAHNS DAR LEH).  Grand Anse was a very nice anchorage with an attractive town but no wifi. Petit Anse had a perfect wifi signal but rolled unbelievably. The Captain was now getting very frustrated. Although we were passing some awesome-looking stops, at this point the best crew strategy was to accept the fact that the internet mission prevailed.

We continued on to Sainte Anne, a 3-hour ride. The guide book describes that passage as one that can feel like being in a washing machine, and on this day that was the case. Short, steep seas made a miserable ride and we powered along very slowly, the conditions making it impossible to haul the dinghy for this unexpected passage.

Arriving in Sainte Anne we found – guess what – no wifi, so we continued a short distance to Marin. The marina offers wifi throughout the harbor, thank goodness. The next stop would have been St. Lucia and the crew was ready for a break.

Marin is an unusual place. There must be a thousand boats at anchor in the huge harbor and hundreds more at the docks. With the exception of a converted sailboat, we are the lone trawler here. The harbor serves as a charter base for 15 fleets and many of the boats are unoccupied. The geography and surrounding mangroves provide great shelter from weather and swell. We can’t think of a similar harbor back home.

Marin, home to many masts

We had hoped to get the main salon air conditioner repaired here, and once again were met with a little surprise. The French outlawed the needed R-22 gas over 10 years ago, there is none to be had, and a legal substitute is out of stock. For a country that has been pretty loose about other rules and regs, they seem to be way ahead of the US in phasing out environmentally damaging chemicals.

As soon as the Captain gets his internet fix – and the weather clears – we look forward to some shore time here before we continue on to St. Lucia.