Blue water calling.

Fenced in among hundreds of locked down charter and private catamarans and mono hulls in the Marina of Le Marin, we feel nostalgic about our dolphin bay in Deshaies and even about our quarantine bay in Sainte – Anne, Martinique. 

In the bay of Sainte-Anne we were anchored wide apart along with over 300 other yachties, all of us busy preparing the exodus out of the hurricane belt. Since we were forbidden to leave the boat for a fortnight, friendly neighbors carried away our garbage in their dinghies and provided us with fresh fruits & veggies. Every night at 8PM ,fog horns were being honked as a sign of solidarity and respect for the locals and the yachting community alike. The days passed pleasantly, as we watched clouds float by. One day, we even witnessed the spectacular chasing down of a lone and reckless kiter by the fully powered up gendarmerie in their motorized rib. We have mentioned it before and we say it again: you don’t joke with the French Authorities in the departments d’outre mer. 

But now our quarantine time has been successfully served and we have exchanged the views of the Caribbean Sea for a rather ramshackle trailer park on the water . All because of a necessary maintenance stop.

Fortunately, moving around is allowed again since May 25th. So yesterday, we broke free from the marina to take a road trip around the closed down island from the scorched South (la Sécheresse !) up to the humid spectacular North.

Volcano Mont Pelée we sadly missed because halfway our excursion, an urgent e-mail from the “Capitainerie” ordered our asses back to O2. ASAP: our burglar alarm – expertly installed by my Captain while in lockdown in Guadeloupe – had been triggered by the carpenter as he innocently had stepped on board to deliver the wood panels he had been working on. 

Our neighbors confessed they had been profoundly cursing us all the while as the alarm was piercing their brains. We guiltily apologized with a good bottle of wine as a peace offering. And with the humble request if they could please lift their curse now. Which they did. Sailors themselves, they fully understood that the last thing a mariner needs before heading out to sea again, is to be burdened with a damnation. 

The hurricane season officially starts June 1st. Communication among the sailors is intense and there are Facebook groups galore in which advice is being asked and given, back and forth in detailed discussions. The exodus out of the hurricane belt takes on many forms .

Some yachties have opted to call it quits for the year 2020 and are sailing back home: many European vessels are mid Atlantic Ocean as we speak. While Americans and Canadians joined the “Salty Dawg Homeward Bound Floatilla” a week ago.

And some are putting down the hard cash to sail their boats onto huge container ships that will do the transport for them.

Others have decided to stay put and are in the process of securing a safe spot in the neighborhood. We have picked Bonaire for that purpose.

Bonaire is still Covid19 free and starting this week they are accepting individual sailors piecemeal and under strict conditions. We are the fourth vessel on their acceptance list. So, if all keeps going according to plan,  this Friday will be the start of our 3 day sailing trip to Bonaire where we hope to be able to weather out both the hurricanes as well as the virus crisis.

We have already started up a course of Papiamento. Boneiru, danki na permitirnos bo ta !