Exploring the Windward Isles

After our Atlantic crossing, what a fantastic welcome we got in Martinique, and now we can’t wait to go exploring more of these beautiful Islands, each one so different from the other. The geography, the history, the vegetation, the people make each island unique.

We have a couple of weeks before the kids, Loic and Lauren arrive, so we will sail up to Dominica island, a mountainous island nation 40nms north of Martinique.

Sailing up the leeward side of Martinique we anchored a couple of nights in front of small fishing villages as we moved up to St Pierre in the north.

St Pierre is a seaside town that lies in the foothills of Mount Pelee. This was once the most important city of Martinique, both culturally and economically until the volcano suddenly erupted at 0800 on the 8th May 1902. The mountain erupted spewing superheated gas, ash and rock over the city causing the entire population of nearly 30,000 people to be killed instantly, breathing in the toxic gas.

The cloud of gas lasted only 2 to 3 minutes, but the city burned and also set fire to 20 commercial steamers and large wooden sailing vessels anchored in the bay, along with many other smaller craft. They remain in the underwater graveyard to this day.
There was one lone survivor of this fateful day. He was a prisoner in the local jail in a windowless cell below ground. Rescuers found him much later as he was calling for help.

A modern memorial museum overlooks the harbour, overlooking the shore where so many ships sunk and many of the beautiful old buildings are slowly being restored to their former glory.

Even though this event was over 100 years ago, the scars are very obvious and a constant reminder around every corner of the absolute devastation.

We waited here for the perfect day to sail the 40nms towards the beautiful island of Dominica.

Dominica does not have white sandy beaches and turquoise waters that one expects to find in the Caribbean. Here we find black volcanic sand beaches backed by huge tropical rainforests, and natural hot springs, a boiling lake, cascading waterfalls and delightful colourful houses.
We sailed into Portsmouth, took a mooring in the bay and found a local tour guide, Alexis, who would show us around his beautiful island over the next couple of days.

The first day he picked us up in his open boat, along with another couple of cruisers, and we entered the Indian River which winds through huge trees and thick jungle overhanging the banks.

In 2017 Tropical Cyclone Maria made landfall here in Dominica, with winds exceeding 277km/hr. This river became a deadly torrent and carried many of the trees downstream.
It did not completely destroy one house which was part of a scene in the 2005 film Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Mans Chest.

Alexis explained how so many people died during hurricane Maria and how homes and gardens were destroyed, but also how the beautiful local people are slowly rebuilding their lives, cleaning and replanting their gardens. He took us as far up the river to a friendly local café situated in a large garden and farm. It was beautiful and we enjoyed the opportunity to support the local people as they rebuild their lives.

The following day we drove up through the mountains where we could see how many of the villages and crops had been destroyed during the Hurricane Maria in 2017. The views over the valleys showed how the fields and bush were growing back and villages being rebuilt.

We then took a hike through the magnificent lush bush up to the famous Trafalgar twin waterfalls. One of these waterfalls is warm and the other cold. Above these waterfalls is a hydrothermal lake, 80 metres across, 15m deep. This boiling lake is the second largest lake of this kind in the world after the Frying Pan Lake in NZ. A geothermal Energy Plant is being developed to promote an independent and hopefully a healthier environment for the future.

Before driving back through villages lined with beautiful colourful houses, we stop off at some thermal pools deep in the forest

We enjoyed a stunning last evening before we headed back to Martinique, to pick up Loic and Lauren who are flying in to spend a week with us on board Mai Tai. We want to give them a taste of our cruising life, meet some of our friends, before sailing with us south to St Lucia.

Back in Le Marin in Martinique, we took a marina berth in readiness for our new crew to arrive, before introducing them to our cruising friends at a dinner on board Mai Tai.

We spent the next couple of days hiking along the coast to the extreme southern point of Martinique, past the beautiful Plage des Salines as far as the big Salt Lake, with walkways out through the mangroves to see the variety of birds there.

There are no big hotels built out here, but the area is very popular with the locals who drive here to spend a day on the beach, have lunch at one of the many local cafes, and many pitch a tent to spend the night.
We rented a car to visit a famous Rum distillery called Habitation Clement, founded in the 18th century as a sugar plantation and is now a rum distillery made from fresh sugar cane juice. Situated in 160 acres of park like grounds, beautiful garden sculptures and an impressive modern art gallery.

Back in Le Marin, we checked out with Customs in the evening so that we could get an early start for our sail to St Lucia in the morning. We had perfect conditions for our 40nms sail and we were anchored in Soufriere Bay by mid-afternoon.

We anchored in the very protected bay in front of the famous Two Pitons.

While ashore checking in with St Lucia Customs, Loic and Lauren were choosing their activities for the next couple of days before going for a quick snorkel around the coast.

Challenge No 1 was to conquer the famous Petit Piton. This is a 2438 ft volcanic spire and is exceptionally challenging featuring a near vertical ascent requiring rock scrambling with the use of fixed ropes. There is over 2000ft elevation in less than a mile and one cannot attempt this without a local guide. They conquered it. I just stepped in for the photo, admiring the view over Soufriere.

Next was a visit to the famous chocolate factory where we wandered through the lush vegetation to see the Cacao trees grow, learned about the long process of grafting each of the trees, then finished by making our own chocolate bar.

The drive back down to Soufriere was quite a unique experience as the road goes right through an active volcano, the St Lucia Sulphur Springs.

A quick swim in local hot pools and waterfall to round off an amazing week together.

Unfortunately, it was time for us to part company. Loic and Lauren begin their long flight home to NZ while
Lane and I continue to sail Mai Tai 35nms south to the lush volcanic island of St Vincent. We anchored in the northernmost bay in front of a small town called Chateaubelair, where we checked in with customs to cruise St Vincent and the chain of 32 idyllic islands called the Grenadines.

But our main destination for now was the island of Bequia, one of the small Grenadine islands, 7 square miles of golden sand beaches with an interesting maritime history of whaling and boat building. Small replicas of the beautiful old sailing boats are built here.

The beautiful, protected anchorage in front of Port Elizabeth, is a very popular spot for cruisers heading south. The crystal-clear waters are not the only attraction here, but the services of water, diesel and laundry delivered directly to the boats is unique. We are surprised that we don’t see this service elsewhere.

Cruisers love to get together and what better way than a dinghy raft up for a Karaoke session before we all set sail southwards again.

Our next stop was the small Union Island, just 9 square kms, and where we must do our Customs check out of the Grenadines. We anchored in beautiful Chatham Bay, but the Customs office is over on the windward side of the island. Never mind, for a small fee, a local lad comes to pick up our boat papers and runs them over to the other side of the island to do our clearance for us.

This island suffered extreme damage during Hurricane Beryl in 2024, and they are still rebuilding their old lives, and we are happy to help them out wherever possible.

The southernmost of the Grenadine islands is Carriacou, but since Grenada owns this island, it is where we must check in with Customs to enter Grenada, for the next part of our discovery of these Windward Islands of the Caribbean. That will be for our next installment.