Prior to leaving for Martinique, we purchased a new Racor filter for the fuel system. The new Racor is about a third of the size of the last one so it is very petite. I decided that based on how it performed on the crossing it would either be named Mighty Mouse or Underdog. I am very happy to report that Mighty Mouse has now been christened! While the fuel system is not at 100% yet, we are making progress and Mighty Mouse was a big step forward. We pulled into Martinique without issue and were welcomed by a bay full of hundreds of boats. Since we left the States in June, 2020, we have never sailed without the influence of the Stupid. With travel shutdown, we could sail for days and never see another boat. This season has been quite the awakening! I used to think to myself, “I never realized how many people live on boats” but this season, I believe that at least half of the world’s population must live on a boat. On top of cruisers, we now contend with vacationers who are on cruise ships as well as those who are flocking to the all-inclusive resorts. This week, we have learned to dodge boaters, skiers, sailboarders, kiteboarders, swimmers, snorkelers and jet skiers. Martinique is definitely a lively place!
Our first afternoon in Martinique, we dinghied over to town for customs and immigration. The customs and immigration office was located in a restaurant called Boo Boo’s Café which was closed so we could not check in. By this time, it was about 5:00 and we were hungry so we made our way over to another eatery. Most of the islands we have encountered over the past two years have either spoken English or Spanish. Martinique is French. I do not know if any of you have ever tried to speak French but we have found it is an impossibility. Basically, you take whatever the word is, drop all the consonants and say “oooo” and you have it. We sat down at the restaurant and the menu was French only. I pulled out my Google translator app and went to work. Bill asked if I had decided on what to order. I simply stated, “According to Google translate, we have a choice between Fish Nose and Earth Glue.” Deciding we would just point and take whatever came to the table, we searched for a waitress. Not seeing one, Bill went to the bar to order. He was informed that the kitchen did not open until 7:00pm. We had forgotten that Europeans tend to eat after 8pm so we went to a small café that offered burgers and fries to stave off starvation. The next morning, we set off for a two mile long, very wet dinghy ride to the main marina to check in (Boo Boo’s had a “special closure” on Thursday so not an option). Customs and Immigration was a simple process and we did not even have to get a swab shoved up our nose! We grabbed a quick lunch at the marina consisting of a huge platter of grilled meats that would have made the vegetarians and vegans of the world cringe. After thoroughly enjoying our carnivorous feast, we headed across the bay to Digicel to purchase a local sim card for internet. The store hours were posted as 9:00am-1:00pm and 2:00pm-4:00pm so we were glad we had arrived at 3:15pm. We could not figure out why the slide door was half closed so I ducked under and entered the store. The employee said something in French. Given my blank stare, she stated, “We are closed.” There were three other customers in the store ahead of me so I guessed that she must have decided that was all she could handle for the day. Can you imagine your local Apple store at the mall closing its’ doors 45 minutes ahead of closing time? There would be a massive riot! Well, it turned out that an ambiguous closing time was the least of our worries…. The next morning, we arose bright and early to make another very long and wet dinghy ride back over to Digicel. We were second in line at 9:15am so we felt that she would be able to help us prior to her 12:15pm closing for her 1:00pm lunch break. I filled out a piece of paper and handed her our passports and credit card. She typed out in Google translate “International credit cards won’t usually work in our system” even though everywhere else on the island had no issue with international credit cards. I handed her the card to try and she entered the information, shook her head and handed me the card. We tried another and another. No luck. I asked how much we owed her in cash Euros. She stated that she did accept cash. We stared at each other in disbelief. After a few choice words that did not need Google translate to be understood, we again left the store without any internet options. We decided at that point to check into a slip at the marina so we could have some internet. Internet connectivity when you live on a boat is a big deal because it is the only way to communicate with the world and accomplish simple everyday tasks. When we arrived at the marina office, the employee stated, “Just go onto the internet and fill out our reservation form.” Sigh. I explained to her that I had no internet option. She then repeated, “Just go onto the marina internet which is free and fill out the form”. I showed her that the marina internet was not working. She then spent the next 15 minutes getting my phone to accept the free internet. I hopped onto the website and completed the form. I received an email that the marina would contact me with our reservation details so we figured we would grab some lunch. By this time, we had been able to figure out basic words on the menu such as fish, chicken, beef, etc. We decided to order the chicken plate which seemed straightforward….seemed being the key word. The waitress returned quickly and set a plate of raw chicken with salad and fries on the table. My expression and the sound I made evidently translated well and she asked, “Wrong?” I said, “Cook?” She smiled, said something in French and walked away. She then returned (thankfully!) with a hot stone to cook the chicken at our table. That still did not address the issue of the fries and salad being on the plate with raw chicken but I let it go and ate the chicken and the fries that were on the far side of the plate. After lunch, we headed back to the marina office to secure our marina berth. The lady who had been so helpful all day walked back to find out an update. She came back out and said, “There is no availability for a month long spot. You could come into the marine on Sunday, leave on Thursday and then come back in on Sunday and leave the next Thursday for a month”. Needless to say, that plan did not sound enjoyable so she called another marina and reserved us a spot. The next morning, we set sail for the other marina which was a four hour sail up island. When we arrived at the marina, Bill managed to get the boat into the slip despite gusting winds and rain. We walked over to the office to check in and the manager stated that I needed to go online and fill out a reservation form. Sigh….explained again. He gave me the password for the marina internet. Thus far, it has worked for about a total of 3 minutes so needless to say, he has not received his form. To finish off the week, the lock on the marina bathroom stall broke locking Bill in the bathroom this morning for about an hour. They are not like American stalls, they are actually entirely closed rooms so no climbing over or under to get out. Finally some men showed up and helped him break the lock so he could escape. As you can tell, our first week in Martinique is going swimmingly well. On the plus side….Martinique has full sized beers and they are only $1.50 each! As I sit in a restaurant attempting to upload the blog, a fly just flew into Bill’s beer and drowned. Even the flies are frustrated with Martinique! Here’s hoping for a smoother week for us and that someday you too will get to enjoy some Earth Glue!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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