French Polynesia and the Society Islands
07 April 2025
Sailing from Dominica to Martinique was fast. The winds blew in our favor so we could even take us further south on the island than we originally planned. At Anse dâArlet, we hoisted the Q flag, anchored and cleared in to the country. Martinique belongs to France and is part of the EU. Every island is a new country, so there is a lot of hoisting and hauling of courtesy flags + the yellow Q flag. Since several islands we visited have been French, the French flag has gone like a yo-yo up and down and right now it is the most faded of all the flags we have with us. đ Just about a year ago, Martinique got its own red-green-black flag, which is raised together with the French one. Different flags and symbols of the country have appeared over the years depending on what different groups and independence fighters have fought for but this one was officially adopted in February 2023. The new flag was not yet available when we ordered courtesy flags before our departure so the French one had to do.
The island shares roughly the same history with other islands in the Caribbean. At first the islands were populated by the Arawaks who were slowly outcompeted by the Kalinago people who were considered more confrontational. The name Martinique is believed to be a distortion of the indigenous name of the island; Madinina or Madiana, which roughly means "the flowering island". Although the Spanish were not particularly interested in the island, the French were all the more so. The British have also occupied the island for shorter periods but the island has largely been French since the mid-17th century. Slaves from Africa were imported to the sugar and coffee plantations. When slavery was abolished, they tried to bring in labor mainly from India and to some extent China. Martinique has also had large banana plantations. Unfortunately, the insecticides used on the plantation (including Chlordecone) have poisoned the cultivation soil and many suspects that this may be the cause of the unusually high number of cases of prostate cancer that Martinique and Guadeloupe have. In 2020, they were the highest in the world. We sometimes listened to the local radio channels in the French islands and were surprised by the fact that authorities, in the commercials, offered free soil sampling to those who had their own garden or arable land. Now we better understand why. Unfortunately, the toxins have also leaked into the sea, threatening marine life and local fishing that takes place close to the coast.
Tourists from all over the world visits Martinique and, as on the other French islands, there is a strong representation of the French. Some are just on a visit while others choose to settle here for shorter or longer periods. Even if we chose not to do a round trip on Martinique, there is plenty to see and do here. As on the other Caribbean islands, there are beautiful beaches, fine snorkeling waters, hiking trails in scenic areas as well as on volcanic peaks where Mont Pelée is the highest and also still partially active. It was over 100 years since the volcano had its last and violent eruption. The explosion-like eruption killed the entire population of St Pierre with its nearly 30,000 inhabitants. Only three survivors were found, one of whom was an inmate of the local jail where the thick walls and roof of the partially buried dungeon saved his life. Another survivor was a young woman who sought shelter in a small sea cave while out on her boat.
Anse dâArlet is a small picturesque village with a beautiful little church opposite a fine sandy beach where many tourists and "locals" go for a swim. Just like on other islands, roosters and hens with chickens run freely on the streets and beaches and they sometimes appear at the bars too - to the hilarity of many - or the chagrin of othersđ We stayed for a few nights and enjoyed life and took the opportunity to have a few beers at a restaurant by the beach and update our digital goodies via their Wi-Fi đ. We then sailed on a little further south to Le Marin.
Le Marin is a large, sheltered bay where thousands of boats can anchor along the shores. Here there is a harbor and good supermarkets with suitably placed so-called dinghy docks where you can easily take the dinghy to a small jetty and load it full of food and other necessities. Here we stocked up on food for several months. There were many trips back and forth with the dinghy and it felt a bit like when we bunkered before the Atlantic sailing in Gran Canaria. Under the lower deck at Anastacia, we had placed plastic boxes where we store canned and dry goods. In Le Marin there are also several chandleries where we could buy the final equipment we needed for longer sailings. In a small shop where marine electronics are sold, we received fantastic help from the manager who promised to fix an extra GPS antenna for Anastacia's plotter. The plotter has a built-in antenna but with a poor range. The GPS signal sometimes becomes too weak (too few satellites are detected). A new, external antenna had cost us several thousand (SEK). Now he was able to modify an older antenna intended for a different type of plotter to fit ours and at a more affordable price! He just needed the weekend to fix it. A lady was there on Monday the following week, when we turned up and when we told her about our deal she sighed loudly and shook her head doubtfully. -He often promises a lot, she said. It wouldn't surprise me if he has forgotten! We got a little worried as we couldn't get another antenna so quickly. After some confusing phone calls between the lady and the shopkeeper, who was on some boat fixing the electronics, it turned out that he had solved the problem over the weekend and the antenna was fixed đ. Now we will soon be fully equipped for the next months!
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Det gick fort att segla frĂ„n Dominica till Martinique. Vindarna blĂ„ste till vĂ„r fördel sĂ„ vi kunde t.o.m. ta oss lĂ€gre söderut pĂ„ ön Ă€n vi tĂ€nkt frĂ„n början. Vid Anse dâArlet, hissade vi Q-flaggan, ankrade och klarerade in. Martinique tillhör Frankrike och Ă€r en del av EU. Varje ö Ă€r ju ett nytt land sĂ„ det blir en massa hissande och halande av gĂ€stflaggor + den gula Q-flaggan. DĂ„ flera öar vi besökt har varit franska har den franska flaggan Ă„kt som en jojo upp och ner och just nu Ă€r det den mest urblekta av alla flaggor som vi har med oss. đ Martinique fick för bara ca ett Ă„r sedan en egen röd-grön-svart flagga som hissas jĂ€mte den franska. Olika flaggor och symboler för landet har förekommit genom Ă„ren beroende pĂ„ vad olika grupperingar och sjĂ€lvstĂ€ndighetsivrare har slagits för men denna antogs officiellt i februari 2023. Den nya flaggan fanns Ă€nnu inte nĂ€r vi bestĂ€llde gĂ€stflaggor innan vĂ„r avresa sĂ„ den franska fick duga.
Ăn delar ungefĂ€r samma historia med övriga öar i Karibien. Först befolkades öarna av Arawaker som sakta utkonkurrerades av Kalinagofolket som ansĂ„gs vara mer krigiska. Namnet Martinique tror man Ă€r en förvrĂ€ngning av urbefolkningens namn pĂ„ ön: Madinina eller Madiana, som betyder ungefĂ€r âden blommande önâ. Ăven om spanjorerna inte var sĂ€rskilt intresserade av ön var fransmĂ€nnen det desto mer. Britterna har ocksĂ„ ockuperat ön under kortare perioder men ön har i stort sett varit fransk sedan mitten av 1600-talet. Slavar frĂ„n Afrika importerades till socker- och kaffeplantagen. NĂ€r slaveriet avskaffades försökte man fĂ„ in arbetskraft frĂ„n frĂ€mst Indien och till viss del Kina. Martinique har ocksĂ„ haft stora bananplantager. TyvĂ€rr har insektsgifterna som anvĂ€nts pĂ„ plantagen (bl a Klordekon) förgiftat odlingsjorden och det finns misstankar om att det kan vara orsaken till de ovanligt mĂ„nga fall av prostatakancer som Martinique samt Guadeloupe har. 2020 lĂ„g de högst i vĂ€rlden. Vi lyssnade ibland pĂ„ de lokala radiokanalerna pĂ„ de franska öarna och förvĂ„nades av att myndigheter i reklamsĂ€ndningarna erbjöd gratis jordprovtagning för dem som hade egen trĂ€dgĂ„rd eller odlingsbar mark. Nu förstĂ„r vi bĂ€ttre varför. TyvĂ€rr har gifterna ocksĂ„ lĂ€ckt ut i havet och hotar det marina livet och det lokala fisket som sker kustnĂ€ra.
Till Martinique Ă„ker turister frĂ„n hela vĂ€rlden och som pĂ„ de andra franska öarna finns en stark representation av fransmĂ€n. Vissa turistar medan andra vĂ€ljer att bosĂ€tta sig hĂ€r för kortare eller lĂ€ngre perioder. Ăven om vi valde att inte göra nĂ„gon rundresa pĂ„ Martinique sĂ„ finns hĂ€r massor att se och göra. Liksom som pĂ„ de övriga karibiska öarna finns vackra strĂ€nder, fina snorklingsvatten, vandringsleder pĂ„ natursköna omrĂ„den liksom pĂ„ vulkantoppar dĂ€r Mont PelĂ©e Ă€r den högsta och dessutom fortfarande delvis aktiv. Det var över 100 Ă„r sedan vulkanen hade sitt senaste och vĂ„ldsamma utbrott. Den explosionsliknande eruptionen dödade hela befolkningen pĂ„ St Pierre med sina nĂ€stan 30 000 invĂ„nare. Endast tre överlevande hittades varav en var en fĂ„nge i det lokala fĂ€ngelset dĂ€r den delvis nergrĂ€vda fĂ€ngelsehĂ„lans tjocka vĂ€ggar och tak rĂ€ddade hans liv. En annan överlevande var en ung kvinna som sökte skydd i en liten havsgrotta nĂ€r hon var ute med sin bĂ„t.
Anse dâArlet Ă€r en liten pittoresk by med en vacker liten kyrka mittemot en fin sandstrand dit mĂ„nga turister och âlocalsâ Ă„ker för att bada. Precis som pĂ„ andra öar springer tuppar och höns med kycklingar fritt pĂ„ gator och strĂ€nder och de dyker ibland upp vid barerna ocksĂ„ -till mĂ„ngas munterhet â eller förtret đ Vi lĂ„g kvar nĂ„gra nĂ€tter och njöt av tillvaron och passade pĂ„ att ta nĂ„gra öl pĂ„ en restaurang vid stranden och uppdatera vĂ„ra digitala pryttlar via deras wifi đ. DĂ€refter seglade vi vidare lite lĂ€ngre söderut till Le Marin.
Le Marin Ă€r en stor, skyddad vik dĂ€r tusentals bĂ„tar kan ligga för ankar lĂ€ngs strĂ€nderna. HĂ€r finns en hamn och bra stormarknader med lĂ€mpligt placerade s.k. dinghy docks sĂ„ man enkelt kan ta dingen till en liten brygga och lasta den full med matvaror och andra förnödenheter. HĂ€r provianterade vi mat för flera mĂ„nader. Det blev mĂ„nga turer fram och tillbaka med dingen och det kĂ€ndes lite som nĂ€r vi bunkrade inför atlantseglingen pĂ„ Gran Canaria. Under durken pĂ„ Anastacia hade vi placerat ut plastlĂ„dor dĂ€r vi stuvar konserver och torrvaror. I Le Marin finns ocksĂ„ flera bĂ„ttillbehörsbutiker dĂ€r vi kunde köpa det sista vi behövde för att ordna med lĂ€ngre seglingar. I en liten butik dĂ€r man sĂ€ljer marinelektronik fick vi fantastiskt fin hjĂ€lp av förestĂ„ndaren som lovade att fixa en extra GPS-antenn till Anastacias plotter. Plottern har en inbyggd antenn men med dĂ„lig rĂ€ckvidd. GPS-signalen blir ibland för svag (för fĂ„ satelliter kan lĂ€sas av). En ny, extern antenn, hade kostat oss flera tusenlappar. Nu kunde han modifiera en Ă€ldre antenn avsedd för en annan typ av plotter sĂ„ den skulle kunna passa vĂ„r variant och till ett mer överkomligt pris! Han behövde bara helgen pĂ„ sig att fixa det. En dam var pĂ„ plats pĂ„ mĂ„ndagen veckan efter, nĂ€r vi dök upp och nĂ€r vi berĂ€ttade om vĂ„rt Ă€rende suckade hon högt och skakade betvivlande pĂ„ huvudet. -Han lovar ofta mycket, sa hon. -Det skulle inte förvĂ„na mig om han har glömt det! Vi blev lite oroliga dĂ„ vi inte kunde fĂ„ tag i en annan antenn i brĂ„drasket. Efter nĂ„gra förvirrande telefonsamtal mellan damen och butiksinnehavare, som befann sig pĂ„ nĂ„gon bĂ„t och fixade med elektroniken, visade det sig att han visst hade löst problemet under helgen och antennen var fixad đ. Nu Ă€r vi snart fĂ€rdigrustade för nĂ€stkommande mĂ„naders etapper!
Anse d'Arlet
Le Marin and provisioning!
1 Commentaire(s)
Tack för er uppdatering ! Som vanligt spÀnnande lÀsning.
24 May 2024 Answer