Dominica to Martinique Subject: Log 3/26/00 Date: Mon, 03 Apr 2000 17:16:04 -0500 From: W2LSI@cho.win-net.org To: rudys03@ibm.net Another 40 miles and no wind. Actually the wind did pick up with 2 hrs left of the passage.....we didn't even bother to put up the sails. We were catching up with our friends on Sasse Too in Fort de France. We passed the harbor of St. Pierre. This is the town that was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Pelee on May 8, 1902. In 3 minutes 30,000 people died as a result of hot gasses and steam. Two people survived. One was in jail with thick walls underground and the other was in a basement. The criminal eventually joined a circus side show where his extensive burn scars were on display. The harbor at Fort de France has some protection, but a lot of activity. The ferry boats cause roll during the day and some nights there is roll in the harbor.....less than Dominica but still uncomfortable at times. We explored the town, actually a city, and rented a car for a day. I stopped in the local marine store to see if they had the batteries I have been looking for since Antigua. One of my large 12v batteries lost a cell. This caused our house battery bank to become very inefficient. We would loose voltage quickly and require charging twice a day in some cases. We were managing. The marine store said he didn't think they had batteries that large on the island, but I should try an Auto parts store a few miles outside of town. Just down the street I passed a store that sold batteries, guns, sling shots, bow and arrows, martial arts things, etc. I checked just for the hell of it. They had what I needed!! To make a long story short, I purchased eight 6Volt golf cart batteries and installed them. This gave me 840Amps of capacity which I'm sure doesn't mean much to some of you, but it doubles the capacity we have been living with since we left New York! What a luxury!! Now I can go a few days without a worry of running the batteries down too low! We can leave lights on and even be a bit frivolous!! Our first tour of Martinique took us through the mountains. It was great to drive on the right side of the road again. The roads are generally in good shape and they are generally big enough for two cars. There still isn't more than ten feet of straight road, but driving is easier on the driver and the passengers! We visited the museum at St. Pierre that chronologicalled the disaster. They had many artifacts that were melted and burned as well as many pictures that showed the actual devastation. There was increasing activity for several weeks with many deaths prior to May 8, 1902, but nobody wanted to evacuate the entire city. The ruins are very visible and many of the buildings of today use pieces of walls that remained after the eruption. We stopped at a rum distillery and a botanical garden. The garden was fantastic! It was on the edge of the rain forest in the mountains. It took 20 years to construct with continuous planting and rebuilding with over 200 different plants. The exotic plants we sometimes see in the US are displayed in their natural settings along meandering paths on the side of a hill. It was well worth a stop! We had dropped our friends, Jon and Shawn, at the end of the road where they were to start their hike to the top of Mt. Pelee. Their hike took them over 5 hrs. It was very steep, but they did say it was worth it. I'll look at their pictures when they get developed. On the way back to our boats we stopped at a large supermarket...it was GREAT!! It is a real treat to get GOOD fruit and vegetables that we recognize. We were also able to find many product brands that were familiar to us in the US. The prices were a bit higher, but we weren't complaining. We do intend to take another car tour of the island and we WILL stop at the supermarket again. The island is more affluent and the people do have better living conditions than many of the other islands. We will stop at Martinique on our way back!