The customs office in Martinique has been closed and check in is now done in the Capitainerie in the new complex at the head of Le Marine. Usual computer self check in with a 5 Euro charge for the service
 Hurricane Dean traveled quite fast along Martinique's southern shore. The fast eastward motion combined with the counterclockwise rotation of the hurricane produced much worse winds than in St. Lucia. The banana crop seems largely to have been flattened and the islands still shows signs of high winds.
 The excellent building codes kept most structure damage limited to older buildings and the clean up and repair was done with considerable effectiveness and seems largely complete. The old floating drydock is now sunk permanantly and is replaced by a new one. Several boats seem to have been poorly secured in Le Marin and there are hulks scattered around.
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The anchorage at Ste. Anne is huge as the whole area below the beach off the Club Med is shallow with good holding. That beach and the reef near it protect the entrance to Le Marin, which is an even larger anchorage including hurricane holes. Surrounded by mangroves, Le Marin is boating central for the French Antillies. A large well stocked Leader Price with its own dinghy dock, sail lofts, boat yards, riggers, electronics are all available. Our boat is French, so this is important to us. You can also hide out in one of the gunk holes extending into the mangroves for a quiet still place to work. The water is cleaner outside and we generally stop at Ste. Anne on the way in. You can easily anchor at night or in poor conditions and then thread your way into Le Marin the next day to clear customs and stock up on provisions. Swiming, hiking and snorkeling are all better at Ste. Anne.
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| The village of Ste. Anne is a charming, small beach town with all the elements of a country village in France |
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| Lizard at Ste. Anne Martinique |
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| Ste. Anne is very Catholic and has several interesting walks |
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| Flowers at Ste. Anne, Martinique |
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| The floating drydock and Leader Price at Le Marin, Martinique. The red boat at left is a transport ship for boats to and from the Med |
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| Susie after provisioning in Le Marin, Martinique. The socks are for keeping the wine bottles from rattling against each other and breaking. Good wine, bread, coffees and a whole host of other goodies are not available in the British West Indies where they seem to adhere to bad old tradition of British food. |
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| Restaurants on the water at Ste. Anne . Go for lunch and get the menu and you can do very well indeed at a reasonable price |
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