We’re up and going pretty early. I make some water first and put the new lock washer (en francais=rondelle grower) on the alternator, hope that will stop it from vibrating loose. I bought two lock washers but the one side already had one, though it is pretty flat. Last night in the calm of the evening I topped up our diesel tank with our spare 5 gallons. Just to be on the safe side. That will get us into Etang Z’abricot on Sunday no problem.

We motor out of Anse d’Arlet dodging the many fishing bobbers and move the 1.5 nm over to Anse Dufour, where we have never anchored before. Last year we went to Anse Noir which is right next door but in the spirit of new adventures we try Anse Dufour.

The anchorage is fine, relatively shallow and we are the only yacht in the bay, although there are quite a few fishing boats so easy to pick a spot. The wind is crazy in here and we will do donuts at anchor for the next hour or two, but the anchor holds. I dive on the anchor before we go off snorkeling and she looks good.

There’s a ton of people on the beach and snorkeling and we figure it must be some kind of cruise or bus tour. More people here than there is accommodation by far we think. But there is no pier and we don’t see any shuttle boats or buses so don’t know. There is a pier at Anse Noir and an easy walk over but most of this crowd don’t look like the type to make that trek.

We snorkel up the north side then onto the beach to look around, then snorkel up the south side and back to Milu. Getting back on Milu, Christy and I are talking about the flippers we bought that I can’t wear because they cut the tops of my feet every time. She says “there must be a way to fix them”. I take a closer look and sure enough there is a hard plastic insert that is only there for the sales display! Should be taken out for use. Duh.

We pack up and start our motor over to the next stop, another new adventure, Anse Mitan. The wind is hooping now and quite a blustery motor over. (Side note, we were driving at 2500 rpm+ so fingers crossed the overheating problem is solved.) Anse Mitan is very rough with the wind and we can’t find a safe spot close to the shore we would like to be on so we have to settle for the southern side of the bay. Takes us two attempts to drop the anchor so we won’t get anyone excited around us. That’s pretty normal.

It rains hard off and on, every time we’re getting ready to go into the little town, a small hurricane blows through with strong strong winds and heavy rain. They don’t last long though.

Eventually get in the dinghy and head to the dock. Old Reliable dinghy motor stops as soon as I put it in gear, stops again when I try again. What’s going on? We’re now drifting quickly towards Trinidad. Oops, forgot to pull up the strap I use to secure the dinghy and it’s wrapped around the prop. Only takes a minute or two in choppy water to unravel and move on. Another embarrassing moment.

We tie up with rear anchor at the local jetty and walk through the town towards Pointe du Bout, the little creole town. It seems very quiet, we go into the little touristy stores which are all selling exactly the same trinkets, there is very little “Martiniquesque” and certainly nothing Christmassy that way.

We tour around the marina a bit and wander over towards Pointe du Bout. There is an interesting resort there, but we can’t walk around it to the beach so have to backtrack. Back in creole village we are generally looking for some place to eat but nothing opens til at least 6 pm, some of them 7 pm and it is only just after 5 pm now. We walk back towards the beach area and find Kano, a recommended creole bar/restaurant. Nothing really creole about it that I can see but the waitress is fun and we have a few laughs as we try to communicate in our Frenglish. Christy has steak kebabs, very good, I have lamb chops, healthy portion but quite fatty and a bit tough. Pepper sauce is great.

Christy has an ice cream and I have a coffee before we head back to the dinghy dock across the beach.

Starts to rain again as we set off but mercifully holds off for the crossing.

Back on board, I try again to engage Free Mobile and … success!!! We now have an account and data is secure. Seems pretty fast.

Looks like we will cancel Starlink …

BTW, our anchor light stopped working again in Anse d’Arlet, grrr. I tried retesting the wires from inside the boat again and power is there, but when I put power to the wires that go up the mast, nada.