Anchoring woes

In preparation for the trip to Grenada, we needed to get PCR tests done, and provision for the trip.

We booked PCR tests for 8:30 in Marin Marina, so we decided to anchor in Le Marin the evening before. We went to the same spot we've anchored in a few times, behind the reef, and just couldn't get the anchor to stick. Every time we tested it, it would drag along the seabed.

The sun had set by the time we gave up on this spot, and now we had to find somewhere new, in the dark. So, went to try a new anchorage on the north-west side of Le Marin bay, in front of Ilet Douqesnay. This was at least marked as anchorage on the chart, so we had high hopes of being able to get good holding.

Turning on the radar made me a little more comfortable than relying on lookouts in the glooming dark.

There was only one other yacht in the anchorage, so it was easy to find a spot clear of them, and we seemed to get good holding.

We just made our 8:30 appointment for nasal scrapes in the morning, glad we didn't have to go through that anchoring dance at 8am, with the appointment looming.

Afterwards I dropped Shaianna and Jakob back at the yacht, while Johno and Galina went provisioning. I went back to pick them and the provisions up with the dinghy. We'd need to be self-sufficient for the sail down to Grenada and then a week's quarantine there. Lots of groceries...

I hadn't noticed when I dropped them off, but the yacht had drifted back a bit, and continued to while Jakob and Shaianna were alone on it. The cellular Internet on the boat had run out of data-cap, and we'd been unable to top it up recently (probably anti-fraud systems seeing a suspicious volume of top-ups), so Jakob had no way of contacting us.

When we all got back, the yacht had dragged quite a distance. Thankfully it missed the jetty on one side, and the island on the other, but this all gave us a good scare.

We found another short-term anchorage to wait in Le Marin, while I did check-out paperwork at the Capitainerie. That went fairly smoothly, except that I forgot everyone's passports in the Capitainerie, and had to go back for them (after they'd closed, thankfully they waited for me). And Johno accidentally kicked a block while jumping to meet my returning dinghy, cutting the bottom of his foot.

Then we left Le Marin for a more comfortable night off Sainte-Anne. Off down South first thing in the morning.

Some pictures from the last couple of days in Martinique: