Time to reflect...

balcony view from my apartment, just 400m from the marina

I've made some new friends here in Martinique and I have been busy looking for another boat to join. But I'll evaluate each opportunity before I jump into anything new, including when it's right or even possible for me to return home. I have already decided not to sail on two boats because things didn't seem quite right.

I was hoping to sail to St Martin with Zag on a lovely catamaran but the owner has decided to sell the boat after spending January aboard it with his wife. So it's likely to be back here in Martinique before February and then to be sold. The owner has paid Zag to fly out here from Corsica and work for him, to demonstrate the cat to potential buyers and maintain it. If I haven't found anything else in the meantime, I may join Zag for some cruising on it in February, we'll see...

I've never sailed before on a cruising cat and I'd love to experience the smoother, flatter ride. These cats are just like floating caravans though, incredibly ugly designs these days, whereas in the past, they had some semblance of streamlining. They're perfect though for non-sailors and or families wanting to cruise and they can certainly shift provided the wind is behind them. 

the very spacious and comfortable catamaran - a Lagoon 45

My new buddy Zag

Zag is a professional skipper. He captains both sail and power boats around the world for owners who are usually too wealthy and too busy.

my first trip to a beach about 5km from le Marin with Zag looking very Corsican

Martinique, first impressions

Martinique is very French. It's not a French colony, it's part of France and part of the EU. The cars have the same French number plates and they use Euros. But the tap water here is drinkable and the locals aren't quite so hostile towards us Brits. The weather has been a consistent 27C with patchy cloud cover. It rains for about half an hour most days, usually in the evenings. The service is typically slow and laid back and folk still use cheques to buy stuff. But there's little not to like here and I'm looking forward to exploring the island and meeting more people but whether it's on a bus, a motorbike again or a car, I haven't yet decided. 

Lots of Europeans are flying into Martinique now to party over New Year or sail on chartered boats or both. Over lunch a few days ago, I sat next to a table with ten Polish youngsters who'd just arrived. Their accent sounded familiar but mistakenly, I asked them if they were Russian. They laughed and we then got chatting. One of them sent a very rude message to my WhatsApp group from my Piligrim sailor friends, it'll be interesting to see what responses I get tomorrow. Anyway it's their fault, I wanted to call our WhatsApp group Malesh (it doesn't matter) but they insisted on calling the group Nie ma to tamto (no excuses). These young Turks were all very excited about their forthcoming charter boat excursions around Martinique but they were even happier, when I advised them that they can still sail without restrictions to Guadeloupe, St Martin and frankly most places that don't have a British connection.

Poles apart, the guy 2nd from the right sent the rude message to you Mariusz

Messaging me

Thank you for sending messages to me personally. Many of you have suggested that I include at least one proper recipe with each post.  But there are thousands of cooking blogs out there and I don't read many. My blog is about my two passions, sailing and cooking combined. I'm more of an instinctive cook, with no scales, I just use my eyes, nose, tongue and fingers to get the right texture and taste. So I won't be putting any recipes on here, at least not in any detail.

Because my blog is now being viewed around the world (I won't put the number of visits I've had, I still can't believe Google's stats), Google keep suggesting that I get some income from advertising on here. I didn't start doing this blog to earn money and I certainly don't intend to spoil it with ads and cookies which I despise. I simply enjoy writing and sharing my experiences and observations with my friends and anyone else who cares to read it.

For those of you who know me, please call me on WhatsApp. Remember it's free! I may be doing some part-time cooking at a local restaurant over the coming weeks so if I'm busy, just send me a message and I'll call you back. I'd really love to hear from you...

Birds

I've been a bird watcher since I was a teenager, you never lose it I suppose. This is my little morning visitor who chirps at me for his breakfast. He's pictured here with the sun behind him, not ideal, but hopefully you can just make out his beautiful red breast.

a male Black Finch with its subtle red breast

I've seen many of the prehistoric looking frigate birds that I've seen before in Tobago. Maybe it was Terradactyles that I've seen, they look like them when airborne, but that's just my childish imagination running wild again. The brightly coloured orioles are so eye catching too, darting about in the trees below my balcony. I can't claimed to have identified them correctly yet - but I will.

Entertaining in Martinique...

Henry, Kenn and Anke sampling my beef stroganoff

I met Kenn shortly after my arrival here. He's from New York but his latter years before sailing took over in Virginia working with the UN plus developing several businsses. Latterly he had more success as a contemporary sculptor which began in his youth. A very interesting guy who can tell many a good yarn. He's only been sailing for about ten years and is now based on his boat here in le Marin with his partner Anke, whose Dutch. We enjoyed a pleasant evening chatting together over my beef stroganoff with Henry, who stayed a few nights in my apartment making a fine waiter. Lol.

Me and my cooking

I worked in international sales for more than 20 years and often spent weekends away from home. On several occasions, after I'd eaten some interesting food in a restaurant, I would offer to help the owner in his kitchen. Usually they politely said no, but when I explained that I didn't want to be paid, I just wanted to learn, some actually allowed me to participate. My favourite kitchens were those in China and Vietnam that were pretty crude. Although I couldn't speak many words of their languages, I learnt so much and usually had loads of laughs too, but with thankfully no Gordon Ramseys. So when I see so called restaurants serving up pre-prepared, microwaved slop, it just leaves me cold and I'll walk away. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not a food snob, I love a good greasy burger or kebab when I'm staggering home from the pub, or watching my amazing football team - The Royals...

If I'm cooking for myself or my sons who often stay with me, I find spending time cooking something different, very relaxing. On a cold wet Saturday afternoon, I love nothing better than listening to footie on the radio, drinking a glass or two of red and cooking something yummy -

chicken surprise - for Zag and Henry 

Helping others less fortunate

One of my blog followers is Adrian Ragbourne. He runs the charity that owns and operates TS Pelican of London that I've mentioned on earlier posts. I'm so pleased that Adrian has managed to continue the great work they do under the current conditions. TS Pelican is also out here in the Caribbean enjoying the far more realistic, relaxed and sensible restrictions, while alas, Adrian is back in the UK currently. 

Another good friend since my time on TS Pelican is Nick Sawyer, he's based out in west Wales and pretends to be Welsh...lol. Nick is in the process of setting up a similar venture with a Tall Ship based in Aberaeron. After almost 200 years, the local council have finally approved the building of a breakwater to protect it's small harbour from some extreme weather; work will start next Spring. If you are interested in finding out more about Nick's project just Google  'Aeron Tall Ships'.

Going forward I'd like to get involved with a similar project but I'm more inclined to do something connected with my analytical chemistry background. I'd like to add some value to an ocean based project. Protecting and saving our environment, particularly our oceans is where I'm already looking but more on that topic another time 'cause' it really floats my boat.

Have a great evening tonight and wishing you the very best for 2021.

God bless you x