We decide to take off on the boat for the weekend, to enjoy the island a bit and have a break from work. At the same time, we can test the watermaker and do some man overboard drills with the kids.
We sail north west, sticking to the leeward side of the island, up to Anse d’Arlet: a white sandy bay backed by coconut palms behind which the lush green hills rise almost vertically, covered in rainforest from top to toe. Treacherous lobster pots are everywhere along the coastline, often marked by only a transparent water bottle as a float. Virtually impossible to see until we are very close, so we have to keep a constant lookout whenever in shallow water.
The kids initially jump on the trampoline, and are in and out of the forward hatch, playing some sort of hide and seek. When we get further offshore at the southern end of the island they start feeling a bit queasy, and I put on their seabands – elastic bands with a pressure point to put on the wrist, which seemed to work well to reduce seasickness last time we went sailing. Matias goes down below for a sleep and Lukas relaxes in the cockpit, looking for dolphins. He spots an island which looks like Darth Vader’s mask half submerged, names it ‘Skull Rock’, and tells us stories about its rich and varied past. Spirits are high despite the slight seasickness which they shrug off as tiredness, and everybody has plenty of appetite for lunch.
When we get to Anse d’Arlet we jump in the water and head to the nearby rocks for snorkelling. The water is clear and dotted with tiny demoiselles that flock around us instantly, and the children are mesmerised by the huge barrel sponges, the swaying anemones, the bright blue angelfish – as well as the French guy swimming past bearing an enormous speargun. We see seagrass and cute flatfish blending in with the sun freckled sea bottom, trying to fool us into believing that the black marks on their back are the eyes of a gigantic animal. Soft corals give us a friendly wave, wonderful yellow trumpetfish glide silently past. Wrasse are feeding on algae, whiting blend in with the white sand near the beach. Purple fanworms retract swiftly when we gently brush them, but a turtle seems unfazed when we dive down to get a closer look.
We subject the children to a swim test, which involves them jumping in and swimming around the boat, wearing their lifejackets. Our safety rule is that they have to wear lifejackets when on deck – inside the cockpit they can go without, but whenever they are jumping on the trampoline, crawling on the roof, diving in and out of hatches, they have to wear the jackets. So far they have been great at remembering, and even Lukie is able to swim unaided around the boat, which is about 50 m. The water is calm and nobody is panicking, so a bit different from a real man overboard situation. But a good start.
SV Bob The Cat 