Chesapeake Sailors Charter Among Friends in Martinique
If you like turquoise waters, white sand beaches, and consistent tropical temperatures, you’ll love chartering in the Caribbean. Sailors enjoy the British and US Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Antigua, Grenada, Guadeloupe, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines… so many places to charter, it’s hard to choose.
We asked several SpinSheet readers to share their Caribbean sailing experiences. The first to respond was SpinSheet Century Club member Alan Batcheller. Below he describes his experiences in Martinique. Expect more Caribbean adventure tales in future issues.
Flotilla in Martinique
Alan chose a flotilla sailing charter with Sail Solomons for his first charter experience. He and his wife Karen and their crew sailed on a 42-foot Lagoon from Dream Yacht Charter.
What was your sailing experience before the charter?
Alan: I took sailing lessons when I was 13 and again at age 26 at Regetta Point in Worcester, MA, on O’Day 15s. I was all set to purchase an O’Day 19 at age 26 and found out we would be having our first child. My sailing adventures were put on hold for 30 something years. For my birthday in 2024 my wife gave me a couple’s sailing class at Sail Solomons where we both passed our ASA101 certification with flying colors. My first and only sailboat, which I purchased used in 2020, is a Precision P15k.
Could you summarize your itinerary?
Crew members Tim and Rozie, sisters Krista and Leslie, my wife Karen and I, and Captains Andy and Lisa Batchelor (no relation) had a meet-and-greet in Solomons in November before the trip so we could meet our crew members as well as those on the other three boats.
The trip started January 2, 2025. We did six overnight stops covering pretty much all of the western side of Martinique.
Were there any rough days?
It rained a couple of days but nothing that made anyone antsy. It was rather comical in hindsight, but our captain had our boat in the middle of the famous Tour des Yoles Rondes twice. (Yole rondes are “round skiffs,” Martinique’s version of log canoes). I have a couple of good pictures, and no cannons were fired on our vessel.
What was the benefit of doing such a trip as a flotilla?
The peace of mind that we had experienced captains and other boats in the area should anything go wrong. With my level of experience, never would I even consider a trip like this on my own. All things considered, the price was very reasonable.
How was the boat? Any challenges?
The boat was good, but the mainsail was stuck with one reef in it the entire trip. Sliding door into the saloon got stuck and took us about three hours to fix; thank goodness there were women on board who could fix things like that. A toilet backed up but was reasonably easy to fix. Electrical outlets didn’t work for a few hours, but with the assistance of Jeff (Carlsen), the owner of Sail Solomons, we were able to get them working again.
If you do this trip over again, what would you do differently?
Not a thing. We had a blast! It was so much fun sipping Dark and Stormys on the stern watching it rain as we were safely anchored and having laughs with our six new best friends.
Would you recommend this charter destination to a friend?
Martinique is little challenging to get to with no direct flights from the DC area; hence, we had a night in Miami the day before and after. We arrived a week early and stayed an extra week. Very few people spoke English, which was a bit of a challenge, but we survived, and it provided a few additional laughs. I was very surprised to see the French chicken dish I ordered turned out to be Ox Tail.
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