To visit Le Marin marina with port captain Éric Jean-Joseph is to plunge into the living history of Martinique's nautical industry. From its earliest beginnings in the 1990s to its current development, Éric embodies the evolution of this port with an expertise forged over the years. In his company, we explore the calm waters of the bay, discovering the many facets of this nautical site, a symbol of a port dynamism unique in the West Indies.
What are the origins of boating in Le Marin?
I've been working here for a long time. The marina is a bit of a family project. My parents started it in the early 90s. Unfortunately, they left us and we've been running the business for a while now. In '91, it was a municipal project. The mayor had campaigned for maritime jurisdiction. The idea was to decentralize the nautical offer away from Fort-de-France.
When we started out, we'd been to a boat show and the Société d'Économie Mixte, which developed Étang Z'abricots, was just getting started. They had brochures; we had little A4 sheets. We went to see them to ask if we could join forces. They played along. By '92, we had the first pontoon. They had to fight for years. It was complicated because they had an army reserve; an ammunition storage point. It took 15 years to do the studies, whereas on our side, we were able to get started much more quickly. Once things got off the ground for them, they had no downtime. But at the time, people were saying to themselves ''.. everything that floats will sink ''. People didn't know what a port or marina was. They imagined all the possible risks with cyclones... What's special about Le Marin is the way it's occupied. In the event of bad weather, Martinique does have a cyclonic risk, but the bay of Le Marin is a naturally protected shelter. We don't have a seawall, just shoals.
How did the development go?
In 87, a hurricane called "David" passed over Martinique. The activity was in Trois-Îlets, at Pointe du Bout. There was what we called the Bakoua pontoon. Tabarly Yachting was the first charter company to operate in Martinique under Monsieur Tabarly's franchise. They had Pen Duick 600s; around ten boats. Half the boats were at sea and the other half were there. The base manager heard there was a hurricane. He tied up the boats. The hurricane passed; they lost everything. Some weren't even found. They contacted Monsieur Tabarly, who was supposed to be a consultant. He wasn't involved in operations. He looked at a nautical chart and said: '' guys, it's time to go to Marin ''. And the few boats that were at sea, which returned after the bad weather, were transferred to Le Marin. That's where the rental business started. The Pen Duick 600 was the 4L of its day... Imagine today, if you rented out 2CVs and 4Ls, I don't know if you'd get many customers, apart from the fun factor! In fact, we kept a vestige. Two or three years later, they went out of business and left one or two boats at the yacht club. We've kept one as a souvenir, which we're currently reconditioning for eventual display as decoration; it makes a nice spot at the entrance to the port...
This was the real start of activity in Le Marin. There were only 2 pleasure boats in Le Marin. In May, we used to do regattas out of Fort-de-France, and we tended to go to Sainte-Anne Bay. We rarely came to Le Marais in those days. Today, it's quite the opposite. You see, 35 years later. The harbour master's office was moved because the project was carried out in several phases. We started small and then expanded. We've evolved.
