The land of the daily deluge

We left Les Saintes for Dominica on Feb. 9. It was raining, which I suppose was an omen for where we were headed. It was a 20 mile trip. We were going about 8-9 knots, closed hauled in 5-6 foot seas, so not champagne sailing, but nothing Billy Ruff’n can’t handle. It was a little wet for me having to set the second reef but I got Andrew back when he had to go forward to take down the French courtesy flag.

We made the trip in 3 1/2 hours and were greeted in Portsmouth, Dominica by one of the professional boat services men. In Portsmouth, the men have organized a group called Portsmouth Association for Yachting Services (PAYS), in order to make it a safe and enjoyable destination for ’yachties’, like ourselves. We had contacted Jeffrey from Sea Bird to help us and he was on site when we had dropped sails and were close enough to pick up a mooring. Shortly after, another PAYS boat came by to sell us tickets to the beach barbecue that evening and a third man came by to sell us star fruit, passion fruit, bananas and coconuts from his kayak.

The PAYS barbecue that evening was a fun jump up. Many of the Salty Dawg crew we have come to know were there. The grilled fish and chicken was good and the whole place was dancing after dinner. Andrew tried to match moves with one of the locals and lost, landing on his butt in the sand!

Since we had arrived on a Sunday and customs was closed, we checked in the next day, with the assistance of our PAYS guy, Antony. He took us over to the customs dock, showed us around town a bit and brought us back to the boat to arrange for the next few days activities. The next day, Antony rowed us up the Indian River and pointed out the local flora and fauna as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean sets that were still in place as part of the tour. We found a coconut on the way, which Antony cut up for us to enjoy the milk and fruit. I had a chance to row back too!

Afterward, Antony came on board to check out Andrew’s fishing equipment and spent the next half hour re-arranging it into lures and lines for their fishing trip the following day.

We’ve found it pretty much rains every day in Dominica and often very hard, accompanied by roaring winds that slice through the mountains. One evening, I had just showered and changed to ride in town for dinner and of course, it poured on our way in. The great thing though, is the winds dry things off quickly and the mild temperatures (mid 80’s), keep things from getting too cold so you just carry on with whatever you were doing.

On Feb. 12th, Antony took Andrew for a fishing trip around the north end of the island. They caught 3 Barracuda and 1 small snapper, while I strolled through town and updated the blog. That night, we had the PAYS guys cook up our fish, after we assured them that it was caught locally and would not be poisonous. (Apparently, barracuda is poisonous in some parts, but not in Dominica and we survived eating it just to prove it!)

The next day, we took an island tour to Cold Soufriere, a bubbling stream, in the middle of the rain forest, that smells like sulfur and is cold; past a beautiful cemetery with a fantastic view for eternity and then on to the Point Baptiste Chocolate Factory, a small privately owned chocolate manufacturing facility, owned by the grandson of the first woman ever elected to a British West Indies legislative council, and run by him and his daughter. They showed us how the cocoa beans are dried and roasted and then stirred and mixed with various delicious flavorings. We bought 6 bars: spice, coffee, lemongrass, mint, ginger, and hot pepper.

From the chocolate factory, a Carib Indian fellow named Donny George, took us on what was billed to be an easy walk to the Red Rocks, on which the chocolatier’s home was perched. Barefooted, Donny scampered like a billy goat through the forest, over rocks and straight up a cliff, while we struggled to keep up, but the views were worth it.

In the meantime, our tour driver, Andrew (or Didi), had collected a sampling of grasses and leaves that he professed had all kinds of medicinal powers when smoked or dried and made into tea. He also showed us how to weave the banana tree leaves into decorations for the local bar.

The next few days it rained and blew hard so we didn’t do much but hang out on the boat and wait for a weather window to head for Roseau, our next stop in Dominica.