Dominica: The Nature Island!

On Feb. 3, 2023, we arrived in Prince Rupert Bay, off Portsmouth, Dominica. It is a large and protected bay that supports yachties with a unique organization called PAYS (Portsmouth Association for Yacht Services). This group of locals have organized to help boaters pick up moorings, check in with Customs, get provisions (including propane, fuel & water) and organize barbecues & island tours.

Our second day in Dominica, we got an island tour through Cobra, the president of PAYS. He hired Al to take Andrew & I, Edwin & Karen on s/v Frog’s Leap, Amy (our solo sailor friend on s/v Wahine) and a nice British couple we just met (Chris & Jane on s/v Iseult), to explore the northern end of the island. 

Al drove us (expeditiously, I might add) past the lush flowers & shrubs to the Atlantic Ocean on the western side of the island and then to the Red Rocks of Calibishie and the Pointe Baptiste chocolate factory. Andrew and I had done this part of the tour before but this time we got to see the wonderful gardens overlooking the ocean, behind the house where the grandmother of the chocolate factory owner lives.

We stopped for lunch by the beach in Marigot, where Andrew and I order the lobster, which was served on a giant plantain leaf with 3 lobster tails and a variety of delicious sides.

After lunch, we toured the Kalingo Territory, where native Caribs that predated Europeans by a couple hundred years, still live and maintain their traditions. We walked through the model village where handmade wooden canoes and statutes to the Kalingo chiefs were on display.

Next, we drove over Horseback Ridge to Spanny Falls, where we got soaked walking in the rain forest and swam in our skivvy’s.

The next few days were blustery and rainy. We walked through town, which is impoverished for the most part, but we still managed to find a Digicel store to top up our Wi-Fi booster and I was (sorta) tempted to buy the hairy looking root vegetables that they sell in the outdoor market and serve boiled with spices, as sides around here.

Our boat buddies Barb & Matt on Act III arrived in Portsmouth on Sunday, Feb 5th and the next day we went hiking with them to Fort Shirley, an old British fort that has been beautifully restored and provides well marked trails through this part of Cabrits National Park.

After hiking, we stopped at The Purple Turtle for lunch with a view of our boats in the bay. The chef didn’t show up for work until around 2pm (Caribbean time), so we had some beers until lunch arrived and Matt learned how to take his very first selfie!

The following day, Barb and I got lost trying to follow Chris Doyle’s instructions to The Indian River Spring, billed in his guide as the “best and most interesting hike nearby”. We looked for ‘the big aerial overhead’ and thought we had turned ‘right on the grassy road’ but never saw the ‘big shed by the fenced in work area’. Fortunately, we found a few locals at the bus stop, a little girl and a guide-in-training, named Terry, that helped us find our way to this truly magical trail through the haunting banyan tree roots that lead to the Indian River.

Meanwhile tall ships come and go, rain washes our boat every half hour as we run around closing hatches and more of our friends (including the crew on Nomad, Kalunamoo, Frolic, Lucky, Roxy, and Pandora, to name a few) continue to arrive for the upcoming Salty Dawg rendezvous.

P.S. It’s raining again!