February 9, 2023 started with a rainbow over the abandon hotel on Prince Rupert Bay in Portsmouth, Dominica. It was the harbinger of 5 days of eating, drinking, dancing, touring & telling tales with some of the saltiest sailors I know. A dozen Dawgs were in the harbor but by the end of the day there would be 30+ boats participating in the first annual Salty Dawg Rendevous in Dominica.
While I had some quiet time, I spent the morning walking through town, taking pictures of the beautiful flowers and shrubs along the roadside, the views of the bay and the humble abodes and business establishments along the main road.
Lynn, on s/v Roxy, worked diligently to schedule fun events for the week and the first one we chose was the Syndicate Forest Trail hike & waterfall. Driving to the trail, our tour guide Al, pointed out every variety of plant that they farm on the island including grapefruit trees, bananas, plantains, oranges, green lemons, nutmeg, avocado, coffee beans, etc. Here are some pics that give you an idea of the lush environment that we were treated to.
In the rainforest, we trekked over slippery roots and rocks amongst these giant trees with intricate above ground root systems and leaves that were a quarter the size of Andrew.
Before we made it to the waterfall, it started to pour rain. Most of us had raincoats but Al donned an enormous fern for an umbrella as we carried on crossing streams multiple times. We arrived at Milton Falls, an 80 foot stream of white water cascading into a luscious pool at the bottom. Given we were already wet, it was easy (for some of us who came prepared) to strip down to suits and jump in the chilly water. On the way back to the van, we were warmed up with home-made spice rum from the locals at a roadside stand.
On Feb 11th, I woke up to rainbows again as it has been raining, alternating with sunshine for a couple of days now. I missed the local cooking class since it was at 7am and that’s when I’m just having my first cup of coffee. Instead, I walked to the Saturday market, which is mostly same as every other day, except that there are 4 blocks chock full with vendors (instead of one or two here and there) all carrying the same things: tomato’s, lettuce, cabbage, eggplant, potatos and this big brown hairy thing that they serve as a side with everything.
That evening, there were at least a hundred boats in the harbor enjoying the sunset (including this couple with no clothes on). I thought we might see a green flash but it was just another beautiful sunset!
On Sunday, I paddled in to the beach on my SUP, did yoga with Salty Dawgs Doug and Marjorie from s/v Frolic and played dominos in the PAYS building all afternoon. That evening, we enjoyed a LionFish barbecue and watched the Philadelphia Eagles attempt to win another SuperBowl at Sea Bird Bar & Restaurant. We all know how that turned out!
On Monday, Andrew and I went in search of fresh fish for our stores on the next leg of our adventures. We had tried to find fresh fish before but you have to luck out and show up when a fisherman has returned with his/her catch. We met a young woman who had been out fishing with her boyfriend and they had caught a large blue runner. He filleted the fish right there for us (and $20 US).
That evening, the Salty Dawg Rendevous had a farewell barbecue with the PAYS folks where we ate, drank and danced with new & old friends and said goodbye to some who were moving north as we continue our journey south.
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