Buddy boating with Jay/Joe

Our new buddy boating friend, Jay (on s/v Hurah), will now and forever more be known as Jay/Joe! Since our friend, Dana on Pathfinder, introduced him as Joe, I couldn’t get it right even when Jay introduced himself as “J, as in the letter, ya know”. We are working closely on the Guadeloupe Cruise with another Jay, the Commodore of CCA, so it’s been convenient to have a nick name for the new Jay! Andrew suggested J/J, which is convenient for blog writing.

In any event, we continued to discuss plans with Jay/Joe as we are working our way north, but he decided not to go when we were ready to head off to Dominica. We prefer to sail in 15-20 knots (even if the seas is a little rougher) to motoring in a calm seas, so we left J/J (who is single handling, by the way) in St. Pierre for the 5 1/2 hour sail to Roseau. It was sporty at first (20-25 knot winds, 6-8 foot seas), until we got past Martinique and then it settled into a rather nice sail on the beam. When we got into the lee of Dominica, the wind dropped out entirely and we motored in to pick up a mooring from Sea Cat and stayed overnite; leaving the next morning.

We had an easy 3 hour trip in the lee of Dominica to Portsmouth, the next day. Arriving before noon, we were assisted with the mooring by Alexis from PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services) and rigged the dinghy to take our papers into customs. The really friendly, multi-lingual and helpful gal (Val) at the PAYS office said they could check in for us for $100 EC (or $30 USD, which is probably 10x what it would cost us to do it ourselves), but gave us time to go to the outdoor market and grocery store for some desperately needed supplies. We didn’t find half of what we were looking for so when we got back to the boat and Danny came by in his kyack, we were happy to purchase some fresh papaya, apricot and bananas. 

While running the generator the day prior, we had heard a ticking noise that didn’t sound good so we were using the motor 2x per day to recharge our weak batteries. Fortunately, we were able to get the very able (and one armed) mechanic named Igna, to come look at it our first day in Portsmouth. Igna was delivered to our boat by a helpful friend, hopped aboard more adroitly than many I know with four limbs, and after a quick listen and inspection, told us we were either 1) low on oil, 2) had a clog in the oil system or 3) had a more serious problem. Andrew had checked the oil and knew we were a half quart low, so he filled it up and that seemed to have fixed the problem. Phew!

The best new discovery about Portsmouth this year was Whitney at Maford House Cafe. After paying one of the PAYS guys to take us to a better grocery store and 2 unsuccessful visits to ATM’s before we found one that worked, we found Whitney. She is a refreshingly friendly, Canadian who has had various restaurants in Dominica for 27 years. At the Cafe, she makes fresh bread, cheese cake, etc. and she promises the best fish & chips on the island, which she delivered to us in the pleasantly shaded beer garden out back.

As mentioned, our buddy Jay/Joe chose to make a long trip in one day from St. Pierre, Martinique to Portsmouth, Dominica, in order to avoid the forecasted heavy seas but as the sailing gods would have it, he had a rougher sail than we did. Fortunately, he arrived safely on our second day. We went over for coffee on his boat the next morning and discussed plans for moving on to Guadeloupe, while he generously allowed me to use his Starlink; internet capabilities I have sorely missed since our Wi-Fi puck hasn’t worked since Martinique.

That afternoon, Jay/Joe joined us on the Indian River Tour, where we were rowed by Alexis past the Pirates of Caribbean movie set, through the jungle like vegetation to the rum bar at the end, where Alexis showed us the local crab and made a bird out of fronds for me. That evening, we caught up with friends we’ve been chasing all over the Caribbean (Sue & Denny and their crew Linda & Bob on s/v Evening Star) at Madiba’s for dinner.

The day before we were to leave for Guadeloupe, Jay/Joe did an island tour, Andrew cleaned the boat and I went over to Jay’s boat to use Starlink for a Medicare enrollment conference call. Yes folks, I’m that old! That evening, we enjoyed a PAYS barbeque, where we ran into friends from Trinidad and sat with a sailing couple from Philadelphia (of all places).

On March 8, we were off to Isles des Saintes, Guadeloupe and actually buddy boating with our new found friend, Jay/Joe. After a bit of motoring, we had a great sail with 15-20 knots of wind, 2-4 foot seas and best of all, we caught a yellow fin tuna! 

We arrived in Les Saintes before noon and surprisingly found four moorings available. After we picked up our mooring ball, we launched our dinghy and helped Jay/Joe pick up his ball. He was close enough for us to use his Starlink from our boat!

That afternoon, we took Jay/Joe to town and showed him where to find the grocery store, boulangerie and the butcher, all the key ingredients for a stay in the French islands. We all bought supplies and went back to our respective boats for a quiet evening. 

The next day, we took Jay/Joe to Isle de Cabri for a hike to the top of the fort for the view of the harbor. It was a bit overcast and we couldn’t see the mainland like you would on a clear day but it was magnificent anyway. Afterward, we snorkeled nearby and saw lots of pretty little fish, coral and sea fans.

That evening, Jay/Joe, Andrew and I had dinner at Au Bon Vivre on Terre den Haut to celebrate our buddy boating venture. We all ordered the chef’s surprise, which was 4 courses including a dorado sushi served with gazpacho, tuna in a yogurt soup, red snapper with mashed potatoes & candy onion and a lastly, Carmel flan with a cookie for dessert, that I ate too fast to get a pic! The flavors and portions were perfect and I’d have to say, it was the best meal I’ve had in the Caribbean this season; a fitting finale to our buddy boating venture with Jay/Joe.

The next morning, as we were leaving for Pointe a Pitre, where we’ll begin preparations for the NYYC/CCA Guadeloupe Cruise, Jay/Joe sent over this lovely picture of Billy Ruff’n at the end of a rainbow!