In Dominica

We have had several busy days since we last blogged. The weather window opened and we raced out of St Lucia. We had a lovely one tack sail all the way to St Anne Martinique. We had gusts up in the 20's and waves about 5-7 feet and swells of 6-8 feet as well. But other than getting a bit salty it was a lovely sail. Dawn and I dashed off and did laundry as soon as we arrived. They have a lovely modern clean laundramat and we washed sheets and such that a bucket just doesn't do justice. That was Wed and Thurs am we took Cat Tales into the inner bay near customs and the grocery stores and did a stock up of the wines and cheeses from France. What a joy Leader Price is! Dawn and I stayed back at the boat while Laurie and Brian checked into customs. Actually that is opposite of what should happen ......you never leave the boat without customs being your very first stop. But they have very lax rules in France. We stayed and guarded the boat as we were anchored very close to a wreck of a scow. It would never have shown a mark if we had hit it but Cat Tales would have. These two pictures sort of show how close we were. As soon as we were finished our business and got back to Peace and Plenty and unloaded the groceries we had a mad dash for the north end of Martinique. We anchored at sunset in a quiet little bay. Dawn and Laurie shared the little tunny they caught for dinner. No we haven't caught anything yet. We sailed out at first light about 6:00 am in a perfect full moon on one side and the sun rising on the other. A beautiful sight indeed. We had a long day ahead of us 11 hours to get to Dominica. We had winds in the open channel between islands of 20-25 and along the coast line we motored in 1.1 knots of wind. The day was abit of everything. We motored, motor sailed and sailed on and off all day. It was a lovely day and although we got wet as big waves broke at our stern and drenched us it was the best sailing we have done so far. We arrived in Prince Rupert Bay, Portsmouth just ahead of sunset about 4:30. We had our very first this season green flash( just as the sun hits the horizon a brief green flash will appear) it was spectacular. Yesterday we walked around town ,checked into customs,shopped the street markets for produce, met friends for lunch and called it a short day. Today Sunday we walked a portion of the national park called the Cabritse. Abandoned in 1854 the now restored Fort Shirley was very interesting. In it's hay day the whole complex was massive and many structures remain in the state of ruin. 

Almost every time it rains a wonderful rainbow appears and more often than not a double. The beach and rainbow shot are just off our port stern. The beach shot is where we enjoyed a Sunday night BBQ put on by the local boat boys ....they have a very interesting way of doing things here. Because Dominica is a poor island the crime was very bad here. The boat boys grouped together and formed an association to offer services, security and generally a wealth of knowledge of the locale. The BBQ helps fund their works. They have a boat that patrols the anchorage each night. It is now one of the safer spots to visit. 

Dominica is known for its nature, lush vegetation, and rivers and waterfalls. We have arranged a couple trips this week so lots to follow.