Monday 9 April: Another rolly night on the mooring. We still sleep OK but it gets interrupted each time Cloudy Bay really gets rolling. This is our last night in Roseau Bay so hopefully our last night of rolling in the swell.
We head in to take the car back. Dinghy is stern anchored as usual and we head to the street through the abandoned building as usual. At first it was spooky but we are now used to it and to the various inhabitants sleeping rough inside.
By the street a guy is cutting up a huge yellow fin tuna. The steaks are 7cm thick and would cover any dinner plate side to side. He only wants 9EC per pound – probably a white people price but still much less than we have ever heard. So we buy a 2 pound steak. Then it’s off to town to take the hire car back, a spot of food shopping then a walk and row back to Cloudy Bay. Whenever we return a hire car it seems like a pressure relief. We can relax. We walk passed Dominica Museum, again, but it is closed as usual. We learn from the hotel nearby that the museum is open only when a cruise-ship is coming in. A bit sad really, if the museum staff are thinking tourism only from that angle.
After a leisurely coffee we put the outboard onto the dinghy ready for the next adventure, snorkeling over Champagne Reef. So called because hot gaseous bubbles come up from the sea bed around the area that is said to be the next volcanic activity, slightly offshore. Despite the large swell, there are no waves so the 3 miles dinghy ride to the Champagne Reef is fast and smooth. We get to the spot where we think the gas activity is and circle around till we see the bubbles coming to the surface. Then anchor the dinghy and jump in with fins and snorkels. There are not so many bubbles as we had seen in photos but it’s still very interesting to see. And it does feel like we are swimming in champagne! There are also quite a lot of fish and coral around, but not exactly a colorful coral reef you would imagine. We do spend some time snorkeling, annoying the life we see below us and wondering if it was better site before hurricane Maria.
Back on Cloudy Bay it’s already nearly 2pm so we drop the mooring and sail away from the island. Then when the wind is steady we head north up the lee shore about 2-3 miles offshore where there is reasonable wind. All the time we are on the lookout for whales. There are reputedly several pods of whales on this coast, but try as we could, there was no “there she blows!” … as the whalers used to shout when spotting a whale spout. After an hour we give up scanning the water, Oana gets into the tanning mode and Glen focuses onto trimming the sails.
The wind at first is a bit fickle on this lee shore, but in the gaps between the several volcano peaks it funnels through strongly from the east and we have wonderful reaching conditions in flat water and 20knts of wind. Cloudy Bay cruises along at a steady 8 knots and occasionally hits 10 in the gusts. Even with the vang not working and the mainsail twisting off at the top, this is still a powerful rig. Probably a bit too powerful for a cruising yacht to be honest. There is a catamaran in front of us. Ideal conditions for a cat, but we easily keep up with them. And the scenery of Dominica in the distance is beautiful. The volcanic peaks capped with cloud and their slopes with deep ravines a wonderful green, even after the hurricane. And best of all, no obvious hotel complex developments.
As we enter Prince Rupert Bay the “welcoming committee”, as described in the pilot, greets us. A bright yellow boat. We ask if he is part of PAYS? He shows us his shirt and points to the side of his boat which says “PAYS member”. We ask for a mooring buoy and off he shoots ahead to show us in. PAYS stands for Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security. Previously this town of Portsmouth had a very bad reputation for a) locals hassling yachts and b) robbing them. So the yachts didn’t come anymore. Even the Navionics chart has a note saying: “only leave your dinghy next to the police station and NEVER leave your boat unoccupied”. So a few businesses got together and formed PAYS, hiring and educating the boat men that politeness and yacht security is key to repeat business. And it seems to have worked for there are at least 20-30 visiting yachts anchored and moored here.
As we come into the bay it looks like it doesn’t have swell. But as soon as we are tied to the buoy we realize there is swell and we are rolling around. Oh no …. not another rolly night. Oana cooks the tuna steaks and they are truly delicious. So fresh and meaty. Nice to have a healthy lunch for once, unlike the last few days.
After dinner Glen digs out the stern anchor, determined to get Cloudy Bay stern-to the swell rather than side-on. We haven’t used this technique since Greece, so the anchor, chain and line take some digging out of the aft locker. Glen takes the anchor up-swell in the dinghy while Oana pays out the line. First attempt the anchor does not hold. So we do the same over again. This time it seems to grab hard and we are finally rolling a bit less. Certainly tolerable.
We stay on board for the evening. We don’t like to go ashore in the dark for the first time, anywhere. And anyway, there are several rain showers coming over us. So it’s a quiet evening with a lovely cooling breeze.