Dominica

Friday 13 April: Alarm wakes us at 7:30, planned as such so we can get ashore to do a few things before we return the hire car at 10am. But it’s raining. Not the normal shower then blue sky. This morning it’s really raining, the gaps between the heavy showers just a few minutes. Eventually we see a gap and grab the opportunity to get ashore and into the car.
First stop to pick up the laundry, but even after 24 hours it’s not done! The lady vows to finish it by 10:30.
So we set off to see Fort Shirley which overlooks Prince Rupert Bay from the north, perfectly placed on flat but raised ground between East And West Cabrits, 2 volcanic peaks, with clear cannon view and range across the bay. Where we park the car there is a cruise-ship jetty, but it’s all destroyed by Maria.
A short walk and we enter the fort. It’s been beautifully restored, sponsored by EU funds. Up until 1987 is was just some walls hidden in the jungle after it has been abandoned in 1854, when France was no longer a threat to this British island. 17 of the 34 large cannons which defended the bay were found at the site and restored. All in great condition. And the munitions store still had many cannon balls and arming equipment.
There are lots of informative plaques around the site. The fort never saw action but it did witness one of the biggest French-English sea battles off The Saints just to the north. And it did deter the French invading the island, at one point.
Definitely this is the best fort we have seen in the Caribbean yet, allowing you to really feel what it would have been like for the 600 soldiers based there. Infact, considering the state of the rest of Dominica, it’s likely these buildings are in better condition than any other on the island, being totally unscathed by Maria.
There are other trails around less restored parts of the Cabrit National Park, but we don’t have time to walk them. And in any case, the rains don’t favor trail walking this morning. So it’s back into Portsmouth, return the hire car, pick up the laundry, buy bread and vegetables then back to Cloudy Bay.
There is a newish HR43 moored right next to us and we would have gone over to see them, but the absense of their dinghy means they are ashore, and we want to get going.
Today we leave the beautiful island of Dominica and head 20 miles north to The Saints, which is part of French Guadeloupe. At 1pm we set off. The wind is forecast easterly 20 knots so we conservatively have a deep reef main and a few rolls on the genoa.
At first we barely make 5 knots out of the bay, but when the offshore gusts hit we are a little over powered. And as soon as we clear Dominica, the wind is a steady 18 knots gusting 24. Then we are steaming along at 9 knots, occasionally hitting 10.5, on a beam reach. Quite a ride, except for the huge Atlantic swell that is up to 2.5 meters and is rolling us with each wave that passes. But at this speed it takes us just two hours in the rougher seas before we nip through the narrow Passé des Dames and enter The Saints calmer waters.
After the lush green of Dominica, The Saints are clearly more starved of rain and resemble more of a Greek island than tropical.
As we get behind Terre-de-Haut, the wind comes on the bow and we furl away the sails. It’s just a short motor up to the main little village of Bourg des Saints where we pick up a mooring buoy for 15 euros a night. Nice that they are not charging French Mediterranean prices! …. yet.
Ashore, it all looks very clean and organized. This is like a holiday island for those working on the main island of Guadeloupe, so there are constantly ferries coming and going bringing day trippers.
There are also children on Hobie cats sailing between the moored boats with an instructor on a RIB screaming instructions at them. Glen says it reminds him of his children in a French sailing school near Paris where all the instructors seem to do is shout incomprehensible instructions to the kids! Yes, we are in France for sure!
Ashore we do the check into France. All very efficiently done on a computer. No multiple hand written forms with carbon paper copies like we had to do in all the other islands.
The main street has multiple small shops, boutiques, creperies, restaurants and ice cream shops. OMG, ice cream. And it’s delicious, maybe even better than Italian, or maybe it’s just our absence from good quality ice cream for so long now.
When we spot a Carrefour Express we just know that life is going to be good for a while … French bread, cheese, croissants, pan chocolate …mmmmm.
We walk a little way out of the village and everyone is friendly. Most look European or mixted race. And they have wonderfully cute colourful cottages. We are going to enjoy snapping some photos tomorrow when it’s light.
After a quick cocktail at a bar, that was not so good, we head back to Cloudy Bay in the dark. We had been sad to leave Dominica, but now that we are in European civilization once again, we quickly forget this morning’s sentiments.
In the evening we write the blog and just chill. The exciting moment of the evening: Glen is writing the blog when he hears blood curdling screams from the shower. First thought is the shower has scolded Oana as he runs as fast as possible to see what’s happening. In the shower, Oana is wacking the floor with the show head! A huge cockroach seems to have flown in, to have a shower with her!!
Once the undesired guest is flushed down the toilet as fish food, we are a bit worried that a cockroach could actually fly this far from the land. One of our biggest fears on the boat is a cockroach infestation. Well, a rat or mice infestation would be worse, but cockroaches are getting up to that level.
Let’s hope we don’t sleep with nightmares tonight.