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Saturday we went to check in with customs and took our spot in the dingy dock which is given shelter by the wreck of one of the six large vessels wrecked on the shore in one of two hurricanes in the last 10 years and just left to rust there ever since. The dingy dock is actually at the entrance to the Indian river which we have booked a tour of for early Monday morning, as the trip can only be done under electric motor or oar, petrol outboards not being allowed. We eventually found the customs & immigration officer at his house, this being the weekend and the service being conducted on overtime from the young and friendly officers from room which was filled with the crews from four boats. His friends were outside playing basketball in the backyard and as he was dressed from head to toe in American basketball team gear, as was his female assistant that came in the process was done very speedily and efficiently. When asked how long we were staying we replied until Tuesday morning when the forecast is due to improve for our next longer hop north. We were told then that we could check out at the same time as well, we have been given a two week pass now, so can leave at anytime during that period, requiring a visit back only if we wish to stop longer. An excellent system which should be adopted elsewhere, to prevent the needless paperwork and two visits at each island on the chain which for short visits are a real inconvenience and for what real value it is hard to tell.
Wrecks line the shore in Portsmouth
We went along the main street of a time to explore, there being a market that day, however we were not keen to be gone long after Kevin had heard whispering outside the boat last night (which must have been very close considering the volume of the music). He got up and switched on a light and a pair of guys rowed away rapidly from the boat. We also found on the internet that there was an attempted boarding and a robbery from a boat whilst the couple were sleeping last month. We were told by the guide with whom we booked our tour on Friday night, Albert that the local vendors pay for a security service of two guys to operate every night, however we have still not yet seen any signs of then operating. We had a look in some of the small shops and several snack bars but Dominica is certainly one of the poorer islands we have been to and the selection is very limited. Kevin was also sworn at by two youngish teenagers whilst waiting for me outside a shop, obviously trying to provoke a reaction which is more sensible not to give but to honest we were not feeling to welcome by now.
Classic yacht alongside us perhaps in the area for Antigua Classic week soon, under the newly restored Fort Shirley over looking Prince Rupert Bay
We went back to the boat and enjoyed a pleasant afternoon in the sunshine with a bit of reading and a visit from Peter, an retired fireman from Wisbeach who has singlehandedly sailed his 20ft boat across from Portugal via the Canaries and Cape Verdes who popped over to do a book swap. We exchanged a few travelling tales and compared experiences and the dates we’d visited the same ports, he heads back to Portugal via the Azores around May.
Friday morning and another early start, we had another fast and exhilarating sail across the channel to Dominica looming tall and green in the distance. After passing halfway I was at the helm to catch a splash out of the corner of my eye about 5m off the starboard quarter. I saw only the dorsal and tail fin, but the streamline shape and blue colour of both persuaded me it must be a blue marlin from all the pictures I have seen in Kevin’s books and from the one hoisted up at the Grenada Fishing tournament. I called excitedly to Kevin knowing that he was desperate to catch one from the boat and literally seconds later his newly rigged marlin lure was taken and the reel was running off at quite a rate, there was only one thing it could be and Kevin leapt up as fast as I have ever seen him move to pick up the rod. We could see a big splash on the surface, technically referred to as a hole I’m reliably informed, where the marlin dashes up from the deep and snatches at his prey to stun it before going carrying it away. However pretty much as he’d picked it up the line was slack again and the marlin was gone, not to be defeated though Kevin said that if he reeled in it might come back. Kevin was therefore reeling in that lure when we saw the quite unmistakable dorsal fin come in the water behind the lure not 20m off the back of the boat, we were both hooting with excitement now, me from something more like fear as Kevin put it afterwards which such fast and perfected predators it is not always clear who is hunting who. Kevin next released the line off again as he saw the characteristic bill coming toward the lure and sure enough the marlin took the bait and was hooked up again the reel buzzing at high speed as it swam off. The rod was bent right over and Kevin was carefully trying to tire the fish out, whislt I start to try and slow the boat by reducing the jib. However within a couple of minutes it was all over again as the marlin had spat out the lure and disappeared leaving us both shaking and exhilarated. When the lure was brought in it showed one of the hooks, not really bought for this purpose had been bent which presumably aided the marlin’s escape. Kevin has been firmly hooked, if you pardon the pun on game fishing since he caught the big wahoo off Grenada and was fairly buzzing all afternoon after this episode swapping and changing lures to increase the potential of another hit but unfortunately the sailing routes are not usually the optimum ones for game fishing which are usually considerably further offshore.
However, to sooth the disappointment we were greeted by two different shoals of dolphins that day, one in a very concentrated hunting party passing us to leeward up the coast making a steady procession north in convey breaking the surface only occasionally. The second pod were however far more fun and introduced themselves with a very impressive jump out of the water and with such clear water in this area we could see them below the surface as well as on it as they played at the bows before disappearing as fast as they arrived with a couple of very nice leaps as they left just fast enough to avoid a photo of anything other than the splash.
Dolphins playing at the bow
We came in at Roseau the main town of Dominica just after lunch but north finding Papillon here and still not reaching him by VHF we decided to carry on to Portsmouth on the north west coast where he had planned to take a tour of the Indian river. We arrived into Portsmouth after a slow motor in the lee of the island and yet another false alarm on the fishing as the line ran off just on the entrance to Prince Rupert Bay, under the eye of one of the local tour guides come out in his boat to try and sell us a tour. However, as always with the bigger catches, this one got away and we headed in the anchor, we didn’t manage to find Papillon here either but found a good clear space to anchor just off the town. By 7am the following morning we had discovered why there was so much space at this part of the anchorage when the music finally stopped at the Old Skool disco just on the shore here.
Roseau
Today we were able to pick up our camping gas cylinder and check out of customs, I also tried to find us a new kettle for our hob ours now only held on at one side of the handle after a dive off the work surface on the way north. I was not successful in this task but with everything else ready we decided to get an early night so that we could make an early start on Thursday.
We were enjoying breakfast outdoors in the cockpit with a gentle breeze and a gentle sunshine when we heard a gentle ripple and saw hundreds of tiny silver fish jumping out of the water in waves, it went on for a few minutes moving across the surface of the water, all obviously escaping some dreaded predator. We were still enjoying another chapter of Patrick O’Brien (Kevin has also now started the last 10, so no hope of much work from either of us!) when Lawrence headed off on Papillon with a friend to Dominica where he is delivering some older Optimist dingies which have been donated by the St. Lucia Sailing Club to a sailing club there. We had already agreed to follow the next day so we waved them off and carried on with our planning our route north. Unfortunately both Martinique and Guadeloupe are not ideal to visit at present as there has apparently been a general strike in both concerning the price of food which has lead to shortages in both food and fuel, which means longer hops north. Additionally one of our small Camping gas cylinders ran out today and with no likelihood of a refill until Antigua and with strong northerly winds due we decided to refill in St. Lucia although it meant we would be a day late for our meeting with Papillon.
We had agreed to meet Lawrence on Papillon outside in Rodney Bay today but before we could do that we had a whole list of internet jobs to do, not least of which was finally getting the blog up to date with photos going back a month still not posted. Therefore I worked all morning on getting the blog completed and catching up on internet banking etc with the Wifi connection we had managed to get in the Inner Lagoon – these being so precious that you need to use those available.
Our other job whilst we were within such easy reach of the good supermarkets of Rodney Bay was to reorganise and restore our provisions on board. We still have many stocks of dried and tinned goods which we bought in the Canary Islands but which have been picked through and do not necessarily make up meals. Kevin therefore had to dig out all the stored boxes of food buried beneath bunks and seats and try and work out a shopping list, being the cook onboard. Although you might think that the Caribbean may be well provisioned, on the smaller less touristy and therefore poorer islands the supplies are not much better than we found in the Cape Verdes. Therefore, Kevin went off to the supermarket with his list whilst I worked on aboard. We had a final run into Rodney Bay marina together to get a pilot book for the Leeward Islands which we plan to travel to next and to get a crate of beer – the shop here allows you to cash in empty bottles for a discount like pop bottles when you were a kid.
Therefore fully stocked and finally upto date we pulled up the anchor and headed out into the bay to find Papillon, who it seems had just headed in for fuel and water ready to head north the following day. We managed to get Lawrence on the VHF though and took a nice spot to anchor under the shadow of Fort Rodney where we took photos last time we were here. Hot and sticky from a long day in the breezeless inner lagoon we were both soon in the water to check the anchor and go for a swim. As soon as I got into the water a large shoal of silver fish swam beneath me reflecting in the late afternoon sun. After a snorkel round I headed back to the boat as Kevin shouted out that there was a turtle just behind me, I swam out but it was a little murky and I couldn’t find him.
After a hot shower, we had a hail from Lawrence on Ch 16 who was now coming out in the bay anchored up – were we thirsty there was a fresh pack of 24 just chilled at his boat. Well you can’t turn down such an invitation, so we dingied across to Papillon and enjoyed a pleasant evening onboard Lawrence’s beautiful large Eleuthera catamaran (of the same manufacturer as Invincible, but we are the smallest in the range and his is the largest).
We were keen to get to Rodney Bay and get all of provisions and internet jobs done so we can continue north, also to try and find our friend Lawrence on Papillon who we met way back at La Rochelle when we collected our boats the same week.
Breakfast under the Pitons
We had just anchored and been to the supermarket and were unpacking when we saw a dingy going by and both realised it was Lawrence, similarly he was doing a double take at our boat not having been expecting us! So we called him and his friend aboard and had a beer together to catch up on the last few months before they left and we met again for a lovely meal at a restaurant in Rodney Bay village that night. It was great to see Lawrence again and we will maybe get to travel to Dominica together in the next couple of days if all our plans come together. It was great evening even with the surreal local karaoke at the Lime bar to finish off, hearing some fairly dreadful renditions of various karaoke classics such as My Way, so obviously the same old tunes are popular worldwide!
