Our Position is 15:52.06N 61:35.18W

4 February 2011

We had a less rolly night and the nets protected us from the savaging of insects so we were able to undertake some engine maintenance the next morning before departing for the sail to Portsmouth in Prince Rupert Bay in the North of Dominica. We were met by Martin from Providence as we entered the bay and, in spite of the fact (found out later) that there were 15 boat boys trying to make a living out of this anchorage, we were spared the fighting over our potential as a revenue stream and anchored peacefully.  We were impressed by three intrepid ladies and a cool box in a small rubber boat and purchased some delicious passion fruit juice and indicated to Martin we would like to take an Indian River trip the following day.

Indian River was beautiful and we were lucky enough to have the boat to ourselves (not so lucky for Martin from the point of view of income but at least less weight for him to row) and he pointed out many birds and interesting trees and plants to us. We were there around midday so the light was good for pictures and there weren’t too many people even though there was a Thompson cruise ship in the bay. After the river trip we arranged for him to take us to some good snorkelling sites in the South of the bay in the afternoon. The corals and underwater topography were amazing and Ted was able to make further use of the camera housing.

After washing off the salt we went ashore to Big Papa’s to use the internet but unfortunately it didn’t seemed to be working so we stayed for the barbecue and reggae music instead, and enjoyed the company of a big group of Australians, some of whom we had met in Martinique.

The next day we were up and off (not quite as early as we had hoped) for the sail to Les Saintes.  These are a set of islands just South of and part of Gudeloupe. We had a good reach across Prince Rupert Bay but the wind irritatingly fell away briefly after the headland, but we were soon off again making 6.5 to 7 knots on a close fetch with biggish waves making for quite a bouncy passage. I had hoped we could sail through a narrow passage between two small islands but disappointingly the wind and current would not allow this so we ended up using the main approach like everyone else. The anchorage at Bourg de Saintes was very crowded. We thought we had found a good spot but an aggressive Frenchwoman came and shouted at us that it was dangerous as the wind was going to come round and so we went away and down towards the fishing harbour, where the water was deeper and the waves more rolly, and put out most (50m) of our anchor chain.

Going ashore to clear in we met up with some of the Australians in the Mairie, which is where the customs computer was sited, and after clearing in went in search of a supermarche. Unfortunately the one identified in the pilot guide as excellent had turned into a hardware shop, but this proved to be a source of Camping Gaz so all was not lost, and while Ted went back for our empty cylinder I went in search of an alternative food store, which turned out to be anything but excellent.

The following day we had an excellent lunch in The Triangle restaurant which is right on the beach. While eating we were able to watch the pelicans fishing for their lunch. Higher up there were frigate birds circling as well. The Australians were full of gloom about strong winds coming – they said 35 knots – so we went to the internet cafe to get some forecasts of our own. The forecasts did indeed indicate stronger winds the following week but with a bit of a window on Tuesday so we decided to cut short our stay in the Saintes and head for Guadeloupe with the intention of sailing to Antigua on Tuesday. It rained heavily on the way back to the boat, but fortunately not for long.

Portsmouth Harbour Dominica                                                Sunset from Big Papa's Restaurant

Indian River

A botany lesson from Martin                                                Martin's palm leaf bird

Corals                                                                             This sea snake did not like being photographed

The fish were plentiful but hard to photograph

Anchorage in the Saints                                                      Pelican on the shore from Triangle Restaurant