Dominica and Martinique
Trip Start
Oct 15, 2005
1
8
10
Trip End
Aug 15, 2006
Fort de France,
Martinique
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Hello all. Greetings from St. Anne in Martinique where we are in a magnificent large anchorage along with several American boats we have met in the last two months. Sorry we haven't written sooner ... we've just been having too much fun! Our trip back to the States in March was wonderful. We got to meet our darling granddaughter Ayla and to see Bob, Denise and Uncle Bill who flew in to meet his niece and see all of us. Joann couldn't come as she was too far into her pregnancy. Speaking of whom, as I write Joann is in labor and we are anxiously awaiting the exciting news...we will give you that before we post this blog.
We returned to Antigua accompanied by Karen, Mike and Jillian Gallagher on March 20th. Their short five day visit was an exciting and delightful one. It was a special treat to see our cruising life through the eyes of a third grader
11 mile beach on Barbuda
! What a fish and what a charmer! It was almost impossible to keep her out of the water. She loved steering Free Spirit and using "Otto" (our autohelm), sitting up on the trampolines and of course loved the dinghy. We revisited English Harbour (where Free Spirit was docked during our trip home), Shirley Heights, Mamora Bay and the St. James Club, Green Island in Nonsuch Bay, the fabulous Harmony Hall restaurant, and then sailed back to Pigeon Beach anchorage in Falmouth Harbour. Jillian surprised us all her first day when we asked her if she was having a good time and she said "no". Surprise turned to delight when she hesitated and then said "I'm having a fabulous time". Each day she changed the adjective to a different superlative. What a treat for us to share her excitement and enthusiasm. Though Karen is an IKON workaholic, she cannot believe Al will actually give up this life and return to work in October. She kept telling him he would be crazy to come back. It was sad to see the Gallaghers leave on the 24th.There was more of Antigua we wanted to see so we headed back up the east coast and enjoyed Carlisle Bay and Five Island Bay as well as revisits to Jolly Harbour for provisioning and to overnight in Deep Bay. This trip we continued up to the north coast of Antigua though Boon Channel to Long Island for several fabulous days anchored off Rosewood's Jumby Bay resort
Chaudier Pool
. We swam, walked the beach and dinghied to spectacular Shell Beach on Maiden Island where I was able to collect many unusual shells for some planned grandchild projects. We maneuvered FS through the numerous reefs to an outstanding snorkeling sight near Great Bird Island. We really hated to leave but we knew our part had finally arrived to repair our ProFurl forestay and we needed to get back to Falmouth Harbour to have it installed. On our journey down the coast the conditions were perfect for a lunch anchorage at Cade's Reef where we also enjoyed excellent snorkeling. With our refitted genoa and topped up water and fuel we were ready for the long sail to Barbuda. We decided to take the windward (east) coast route so we could stop at a different Green Island anchorage along the way. This time we chose to anchor in small Rickett Harbour where the snorkeling was good and the beach was deserted. Our sail north to Barbuda the next day was spectacular. The seas were moderate, the wind was steady from the east and we flew to Spanish Point. When we first anchored there was one other yacht with us at Spanish Point reef. They soon left and we moved even closer to the reef. It was incredible to be the only yacht in this spectacular anchorage with some of the best snorkeling we have ever enjoyed. With absolutely no ambient light the sky was amazing. I could have stayed there for a week but we had other anchorages on Barbuda to explore
Dominica local liquor store
. Al called George Jeffrey and arranged a frigatebird rookery visit for two days hence so the next morning we needed to move over to Low Bay north of Palmetto Point. We rounded Cocoa Point and passed the famous KClub that used to be the hangout of the People Magazine crowd. Then we rounded Palmetto Point and sailed up the eleven mile (yes, 11 mile) beautiful pink coral beach to our anchorage at Low Bay. We walked the beach and swam that afternoon. We were to meet George across the beach on the Codrington Lagoon side first thing in the morning. Beaching a dinghy in this area was a challenge because the water is deep right to the shore and the beach is very steep. You have to get your dinghy high up to secure it for a whole day. We decided that the best idea was to remove the engine from our relatively heavy Caribe 10 foot handbottomed dinghy and row to shore. Poor Al...both the wind and the current fought him and he had quite a time, especially since our dinghy sported two oars that were not original Caribe equipment (thanks to charter replacements along the way). Anyway, we managed to get to shore and to pull the dinghy high up on the beach and secure it to a stake. All of this was well worth the next two hours of our day. George's tour of the frigatebird rookery was amazing! This is the largest of these rookeries in the Atlantic (there is another large one in the Galapogos Islands)
Drying wings
. Frigatebirds are very interesting. The males expand their large red pouches during late summer mating season to attract the females. They lay one egg per couple on flat nests. The chicks are while when they are born and then color as they grow depending on their sex. We were there in April when the chicks were quite large and beginning to mature. George told us that most would be mature enough to fly by the end of May. We never imagined that we would be able to get so close to the nests without spooking the birds. George motored us deep into the mangroves to the edge of the rookery and then turned off the motor and poled us further in. Amazing and a trip no one should miss if you are in Antigua between August and May! We would highly recommend contacting George at "Garden of Eden" on VHF 16. He is a Codrington native and extremely knowledgeable and helpful. We asked George to take us to Codrington following the rookery. We arranged to meet him for lunch at the Palm Tree Restaurant and we walked the town. While we loved George's company, there was less to see than we had hoped and our lobster lunch was a disappointment. We would recommend just doing the rookery tour and returning to the boat for lunch and enjoying the beach.The next day we moved back down the coast to the lovely beach between the KClub and Coco Point Lodge. The KClub was closed down but we never knew if it was passed their season of if they had closed down for good
East coast of Dominica
. This long, fine white sand beach was delightful and there was pretty good snorkeling right off the boat. The following morning we had another spectacular sail from Barbuda down the east coast of Antigua to Jolly Harbour. We had finally seen all the things we had planned on Antigua so we did laundry, topped up provisions, water and fuel and planned our trip to Guadeloupe. We checked out at Jolly Harbour and the next morning we returned to Falmouth Harbour to collect some spare parts we had ordered, caught up with our families on Skype and then we were ready to head south.The wind was fluky on our trip from Antigua to Guadeloupe so we did a combination of slow sailing and motor sailing. We arrived in Deshaies later than we had planned and were amazed to find the anchorage overrun with yachts. We had difficulty finding a spot in this deep and notoriously swirly anchorage that would allow us appropriate swing room. Once we did we set our anchor twice only to find ourselves dragging when the wind made abrupt changes. Our choice was to anchor in very deep water or leave. After considerable discussion we decided to head down the coast to an alternate anchorage. Of course by now it was dark. Free Spirit's chartplotter and instruments make night sailing a relative breeze but fish trap floats can be a problem day or night. Too many fishermen use clear soda bottles to mark their traps and these are a bear to see in any chop
Frigate bird chick
. We decided to move off shore into water hopefully too deep for traps and worked our way south to the Jacques Cousteau National Park. We hoped to be able to pick up a mooring off Pigeon Island for the night and to snorkel first thing in the morning. When we reached Pigeon Island the seas were quite rough and we were uncomfortable getting close enough for a mooring in the dark so we motored east into an anchorage off Pte Malendure and dropped a hook. Although it was a little rough (monohulls were rocking and rolling there) we were comfortable on FS. In the morning the seas were still a little choppy. We tried to find a mooring off Pigeon Island that was far enough from the rocks to make us comfortable with leaving FS to snorkel. Everywhere we tried it felt too close or a dive boat was moored. We had snorkeled the Cousteau park years ago in similar conditions and decided that between the crowd and the chop we would forego this treat. The wind had shifted from the SE so our sail down the Guadeloupe coast was a close haul with waves on our nose. We had a lovely lunch stop in tiny Anse a la Barque. The anchorage is deep and narrow but it was a great spot for lunch and a swim. We still needed to check in but having "missed" Deshaies, our next choice was Basse-Terre or go all the way to Pointe a Pitre. The visitors dock in Basse-Terre harbour is a stern-to setup which is a hassle for a short stop, especially in FS with her low and long sugar scoop stern
Frigate bird chicks
. The anchorage outside the harbor was very rough so we opted to round Pointe du Vieux Fort and sail north to Pointe a Pitre. If you look at a map you will see that Guadeloupe is shaped like a butterfly and the capital is in the middle. It was a long haul all the way to the capital but the harbor is well marked and we able to enter the anchorage off Ilet a Cochons at 8 PM and find a suitable spot. We did kiss the mud bottom as we explored the depths before dropping and that moment of being stuck was a bit alarming. We easily backed off and settled in for the night. The next morning we moved FS across the huge harbor and dinghied into Port de Plaisance, Marina Bas-du-Fort to check in and hopefully find someone to cut my hair which was far too long for me. It was Good Friday and almost all the shops and most of the restaurants in the large marina complex were closed. We were thankful that customs was open. The French islands are very relaxed about check-in and check-out so no questions were asked about why it took us two days before we checked in. Finally official and having dumped trash, we decided to dinghy into Pointe a Pitre to visit the produce market. I had carefully checked Doyle's instructions regarding where to leave one's dinghy and off we went. Pointe a Pitre is a very poor city and when we arrived, the Yacht Club where we were to leave the dinghy was in ruins and its concrete dock crumbling, the water was full of debris and we could not find another spot where one could lock a dinghy
Frigate bird chicks 2
. We circled the area several times and gave up. We could have returned to Marina Bas-du-Fort and walked into the city but the poverty and dirt evident even from the dinghy was a turnoff. We could see that little was open on Good Friday so we decided to skip the city and move to Islet du Gosier which we had enjoyed on our last visit. Our stay was short lived as it started to rain and since the sky was clear over the Isles des Saintes we headed south. On our last trip to Guadeloupe we had explored by car and had seen most of the highlights. We had also visited the island of Marie Galante and the Saintes but we wanted to revisit the Saintes. Since it was a holiday weekend there were many locals as well as charterers and cruisers anchored in the popular Saintes. Unlike our last visit, the water was calm off Terre d'en Haut so we chose to anchor with a handful of other yachts between Tete Rouge and Pain a Sucre since the main anchorage was chock a block. Not only was this a lovely anchorage, we met some nice folks from Dallas who lived aboard their Manta 42 cat, Doc No More (yes, Roger is a retired urologist). Bourg des Saintes is a charming village and we enjoyed excellent dinners at both Sole Mio and Le Genois. It was wonderful to get great bread and croissants again but even here they could not compete with Marigot on French St. Martin! We spent a relaxing Easter weekend exploring and swimming. We met friends of Roger and Elaine who were on their way back to Florida with their brand new Dolphin 46 cat (Route 66) that had been built in Brazil
Frigate bird chicks 4
. Sue and Russ provided us all with lots of tips on internet WiFi spots, markets, anchorages and guides from Dominica to Trinidad. On Easter Monday, with flat seas and no wind, we motored the 16 miles to Dominica and anchored off the Purple Turtle in Prince Rupert Bay, Portsmouth. Doc No More spent another day with Route 66 so we were the "advance team". We contacted Martin Carriere, boat Providence, a premier local guide and arranged several outings for the four of us. Martin and his partner Jeff couldn't have been more charming or helpful. The price of tours in Dominica is pre-set and they are not cheap but we all agreed that they were worth every penny. Martin also took our trash and told us where to find great local produce. That first night was interesting. Easter Monday is a big party holiday on Dominica and the local bands played all along the shore until after 3 AM and they were loud. At least the music was better than the "noise" that drove us nuts on Anguilla. In fact some of it was excellent. We awoke a little sleep-deprived but eager to get to customs, sign in and explore the town of Portsmouth.
There is little of charm in Portsmouth except the very friendly Dominican people. Our greetings were returned with warm smiles and hearty welcomes
Frigate birds
. All over this island we encountered charming folks. Even those "begging" were charming and wanted to offer us something in return for money. One gent had beautiful polished shells which he offered for too much money but with such panache that we could not resist. Another fellow explained to Al that he needed 10 EC (less than $3) to pay his utilities but only if we would let him give us mangoes. Al agreed and he disappeared for about 10 minutes returning with 7 large mature, but not yet ripe, mangoes. The people here are clearly poor but they are delightful. They are a young nation (only independent since 1978 and a member of the British Commonwealth). I should note that Dominican produce was out of this world! The vine ripened tomatoes may be the best I have ever eaten (including my own home grown!). The carrots, peppers, lettuce, plantain, yams, parsley, mangoes, limes and grapefruit were incredible. But the very best are the Dominican bananas. Out of this world!!! I wanted to stay on Dominica forever just to eat their produce. Meat was unnecessary. Our meals were happily vegetarian here and I only wished I could keep the produce fresh for the rest of our sailing adventure.
Our first tour with Martin was a hike through the Syndicate Rainforest to Milton falls
Frigate birds in the mangroves
. This hike through private land gave Martin the opportunity to explain local agriculture and for us to see bananas, plantains, pineapples and sugar cane being cultivated on both flat and very steep terrain. Birds were plentiful and we forded the river below the falls at least three times on our trek. Milton Falls plunge about 80 feet into a pool where one can no longer swim as it is a water source for Portsmouth. We saw parrots (Dominica's national bird is the Sisserou Parrot) flying above us but unfortunately we never saw one sitting on a tree. It was interesting to see the bananas stems (huge stalks of hands of bananas) covered with blue plastic bags to prevent the banana leaves from scarring the fruit as the rustled in the wind. We met several of the workers who were irrigating and weeding their land. Martin noted that the soil on Dominica is so rich that if you drop a seed it will grow. We believe that after our adventures here! It is such a lush and beautiful island. After a lunch at Paradise Café in Portsmouth where Martin introduced me to Provisions, a side dish of root vegetables (dasheen, yams, sweet potatoes) and green plantain, we went to Martin's boat Providence for a tour of the Indian River. This river may only be toured with a guide and no motors may be used. Martin rowed and poled us up the river explaining all of the flora and fauna we were seeing and pointing our fish and crabs all along the way. Birds sang to us all the way as well. Elaine and Roger decided to give Martin a break on our trip down river and they rowed
Gallaghers at Green Island, Antigua
. While they did, Martin fashioned beautiful birds for Elaine and me out of reeds. That evening we went into the Purple Turtle for dinner only to find that the entire area had a power failure so we returned to our boats and enjoyed our local produce instead.
The next morning Martin picked us up at the boats and took us to shore to meet his partner Jeff who was our guide for the day. Jeff showed us the entire north end of the island, once again explaining everything we saw. We took a mini-hike to an area of sulfurous bubbling water from a volcanic vent on the road from Toucari to Pennville. In some places one just hears the hiss and in other places the water actually bubbles to the surface. We saw dasheen fields growing on amazingly steep inclines. Since all of the farming is done by hand it is especially impressive to see these steep farms. Jeff pointed out the pineapple plantation on which Pirates of the Caribbean II and III were filmed (the original was filmed on St. Vincent). We stopped in Calibishe to place our lunch order at a local restaurant and continued south to the Red Rocks, massive red lava rocks which plunge into the Atlantic. Birds have nested in crevices of these rocks under overhangs. It is a sharp contrast to the rainforests and lush mountain farms we had driven through. After lunch we took the long, steep hike down to the Chaudiere pool where we met a Dominican family on an Easter week outing as the kids were off from school. We all swam together in this wonderful pool at the base of a waterfall. It was so refreshing but the current was pretty strong across the pool from the falls to the stream. By the time we had climbed back up to the van we all wanted another swim!
After snorkeling with Martin on Friday morning, both Free Spirit and Doc No More sailed south to the capital of Roseau
George Jeffries- Garden of Eden our Barbuda guide
. Doc No More picked up the last mooring at the Dive Center and we went over closer to the Anchorage Hotel where we were greeted by Pancho, one of the local boat helpers. We told him we were on our way to the hotel for water. He offered us water for half price from his waterfront home. He had us drop a hook and back up toward the shore where he had a stern line to give us from his wall. He then ran a 50 meter hose out to us and we filled almost 200 gallons for $5 US. That was great and then he offered us a mooring for $10 US. Since anchoring in Roseau is notoriously poor we accepted. Pancho came out to assist in hooking to the mooring but as Al lifted the anchor he suddenly shouted for me to stop the boat. Our anchor was wrapped around a huge metal I-beam and our windlass was raising it! Pancho, his friend and Al worked for almost 30 minutes to resolve this problem. Pancho wanted the I-beam to use for a future mooring so he and his friend got a 55 gallon plastic drum to tie the I-beam to and Al, using mask and snorkel, went into the water to free our anchor. By the time we settled in on our mooring we were ready for a stiff drink. We met Elaine and Roger for happy hour at the Fort Young Hotel and then had a delicious Creole dinner at a small restaurant in town. The next morning we all went to the huge produce market to replenish our depleted supplies. Everything looked so delicious we ended up over stocking! We returned to our boats, stored our goodies and picked up our rental car. We drove across the island through more rain forest to the Atlantic and the Carib Territory, where descendants of the original Caribs market their beautiful handmade baskets. Elaine bought two lovely, unusually shaped baskets for Doc No More. A little later that afternoon we hiked the trail to the Emerald Pool and were the only people there. It is amazing to swim in a cold waterfall fed pool in the middle of the rainforest on a hot day, especially with no one else there
Indian River 2
! Thank goodness there were no cruise ships in port. By the time we returned to Roseau we were all beat. We agreed to meet the next day in St. Pierre, Martinique.The passage from Dominica to Martinique was a delight. We dropped anchor on the shelf in St. Pierre and went a shore for the easiest and most delightful check-in we have experienced on this journey. In St. Pierre one checks in at l'Esplanade, a bar and internet café on the main street across from one of the two waterfront parks. I completed our paperwork as we drank our first local beer, Lorraine and Al fired up our computer to check our email. Now that's they way it should always be! St. Pierre is a lovely small town at the base of Mt. Pelee. The town was buried in ash and lava in 1902 when Pelee erupted. You can see some of the ruins amidst the reconstruction. Al and I hiked to the Depaz Rhum distillery in the heat of the day, a trek that would be far more agreeable in the early morning or later in the afternoon. We were able to see the entire process by which local Agricultural Rhum is made and of course there were samples. I do not like this type of rum which is rather raw of usually served with a bit of sugar and lime. I much prefer the taste of the dark aged rums (like Pusser's and Mt. Gay). While in St. Pierre we met Jim and Freddy Powell of Cincinnati on Chez Freddy, a Leopard 38 cat.
From St
Indian River, Dominica
. Pierre we sailed down to Anse Mitan, south of the capital of Fort-de-France. Both Anse Mitan and Pointe du Bout are tourist centers with hotels and overpriced restaurants and shops. However the water and beaches are nice and one can take a ferry round trip to the capital for 3 Euros per person. We spent a hot day in the capital, visiting a chandlery for a replacement water pump, a large supermarket and exploring their craft and produce markets. We enjoyed a delightful lunch at Lina's in AC. We had one dinner with Doc No More and then they headed south to rendezvous with some other cruising friends. Al and I stayed in Anse Mitan relaxing. Chez Freddy arrived the next day and convinced us to join them in Grande Anse d'Arlet. After water and fuel fills we headed south. The anchorage in Grande Anse d'Arlet was very choppy but the water was delightful and there were many turtles swimming around the boat. Al and I ate one of the worst meals ever at Bidjoul which Doyle described "The cooking is simple, well-done and nicely presented."....NOT. Though our meat and veggies were running precariously low, we vowed not to eat ashore for a while.When I began writing this on Monday, we were in lovely St. Anne. Now we have moved into Marin so that we can have internet access, do some better chandlery shopping and re-provision. On Monday evening, May first Joann gave birth to a son, Andrew Robert, 7lb 15 oz
Jillian aka Gilligan's new hairdo
. Joann had an emergency C-section but she and Bill assure us she is recovering well and you can see how happy she is in the picture Al has posted. Bill has just accepted a new job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as Senior Manager of Strategic Planning for Miller Brewing Company so that young family is facing a lot of change. They are looking forward to less travel for Bill though they will hate to leave Evanston. They have a number of Kellogg/Northwestern friends in Milwaukee so I'm sure they will enjoy that town too. Al and I are in heaven with our granddaughter, Ayla and grandson, Andrew! We will be flying back to the States from St. Lucia on May 17th with the first stop Evanston, IL (Andrew, Joann and Bill) and the second stop Philadelphia (Ayla, Denise and Bob). We plan to be back on Free Spirit on May 25th.Most of our new cruising friends have to be in Trinidad soon than we do because of their hurricane season insurance requirements so it appears we will have quiet anchorages in the Grenadines. It has been so much fun meeting all of these full-time cruisers and we are all planning to rendezvous in Trinidad.
