les Saintes to Dominica, January 2009

Lavers blog, 3rd 2008-2009 entry

January 10, 2009, Portsmouth

Carib family at the basket shop

"Ladies house" at the Carib village

Basket weavers at the Carib village

After a rainy and windy night the alarm goes off at 0550, and Elisabeth is off to Market. She returns in an hour or so with an enormous bag of fruits and vegetables. She says that the mooring line broke on one of the neighboring boats in the high winds last night. The crew woke up as their boat scrapes against another one anchored downwind from them. Damage was minor and could have been much worse. We take it as a reminder to be extra careful in attaching the boat to the sea bottom – double bridles, perhaps a security line direct to the mooring ball, anchor watch on the GPS, etc. Martin picks us up at 0900 and, after a brief, frantic search for Elisabeth’s camera that had managed to wedge itself behind a bunk cushion, we are off to explore new parts of the island. Dylan takes us up and down bumpy roads that seem totally impassable to all kinds of interesting placesw. Highlights include the Carib cultural village on the Carib Reserve on the Atlantic coast, where we learn about the history, life style and traditions of Dominica’s native people; and lunch with a spectacular view at bruce Castle. At the restaurant there are about 50 local flavored rums, including one called “Obama Special”. Our president elect is extraordinarily popular throughout the Caribbean. We return to the boat after dark. We show pictures from the blog to Martin and Dylan, who ae leased to see themselves on the web. A light sandwich for dinner, then early off to visit the sandman.

January 11, 2009, Portsmouth

Portsmouth Harbor from Fort Shirley

Maestro calls us during breakfast on the VHF, and we agree to walk up together to the rebuilt Fort Shirley on West Cabrits. We pick Sam and Wendy up in the dinghy and tie up at the rickety dock at Big Papa’s restaurant. It is one of the few docks that survived Hurricane Omar, and that just barely. We walk around the bay, pay our modest admission, and explore the old fort. We then walk up a long trail through the woods to the top of West Cabrits, where a lone cannon stands watch over the northern entrance to Prince Rupert Bay. We return o the fort where we order a beer in the cool, spacious “tavern” there. A polite inquiry to the waitress if the owner is her father brings an unexpected response – “no, he is my boy friend.” We walk back to Big Papa’s and enjoy a quite good lunch of fresh tuna and the traditional local vegetables. We drop Sam and Wendy off at Maestro, and manage to get back to Singoalla almost before a major rain squall. We put a little vinegar in a bucket of water and Larry goes around Singoalla in the dinghy, wiping down the boat. It is amazing how well this simple solution cleans off the salt stains. For dinner we have left over tuna that we had grilled in Guadeloupe, making this a really big fish day. We watch Pirates of the Caribbean – Part 2 – on the laptop since most of it was filmed here in Dominica. We think it is a perfectly awful movie, but we enjoy picking out places on the island that we can recognize.

January 12, 2009, Portsmouth

Maestro leaves Portsmouth for Roseau

Elisabeth's favorite church in Portsmouth

Maestro and our playmates depart for Roseau this morning. We can’t hear Chris Parker’s weather forecast, but decide to stay one more night and go to Roseau tomorrow. On the way into town our dinghy motor begins to cough then dies completely. We row back to Singoalla and call Martin to find an engine mechanic. He recommends Igna, whom we remember from last spring. Martin describes him as a man with only one hand whom no one, including himself, considers to be handicapped. Igna promises to come around 4:00, and Martin takes us into town for a minor round of shopping. We hurry back to be on the boat when Igna comes, but in vain. We contact Martin on the VHF, who says that Igna couldn’t make it, but will come tomorrow morning. Elisabeth prepares an eggplant and tomato gratinee dish for dinner. It is delicious. She goes to bed about 8:30, but Larry has gotten into Stieg Larson and reads for a few hours before turning out the lights.