Aleria Update 10

Greetings from luscious Dominica @ 15°34’N 61°27’W Dominica is the island paradise in the Caribbean. It has 365 rivers, 8 volcanoes, and only 70,000 people.  It is one of the largest islands yet the least built up. There is no international airport...yet!  We had heard that is the only truly unspoiled island in the Caribbean, the only island Columbus would recognize if he arrived back today. We desperately wanted to visit. Yet, we had also heard there may be problems with security, so we approached cautiously given previous experience on other islands.  We arrived in Roseau, the capital to check in and spend the night as it was a long sail from Martinique. Unfortunately, it is not a good anchorage and we spent a rolly night trying not to fall out of bed. Perhaps the worst thing about Roseau, and so many of these island towns, is that they are so utterly dependent on the cruise ship industry. Roseau, for example, has a massive waterfront development that caters to as many as three or more cruise ships that disgorge thousands of tourists daily. This area is cordoned off from the town, and locals who are not licensed vendors in the village are not permitted in.  Unfortunately, that sets up a mindset among the local people to take the tourists for whatever they can once they leave the confines. It makes for an unpleasant atmosphere as you are constantly being approached by people trying to sell you something or to sell their services as a guide. As the city itself was not terribly impressive, we headed north to Portsmouth as soon as we could the next day. Prince Rupert Bay at Portsmouth is slightly better sheltered than the harbour at Roseau, and it accommodates scores of yachts. Portsmouth also has a cruise ship dock, but it can only accommodate small ships that carry a couple of hundred passengers who are usually eco-tourists.  The local economy has been developed instead to support the cruising community and promote ecotourism among the anchored cruisers and land based tourists. They’ve done a fabulous job. Whereas in other harbours throughout the Caribbean, the boat boys can be intimidating, here they have banded together to form an organization that teaches them how to interact with other cultures and provides a 24-hour security net in the harbour. They are all licensed to conduct river tours, land tours, and marine sanctuary snorkeling trips. Once a week on Sunday evenings, they sponsor a cruisers’ party to raise money for the security boat.  It’s a win-win. The food is tasty, the music is good, the cruisers get to meet each other and all the local guides, and the harbour is secure.  So with these questions answered, we can now tell you about the fabulous two weeks we have spent on lovely Dominica.  Portsmouth stretches along the shore of Prince Rupert Bay. There is one road that goes all the way around the island, and when it gets to Portsmouth it becomes its main street. There are two other streets behind it. The people live very simply, mostly in one room cottages. Many have a specialty of something they sell from their homes to make a living. Some sell vegetables from their gardens, some make juices from the local fruits, one lady bakes bread and another pastries. When men sound their conch shells, it means they’ve just arrived off the water with fresh fish. There is no real supermarket. There are a few small shops. You cannot buy fresh meat...except once a week at the market. And, oh lord, is there a market. On Saturday mornings at 5:30 am, the farmers, gardeners, fishmongers, butchers, cane plantation keepers, coconut vendors, bread bakers, and others descend on Portsmouth to sell their goods. Everything is fresh having been picked, caught or baked hours before. The main street closes, the market opens, and scores of additional stalls line the main thoroughfare through town.  Everyone descends on the town early, including some of the 13,000 medical school students at Ross University Medical School down the road. If you don’t get there by 7 am, you won’t find much of a selection remaining. The best is the fruit. OMG, mangoes are just coming in and grapefruit just going out. So sweet and juicy. Bananas of a dozen varieties. Oranges, starfruit, passion fruit, green apples, limes. Nothing, nothing, nothing we have ever had tastes as good as the fruit here. And so the juices are addictive and for the first time reasonably priced. Laura on the way back to the harbor makes different juices daily and sells them by the side of the road, just where you get hot and thirsty from walking out of town. She is really delightful.  Everything in the market is sold by the pound. You cannot buy one tomato. They just keep adding to the scale until it gets to one, or two, or three pounds.  You cannot order meat by a particular cut. You order a pound, and the butcher lops a chunk off the end of whatever he has up on the table with a machete. He adds pieces of whatever to it until it adds up to the pound. You cook according to what you get.  Today, we managed some beef, some pork, and beautiful blue marlin steaks. I just managed to stop the fisherman from chunking them…with a machete of course. (Everyone carries a machete, it’s a very useful tool.) When we got back to the boat with our stash, two fishermen brought over a perky 3+ lb spiny lobster. So we bought that, too. Last week, all we could find was sushi grade black fin tuna.  What a day we had. We were at the market by 7 am, had organized a 2.5 hour snorkeling trip to the marine sanctuary aboard Providence with Martin and our friends Andy & Sue, cooked up the lobster for lunch, and collapsed in a stupor.  Then we wrote and read all afternoon. Our best day yet perhaps.  We’ve had a little of everything here so far. It even rained one day. It’s been so long we forgot to close the ports and hatches! The day we arrived, we ran into Leslie & Dick, members of Larchmont Yacht Club, aboard Aragorn who invited us for cocktails. The next day, we walked up to the fort with them and hiked up to the top of West Cabrits for a little exercise.  We explored the town, got the lay of the land and made arrangements with Martin to take a tour of the Indian River.  The next day, our Irish friends Clive & Alice, captain and crew of Lolita out of Newport RI, came into the harbour under sail trying to pick up a mooring. Their engine died and they couldn’t get it going. Martin was there to help them but his wooden boat was not up to the task, so Alex got in our dinghy and did a side by side tow of this Swan 56 with our 5 hp engine to get them over to a mooring.  It worked!  They joined us for the Indian River tour.  It is a totally unspoiled river that has been a trade route since Columbus first landed here. Only rowboats are permitted (thanks to a local initiative), and Martin talked us through the myriad of birds, giant crabs, centuries-old trees with buttressed roots, and tropical flora.  It was beautiful. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ was filmed here in part.  The next day, Andy & Sue aboard Spruce pulled in.  We invited Spruce and Lolita over for sundowners that evening and stayed up late into the night chatting about everything under the sun (or moon). Alex helped Clive sort out Lolita’s engine problem in the morning, and they were off heading north to Antigua that night.  That was the day that Volvo Ocean Race announced that the next VOR will be finishing in Galway, so we had plenty to celebrate as we immediately signed ourselves up for VOR duty in 2012.  We rented a car a couple of days later so we could see more of this beautiful island. Meanwhile, Philip & Linda on Festina Lente had pulled into the harbour and dropped anchor, so they joined us on our day exploring the northern half of Dominica. We hiked down to and swam in pools fed by mountains springs, visited the last remaining settlements of the Carib Indians, beach combed along black sand beaches, ate Dominican delicacies like chicken pilau and drank fresh local fruit juices, walked through rainforest and swam in an emerald pool fed by a beautiful waterfall.  We did not spot the endangered Sisserou parrot, which appears on the Dominica flag, but we saw scores of hummingbirds of every variety. Very sweet.  We met wonderful people along the way. The Dominicans have a natural curiosity about visitors. At first we were taken aback when strangers walked up to us and started asking us questions about who we were and how we had come here. But we soon learned that they simply wanted to pass the time of day and enjoyed meeting someone from lands far away.  But it wasn’t all fun and fruit juices. There is still a long list of projects which keeps growing longer.  The generator suddenly decided to develop an intermittent cut out problem. Without a generator we don’t have refrigeration. Big problem. So here was Alex under the floorboards for two days while I kept myself occupied above deck sewing, sanding, etc and below the waterline scrubbing Aleria’s bottom.  Onyx kept a watchful eye and complained bitterly when the noise level became unbearable.   We’ve had strange weather as the winds have been south-westerly, and with that the swell, the heat and the humidity all soared. We have been anchored bow and stern into the swell and quite comfortable but a few days ago, several boats (all with CQR anchors) dragged and had to be rescued. Interestingly, as the temperature increased, so did the growth on Aleria’s bottom so we now have several days of scrubbing to do.  In fact, just sitting on deck and watching the goings on in the harbour took a lot out of us. There are many boats coming and going every day. People trying to anchor unsuccessfully on a rock strewn hard sand bottom. Boats anchoring too close to others and swinging perilously close when the wind dies down. Boat boys going from yacht to yacht arranging tours, providing water taxi services, picking up garbage. A fruit vendor delivering to the anchorage daily. It can be exhausting just keeping up with the activities.  One day, we decided a snorkeling trip was in order as Dominica is said to be rated third in the world for diving. It was indeed the best snorkeling we’ve had since reaching the Caribbean. There was more diversity in the coral here than anywhere else so far.  Fabulous colours – bright pinks, yellows, oranges, blues, purples, greens –  and shapes – brains, fans, stag horns, elk horns, fingers.  There were loads of sponges and urchins. Lots of fish in huge schools of different sizes, shapes, and colors.  Large puffers and groupers.  A flatfish that completely blended into the sand, then changed color with a bright purple outline when Alex disturbed it. A black and white fish with polka dots and stripes and very fluffy ethereal fins. It was beautiful.  Alex has finally gotten our Airline surface dive compressor working so we’ll be able to see more (and clean Aleria’s bottom). Dominica, too, has experienced drought, yet because of its lush tropical forests and rivers, they have not had any shortages. In fact, both St Lucia and Grenada have approached Dominica about buying water. The southern half of the island is all rainforest preserve and a UNESCO World Heritage site. We are planning to visit there Monday with the Sprucettes by car. We want to explore the sulphur springs, (which on this island come in both hot and cold varieties), the volcanoes, and the rainforest waterfalls and pools. We won’t be able to hike to the boiling lake as we have been advised that it is a very arduous 3-hour hike in each direction that is best suited for the young. Young at heart doesn’t cut it. Oh well.  After that, we will fill our tanks with fuel ($8 EC/imperial gallon) and water ($15 EC for up to 500 gallons) and say a tearful farewell to Dominica.  Two weeks was hardly enough. We will head up to Les Saintes and Marie Galante, part of Guadeloupe, next.  We are now more than half way through the Caribbean so in a way we are on our way back home.  Somehow that doesn’t feel too bad, although Dominica restored our faith in paradise.  While we still have a wifi connection... Farewell from lovely Dominica,Daria & Alex & Onyx