Beautiful Portsmouth, Dominica.
Written February, 5 2016
Our hop from St. Pierre, Martinique to Roseau, Dominica may have been our best sail yet: 15-20 knot winds, 1-2 m waves, a beam reach and a current in our favour. We raced along averaging 7 knots! This meant a seven-hour sail was reduced to only five.
For fun, we raced Cape Crusader, as they were heading the same way. Figuring they would be faster, we hurried and raised anchor right after check out in St. Pierre. We left 10 minutes ahead of them and they still beat us — by 10 minutes! Hats off to you, Jaro. But it didn’t matter, we were still super happy with our 7-knot average.
Strider organized a day trip the next day to see Victoria Falls. This involved a big drive inland along winding, washed out stretches of road and over numerous bailey bridges to a Rasta restaurant and river base. From the restaurant, we took a small path through the forest to a place where the river widened and was filled with huge boulders and small rapids.
Criss crossing the river periodically, with the water up to our hips, our guide took us on mostly well chosen routes through the boulders. Moss managed with his hip, clambering over 3 metre rocks in some places, and opting for more welcoming options when they presented themselves.
I did not think of big, poisonous snakes once.*
At the top, the 165 ft falls crashed down upon us, creating so much wind and spitting water it felt like a Canadian blizzard. We swam in the fresh, sulphur rich water for a bit, then hiked out again, to a gorgeous bowl of local Rasta vegetable stew.
As amazing as that whole experience was, the highlight of Dominica this time was actually simply returning to Portsmouth, the main town in the north. We motored up to it on a day with no wind, and it was lovely. The Striders and Cape Crusaders were there, Albert — our guide from last year — was there, and the sun was shining.
The night before we left Portsmouth was memorable. Moss got a good deal on a freshly caught skipjack and a black fin tuna from some local fishermen, and there was a party aboard Cedar. We invited Cape Crusader (Jaro and Vivienne) and the Strider adults (Colin and Blair) over for drinks (which our guests graciously supplied, including Colin’s potent rum punch), and then Strider stayed for dinner, a lovely fish dinner cooked on the BBQ. It was a good send-off for our friends and fellow sailing family.
The next day, we all parted ways. Cape Crusader was staying put, Strider was heading to the Saints, and we were meeting a friend in Point-à-pitre, Guadeloupe. We bid adieu to Strider at sea and watched them slowly disappear over the horizon as they went their way and we went ours.
And then we caught a barracuda!
*I am lying.