Leewards Part II: Isle de Saintes and Dominica

5/31/2015 We enjoyed Des Haies, but it was time to move on. We left at 0700 and got to Terre de Haute  in Iles de Saintes at the southern end of Guadeloupe early afternoon. We had a good sail at 6 to 7 knots most of the way. Then the winds died and became variable. We had to use the engine for a while. When we neared Vieux Habitants, athe wind picked up to 26 knots and the seas were choppy and confused. We headed off the rhumb line to the West of Bas de Terre then had to tack to Terre de Haute. We took a mooring at Terre de Haute off the village of Bourg. We toured Ft. Napoleon one day and took the dinghy over to a beach another day. Liz Ann bought a cute pair of sandals at a shop called Mahogany. Unfortunately, the baguettes were not as good as in Des Haies and no almond croissants!!

Village of Bourg in Iles de Saintes

View of the harbor from the hike up to Fort Napoleon

A Flamboyant tree

Fort Napoleon

Agave in the garden atop Fort Napoleon

One of the houses in Bourg, Ile de Saintes

Interesting cliff  of Tete de Sucre

Pretty little church in Bourg

6/3/2015 We left Ile de Saintes with Mythago and Tehani to head to Dominica. Jump stayed behind because Gavin’s brother was flying in to visit them on the boat and they planned to spend some more time in the Saintes and catch up to us later.  We motor-sailed to Portsmouth, (Prince Rupert’s Bay), Dominica in about 5 hours. We took a mooring from the PAYS organization, a local group of people who make their living renting moorings, doing tours and basically working the tourist industry. Our local guy was named Martin (boat name, Providence) who we liked right away. The next day we took a tour with Sherry and Paul from Tehani and Izzy and Jeff from a trawler called Izzy R. Martin brought us to the Chaudiere pool which was a short hike from the trailhead and we got to swim in some really cold water but it was quite refreshing. Then we had lunch at a local place where we got to try dasheen  and breadfruit. Dasheen is the root part of a plant (sort of like a potato) which was good with gravy on it. Otherwise, it was a bit dry and starchy. The top part of the plant is a big leaf that is also used as food, known as callaloo, sort of like a spinach but cannot be eaten raw. The breadfruit grows on trees and is also a starch. It was used as a food for the slaves as far north as the Bahamas and is still used in the Caribbean islands on a daily basis. The breadfruit and dasheen as well as a few other starchy foods are known as “provisions.” After lunch, we went to Red Rocks and then to the Cold Souffriere which is an underground volcano which causes sulfurous water to come bubbling up from the ground.

House in Portsmouth, Dominica decorated with seashells and whalebones

Scenery on our tour with Martin

Dominica is extremely lush and is known as the breadbasket of the Caribbean

On the walk to the Chaudierre Pool

Jeff and Martin sporting their fern "tattoos"

Coconuts sprouting to grow new palms

Flowers along the trail to Chaudiere Pool

Cooling off in Chaudiere Pool

Greg in the foaming water from the little waterfall

A local cutting coconuts for us after the hike

Greg enjoying his coconut water

One of the beautiful vistas

Coastline views

View from the restaurant where we ate lunch

Sherry, Liz Ann and Izzyat the Red Rocks with our leaf umbrellas Martin cut for us

The Red Rock coastline

Almost like a moonscape if there were no trees

Bird's nest down in one of the crevices

Don't know what this cave entrance was for

Martin showing us the boiler from the old sugar mill on the Hampstead estate

Once used as a prison and slave quarters on the plantation

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The waater wheel to grind the sugar cane

More pretty coastline. Too bad it was a rainy day

The Cold Souffriere: sulfurous water bubbling from underground

Bright green lichen growing around the sulfur pools

Enlarge the picture and you can see the bubbles on the left

We were up at cloud level

We also did a tour of the Indian River with Martin in his boat. Motorized boats are not allowed on the river and you can only go with a local guide. Martin turned off his outboard and paddled us through the river.The wildlife and and trees were amazing. They actually filmed part of Pirates of the Caribbean here—the scene with the voodoo priestess in the swamp. Martin pointed out the wildlife and flora of the area.

A land crab under the trunk of the tree

Beautiful root formations in the swamp

Little red crab on a coconut shell

More neat root "sculptures

"Sign for the Ticking Croc Tavern up the river

Split bamboo walls of the tavern

Origami type bird Martin made from leaves

Shopping at the local farmer's market

On Saturday we went to the PAYs BBQ on the beach which was really good and included lots of rum punch and music. Izzy insisted we all dance and kept dragging the more reluctant of us back into the dancing crowd. On Sunday, we went to church in Portsmouth and it was First Communion so we had another 2 ½ hour Mass.Shopping at the local Saturday market was fun and fresh veggies were plentiful. We voted Dominica the award for best pineapples. They were delicious and we took full advantage of the supply, eating them almost every day.

Local boat building: bottom is made of one huge log then long planks added to the side

Waiting for our BBQ

A few too many rum punches?

Fixing dinner on board

6/8/2015 We left Portsmouth, Dominica and decided to skip the capital (Rousseau) and head to Martinique. More on that in our next blog…