Indian River Dominica

At 10am on Sunday, March 20 after our overnight sail from Martinique we were picked up from our yacht by a guide to clear customs and experience the Indian River tour. It was overcast but very hot and steamy for early in the morning. The guide rowed us down the river as outboard engines are banned to prevent pollution. It was pretty hard work (for him) and he told us that he does the tour 2 to 3 times per day. The guide was very knowledgable and knew where all the creatures lived and what the native plants were used for traditionally. Unfortunately the giant toad or 'mountain chicken' that once thrived in Dominica had now been eaten to extinction so we were unable to see that! I finally got to see a few green iguanas and this time I was able to photograph more than a claw.

Martinique to Dominica

We left Martinique early in the morning bound for Dominica. Ian was keen to test out the repaired dodger and lucky for us the rain stayed away as we rolled up the plastic cover with new zips installed for better vision and ventilation. We sailed past Diamond Rock which is an amazing feature of the area and also an excellent dive site by all accounts. After 5 hours of sailing we arrived in Saint Pierre and dropped anchor. It was a difficult anchorage with a steep drop-off then a shallow ledge close to shore. After 3 attempts at getting a good hold we settled down for sundowners. Halfway through our second beer around 7pm we suddenly realised that we were drifting out to sea. Ian decided to up anchor and sail through the night to Dominica as it would be difficult trying to set the anchor again in the dark. It was a bit of a shock to the system as we were already tired but we put the running lights on and motored out into the bay. We managed to get goods winds and sailed most of the night north towards Dominica. We had a close encounter with a super yacht and a cruise ship but overall it was pretty uneventful. Lucky for us we sailed on the full moon so there was plenty of natural light. When we arrived in Dominica at 5:30am in the morning we had to motor around for an hour as there was thick rain and fog hovering over the anchorage. At 6:30am we headed into Prince Rupert Bay. A boat boy came out to greet us and we arranged to clear customs with him and do the Indian River Tour later in the day instead of catching up on sleep.

Another Day at the Office

Sheryl the 'Feral' dressed and ready to go on a dive trip for the day.

Laundry

My favourite topic on this trip has to be laundry and the expense of doing it yourself in the laundromat versus a company doing it for you. We've experienced numerous methods of getting the job done but up till now I think the boat to boat service is the best. You just call sparkle laundry on channel 16 and they come to your boat for the pick up and deliver fresh clean laundry back to you the next day for around US$20 a load. Unfortunately Ian is adverse to paying this amount for clean clothes so I'm back to a dish in the sink and laundry powder for our smalls and t-shirts for now. I think it would have been a worthwhile investment having a clothes washer installed on Faraway but it's a bit late now in our travels to install.

Martinique

With our dodger (canopy) repairs finished we decided to have the morning off and take a drive around Le Marin anchorage in the dinghy. We packed a yummy picnic lunch and after a few false landings (Ian didn't like the look of the cow and calf on one beach) we finally landed on the Club Med Resort Beach. How nice the sand was clean and raked and the trees were lovely and shady but with security hovering around we didn't feel real comfortable so we pushed the dinghy off and headed back to Faraway via the marina. I don't think we were exactly the kind of clients that Club Med welcomed on their beaches and the dinghy was a bit of a dead giveaway.

Nomad

Whilst in the bar doing our internet and catching up on our taste testing of local beers we met a Canadian couple who had a Amal yacht called Nomad. They were really interesting and Paul the Captain was a very experienced sailor and yacht master. They invited us onboard for sundowners that evening and we had a tour of their well equipped yacht with a very accessible engine. We were only staying for drinks but Paul insisted we have dinner so we shared sailing stories and I talked with Sue about her photography which was very good.

Martinique and making water

We arrived in Saint Anne anchorage in Martinique on March 12 after an uneventful sail and motor from St. Lucia (the wind wasn't favourable again). It had been 3 months since we left Saudi and arrived in St Maarten ready for our adventure. During sundowners we discussed how much we had learned on our trip so far and how differently we would have done things with a bit more experience behind us. After many repairs and a lot of despairs we were finally getting things together for our sail to Australia. The water maker was finally working and our fuel injectors for the engine had been replaced. We watched the sun set over Diamond Rock which is also a great dive site. The next day the morning brought a beautiful rainbow over our anchorage in Le Marin. I went into town to clear customs which was a breeze compared to St Lucia. Unfortunately nobody spoke English in the town and I really kicked myself again to not paying more attention to learning French in school. Anyway we managed to get bread and supplies without too much difficulty. Getting malaria tablets from the pharmacy was a different story and luckily a customer who had great French and English was able to assist us. We both decided that Martinique was a lovely place to visit and we really enjoyed our stay.