Voyage of the Bahati

Dear Family, Friends, and all Good Virtual Crew!

We are now moored off the beach in Prince Rupert Bay on the delightful island of Dominica, the southern-most of the Leeward Islands. This is a place we have sailed past several times and always wished we'd visited...so, now is our chance! We won't have enough time to do it justice but we are excited about taking one of the famous "river tours" up the Indian River which we have scheduled with Martin on his boat PROVIDENCE for dawn Easter Morning. This experience has been called "remarkable", "amazing" and "unlike anything else you'll experience in the Eastern Caribbean"! " The river quickly narrows and gets completely overhung by huge swamp bloodwood trees on both sides. Their massive roots spread out above the soil and down into the water, twisting and tangling into interesting wavy designs. Here and there long vines dangle into the river, as you glide quietly along you see fish below and crabs on the banks. Overhead the trees form a complete canopy, so it is dark and cathedral-like. This, with the sounds of birds and insects, creates a magical quality. Outboards are not allowed on the river and the locals guard this stretch of water jealously!"

We'll let you know how it goes! There is heavy competition among the local "river guides" for your business. In fact, we were met nearly 5nm offshore by a couple of the most industrious guides who came out to offer their services and advice. We passed them up as we had been given a good reference for "Martin" aboard PROVIDENCE by our new friends, Brad and Ann Willauer, sailing their lovely J46, BREEZING UP. They are fellow-CCA members from Prouts Neck taking their boat south to "Trinny" for the hurricane season. Phinny Sprague had sent them looking for us (and we for them) and we finally hooked-up in Bequia and had a great time gamming as we waited for decent weather for us to head north and for them to head south again. We had several wonderful meals ashore in small restaurants set-up in local homes, one called Hinde's Hideout near the small Catholic church on the north side of the harbor and the other called Nando's up the hill from Lower Bay. Both served excellent local fare and the proprietors, Fernando and Dionne, were perfect hosts. Nando had been a chef for many years aboard merchant vessels and Dionne kept chickens under the house and a small rhum bar just off the kitchen where she served a mean rhum punch. We are grateful for our time in old Bequia and we are reminded of how much we love it there.....hoping, of course, impossibly, that it will never change! (see our current "profile" for a description of the local whaling scene!)

We sadly left Bequia and sailed north past St Vincent and up toward Soufriers and the Pitons, two spectacular mountains, on the south end of St Lucia where we had anchored for a night on our "outward leg". We were not disappointed by our return visit although the moorings in the National Park were not nearly as available as they were 5 years ago....just too many boats down here now! We finally found a mooring free (empty, that is, not free of charge!) off Anse Chastiners with the help of a couple of local boat boys who, once we were successfully tied-up, went and found us ice and fresh tuna in the village. The park ranger came by to collect our mooring fee and assured us that there were no current "security issues" (read: thievery) which the area has been known for in the past but he was careful to let us know that the rangers keep a constant vigil on CH 16 in case we "have any problems!" We did not, and, except for the rolly northern swell and the mooring buoy banging against the boat all night, not to mention our new electric eye burglar alarm going off every time the boat rolled past 30 degrees, we had a quiet night!

The next morning we headed north again toward Martinique with the hope of arriving in St Pierre, the historic port on the NW corner, by nightfall. We would've made it fine but as we closed-in realized the wind and swell from the NW would probably make for another uncomfortable, if not unsafe, night so we turned about-face and with fading light headed back down toward Grand Anse d'Arlet on the SW corner where we knew there would be more shelter. We arrived there just as the sun was setting and, of course, the bay was chockablock full of anchored boats so we kept going round the corner to Petit Anse d'Arlets and anchored just off the beach with only 3 other boats as darkness settled around us and we were gifted with yet another glorious Caribbean sunset (see the lead blog photo!) It's hard to believe how the sky can actually glow down here...and it lingers long....just loverly!

The next morning we headed again toward St Pierre and, with lighter winds, found our way into the anchorage and dropped the hook just off the beach by mid-afternoon. This sweet little totally French village would've been the capital of Martinique but in 1902 it was completely wiped-out by the eruption of Mt Pele which stands behind and watches over the town...now verdant green but , from the photos in the local museum and the relics saved from that fateful day (including the melted remains of the cathedral bell), you can see how threatening the now docile mountain could be! It's wonderful to walk around the town now and see the old walls left from the many grand destroyed buildings being lovingly and practically incorporated into the smaller and less ostentatious homes. It's also a treat to wander around the ruins of the old and still majestic theater (CapB proclaimed a little Shakespeare to checkout the acoustics!) and see the underground prison cell next door where the only survivor of this disaster, Cypret, was locked-up until 4 days after the eruption when he was freed by some scavengers from a neighboring village. He went on to become a star of the Barnum and Bailey Circus where he was exhibited as a fascinating "freak" due to his extensive and bizarre burn scars. We spent an "extra" night in St Pierre because we enjoyed it so much...totally unpretentious and un-touristicated...strange with its amazing history! We could not find a cab driver willing to take us for a "petit tour de montagne" (well we found one who wanted to charge us an "arm and a leg" and had no AC!) so we simply hiked some more and took in more sights as well as chased an illusive internet signal...not easy to find, a testimony to how off the beaten track this village is!

We left St Pierre wishing we had even more time there...sailing north again toward Dominica where we arrived at the end of the day on April 21 only to find the anchorage, once again, overflowing with charter and World ARC boats. All moorings were taken so we ended-up anchoring in the midst of the fleet and spent a restless night watching out for collisions with boats on moorings near us. Fortunately, we avoided any calamities and early the next morning managed to jump on a mooring being vacated by an exiting boat....sweet as! It is now Easter Eve and we are waiting for Peter and Debbie Warren to arrive on the 1700 plane from Antigua (now delayed!) We'll spend one or two more days exploring here before sailing further north toward Antigua where they will leave us on the last day of April. On the 3rd of May, Joel Bernstein and Ann Blackstock, from Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan, will join us for a week's break to help celebrate CapB's 61st in style..."Wowee" as Nat's dad would've said....and "life begins at whatever decade you are entering!" So, it must be true! I sure hope the next decade brings as much adventure and discovery, both inner and outer, as this one has.

Cheers and hugs from both of us to all of you! We love receiving your notes and comments....please don't hold back!

See you in June....in dear old downeast Maine!

& 'ave a good watch mates!

Love, Nat and Betsy