(1-12-10) We arrived in Portsmouth, Dominica about 1430 today from Ste. Pierre, Martinique. The passage on Sunday from Rodney Bay, St. Lucia was about forty one miles and took about six and a half hours which equals a very respectable 6.5 knots. We had 15-17 knots from the East (on our beam) and relatively small seas (4-5 ft). We arrived in Ste. Pierre where Sue loves to snorkel for glass and pottery pieces. We were tired so after Sue's short snorkel and my short boat chores we relaxed deciding to clear in and out on Monday for a Tuesday AM departure. Many locations on Martinique use local establishments as Customs/Immigration points. The "Escapade" restaurant and bar in Ste. Pierre is one of them. You sit at a computer and enter your info then print out a copy. That's it. Maybe I'm wrong but that sounds like an opportunity for abuse. Anyway, the Escapade was closed all day Monday so we ended up sleeping under the "yellow flag" fro both nights and left. We did walk from one end of Ste. Pierre to the other looking for a reported Customs office but never found one. So today we made the fifty two mile passage to Portsmouth and it took eight hours. Once again 6.5 knots. We actually saw 8 knots a few times on the GPS and again we had wind on our beam (17-20 knots) but the seas were a little higher and there was an added wind chop which made the trip slightly less comfortable than Sunday's passage. We had to try three times to get the anchor to set solidly. I ended up free diving down about seventeen feet, picking up our 44# Claw anchor, carrying it to a sandy spot five feet away and shoving it into the sand in it's proper orientation. NOW it's set correctly. What some people will do to get a good nights sleep. Our favorite "Boat Boy", Alexis, was here to greet us and we are looking forward to a weeks rest before company arrives. After they leave we will pass through Les Saintes
and beside Guadeloupe before sailing to Antigua. From there it's time to head west for the Virgins and Puerto Rico. After Antigua we will not have nice beam on wind to sail in but running sure beats the trip down which was sailing into the wind. (pssst. Did you read Sue's blog about the rainforest trip? Now she wants a Zip line in our back yard at home!!!) Today (01-15) we are going to the "P.A.Y.S." BBQ. PAYS stands for "Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security" We went to these events last season. For $50 EC ($20US) you get all you can eat and drink. Grilled chicken, salad, rice and rum punch. The proceeds go to pay for the night security guy. He cruises around in a big dinghy with a very large spotlight and checks on all the boats all night. This service is only available in the northern part of Prince Rupert Bay where the local boat boys/guides patrol. The southern part of the bay is considered "not safe" and the boat boys will run over there and warn any yachts that anchor there. It costs nothing to anchor in the northern part so why would anyone not anchor there. Last summer a French boat refused to move to the safer side and ended up getting boarded by thieves. The bad guys were caught and are in jail but why take the risk. Local knowledge of an area, harbor, bay, etc. is very valuable and cruisers pass along that kind of information all the time. Sue has been snorkeling again today (Surprise!) and loves the clean, clear water where we are. We picked up our visitors last night and spent today welcoming them to Dominica. The beach on the South end of the bay where their cottages are is truly "black" sand. It is very impressive and we showed them a great Caribbean "Green Flash" at sunset. Tomorrow we take a tour with them. It's great to have family visit. I couldn't resist one more rainbow picture. It's scenes like this that will bring back the great cruising memories when I finally get old!