We are enjoying the visit from my sister, her husband and another couple this week. We rode to the airport, a one hour bus ride, to meet them last Thursday evening (1-21). They mostly crashed Friday. It's a looooong way from California to Dominica. Their cottage is very nice. The Piccard Beach cottages are the ones that the staff of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie stayed in. Each cottage has a name plate over the door telling who was there. They must have been assistant something or others because we didn't recognize any names. The beach in front is short and is dark black sand. When the swells are from the right (wrong?) direction, huge waves crash on the beach. Some are so impressive that cheers break out when they hit. Sue and I took the dinghy over one day. It's about a 1.7 mile trip across Prince Rupert Bay. You have to time your landing to arrive between the larger waves. Launching when you leave is exciting. You have the motor tilted up when the dinghy is on the beach so you flip the lock lever so you can tilt the motor down when ready, you put the "kill switch" key in the switch, you turn the dinghy around to the bow is facing the surf and you wait. Just after a couple of large waves you, with help, carry the dinghy down into the water, Sue jumps into the bow, I push it out and jump in the stern, put the motor down, pull the starter rope, shift into forward and gun the motor to get beyond the breakers before another one hits. Even so you ride up some big swells before you are clear in deeper calmer water. This whole procedure takes about five seconds or you get caught by the next wave. Sunday we had our friend Alexis take all six of us around to Toucari, about four miles by boat, so we could snorkel. The picture with this update is one I have been trying for ever since I saw my first Flamingo Tongue shell. This time I got a great shot. They are so cool looking. Monday we took a short land tour to the Syndicate fall park area. We left at 0530 so we could be in the rainforest to see the parrots before they flew to the top of the mountain. The short hike was beautiful and the parrots are very impressive. They are protected all over the island now and some are very endangered. Tuesday was another lay around day which is easy when you are in a place like Portsmouth, Dominica. It rained most of Tuesday but is warm rain. We will spend Wednesday relaxing on the beach in front of the Purple Turtle (restaurant & bar) which is on the beach just in front of where we are anchored. That day will also include a short walk to the restored fort on Cabrits hill. Fort Shirley was a British fort to defend Prince Rupert Bay from the French. It has been a great week and underscores the sadness we feel leaving this life style. Fortunately there are many other interests to keep us busy like grandkids, camping, cottage in Canada and sailing on the lake back home. I would do it again in a heart beat and will enjoy the many memories. Our guests leave Thursday and we planned to head North on Friday but the weather (20kn wind and ten foot seas) will cause us to wait till Sunday. Then it's off to an over night stay under yellow flag at Deshaies, Guadeloupe and then to Antigua where we meet other friends arriving on a cruise ship for a day.