When hurricane Maria made a direct hit on the island of Dominica in September 2017 residents fled to the safest corners they could find. For eight hours the winds howled up to an astonishing 260 mph. The next morning the island was unrecognisable. No longer was the island a lush green but brown, the trees were stripped bare. Debris everywhere, telephone poles down and wires strewn across the streets. Tin roofing scattered the ground. Massive boats thrown onto the shores and torrential rains had swelled the rivers causing massive flood damage to homes and roads.

Bill and I had discussed many times what we could do as individuals to help the island. We had donated to the relief fund but should we fill the boat with much needed things and hand them out when we get there? Should we even go, we didn't know if Dominica could cope with tourists? In the end we decided the best thing to do was not to sail, by as many sailing yachts would do, but visit the island and spend our money where it was most needed. Our first anchorage was in Roseau where we were greated by Marcus in his boat. Marcus told us that he and his wife had a young baby but he no longer had a home, his house totally destroyed in the hurricane. Life was tough for them but he was grateful that all his family survived unlike others who had lost their lives. Marcus explained that some areas of the island still had no electricity. Many homes still had temporary blue tarpaulin covering the roofs despite it being more than six months after Maria hit. A lot has been done to clear up the debris but labour and materials are in short supply so rebuilding and recovery is slow. The government is now insisting on a strict policy of building regulations and will only reconnect the electricity supply to homes that have had their roofs repaired under the inspection of a building engineer. We were pleased to hear this but the problem arises if not insured and have not the money to pay for the cost of a proper roof repair. Dominica is one of the poorest Caribbean islands and many families have built their own homes. Marcus appreciated that we had taken the time to visit his island which is still called paradise
Dominica depends on tourism, and still has a massive recovery job on its hands if tourists are to be encouraged back onto the island. Despite this the people we met and talked to were resilient and optimistic.
We organised a tour with SeaCat (his real name was Octavia) who took us up into the mountains for a hike, to see the Trafalgar falls and the Tito Gorge. It was a fantastic day out. SeaCat was so knowledgeable about the rainforests and showed us how nature was fighting back. The trees were stripped down to just their trunks but only six months later the trunks had sprouted little branches which were covered in leaves and even fruits. Amazingly bird life still existed and we saw parrots sitting in the trees (normally you would only hear them as seeing would be almost impossible as they would be high up in the dense canopy of the rain forest). It will take 20 years for the rainforests to return to their full glory.
We moved further up the coast to Portsmouth and did a further two tours, a trip down the Indian river (at 7.30 in the morning!) and a tour out to the Kalinago Indian reserve (the only indigenous decendents left in the Caribbean).
We were so glad we didn't bypass Dominica, it is still a beautiful and interesting island. We wish the islanders all the best in their recovery and pray that they are spared from another direct hit come the next hurricane season June to October.