It was one of those "we will, we won't... maybe we should" situations for when we were going to leave Les Saintes. We were enjoying ourselves, and having fun with the crew of 'Joana', but we also started feeling the pull to go to Dominica (I was also feeling the gap in my teeth where I was waiting for my new permanent crown, too). Thursday afternoon we took another look at the weather, and the longer term forecast, and decided on the Friday morning departure for the 20 mile hop to Portsmouth, Dominica. Since it was a Friday, it was going to be a continuation of our trip, not a departure; yes, sailors can be a superstitious lot.

The trip wasn't bad, the wind was pretty tight on the nose, but we could use it, and the angle actually made the waves more comfortable (choppy crap on the beam is NOT our favourite). We were greeted by "Alexis" of the Port Arthur Yacht Services (P.A.Y.S.) as we were rounding the point to Portsmouth, but declined the offer of a mooring and headed in. I am pretty sure he enjoyed the cold beer, though. We ended up anchoring in the same patch of sand that we were in the last time we were in Portsmouth, a whole 6 weeks ago. We got the dinghy back into usable order, and I headed in to Customs. I chose to walk through town rather than dinghy straight to the dock there, so I could reacquaint myself with the area. On my walk back I bought a couple of pounds of gorgeous tuna - I saw wasabi and ginger in the meal plan that night.

Our friends on 'Amoray' arrived from Roseau the next day, so I knew we had another couple to play with. We also heard from Bev and Mike on 'Whitebird' who we know from Grenada. They are in the process of heading north to prepare to take their boat back to the Mediterranean - they will be missed by the Grenada cruising community.

A barbecue lunch with the six of us at the Portsmouth Beach Hotel on the Sunday afternoon was lovely (we walked, while Bev and Mike were anchored in that area, anyway). Snorkelling off the beach there by the derelict pier was better than we had expected it to be, too, with the bonus of a fresh water rinse.

The crews of 'Amoray' and 'Silverheels III' chose to "tackle" Segment 13 of the Waitukubuli Trail (http://www.avirtualdominica.com/waitukubulitrail.cfm), the part from Pennville to Capuchin. This trail has been around for a while, and it was a natural to fit into the WNT. It's not far from Portsmouth, and it is easy to catch a bus to Pennville. That part of the trail is all trail, with no road components, and it is lovely with views of the Guadeloupan islands and walks through old estates. It is a segment of the trail well worth doing, and it isn't a killer.

However, that was pretty much the last thing we have done since then. I did get into Roseau to get my crown done (woohoo!), but for the last three days, we've been getting quite the rain. the boat is well rinsed from salt, and our water tanks are quite full. We have bailed out over 60 gallons of water from the dinghy in that time. Worse, there have been some slides that have disrupted traffic, and killed two people. It is a tad soggy in these parts! The squalls have caused one boat to drag (the P.A.Y.S. guys rescued the boat and put them on the safety of a mooring) and generally most of us have just hunkered down. The other morning I was contemplating not going for my run, but Ken literally kicked me out with the comment "You will drive us both crazy if you don't." He's right, of course. And it was a good run.

Today I went to the market and picked up some nice stuff, but broke one egg since I forgot to bring the empty egg holder with me (d'oh!). I haven't mastered the skill of carrying a dozen eggs in a little bag yet. Ken stayed on the boat and stayed dry.

So, in the meantime, until it dries up, we are reading, doing computer stuff, puttering, napping, and making plans for what we want to do when the "liquid sunshine" makes way for Mr. Sunshine. Martin (Providence) has been pointing out local hiking routes when he pops by, and he even brought me gorgeous flowers this morning. That can brighten anyone's day!