Dominica - Just WOW!!

Dominica, officially known as the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country situated between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. It has a land area of 750 km2 and population of around 72,000. The island gained independence as a republic in 1978.

Dominica was settled by the Arawak arriving from South America in the fifth century, and they were displaced by the Kalinago by the 15th century. Columbus is said to have passed the island on Sunday, 3 November 1493 and we also passed by Dominica on the 18th of February 2022, on our way north, skipping it to go directly from Martinique to Guadeloupe. This was mainly because the entry requirements were quite restrictive (Covid tests, quarantine etc), and Agents and government fees were on the high side. Fortunately on our way south we heard that restrictions had eased, Covid test was no longer required, agent’s fees had been lowered as well, so we decided to give it a go. We are certainly glad we did!

The Sisserou parrot

Dominica has been nicknamed the "Nature Island of the Caribbean" for its unique, natural environment. It is geo-thermally active and boasts the world's second-largest hot spring, called Boiling Lake. The island hosts lush mountainous rainforests and fast flowing waterfalls (there is no shortage of water here!) and is home to many rare plants, animals, and bird species. The rare Sisserou parrot is found only on Dominica, it is the island's national bird and features on the national flag, making it one of the only two sovereign nations whose official flag features the colour purple. Now there is something useful for your next round of Pub Trivia – which is the other country with purple on the flag??

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Portsmouth

We left Ilet Cabrits, (Les Saintes, Guadeloupe) around 9am with 1 reef in the main and a full genoa, having a great reaching sail southwards to Portsmouth, 21nm away, arriving around midday. Portsmouth is in the north of the island and although it’s not the capital, it is a large and nicely protected harbour and the small town is well set up to receive cruisers. We picked up a mooring buoy with the help of Andrew from PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yachting Services) which is a NFP cooperative that has been formed to provide assistance to passing yachts and cruisers, regulate tour guides and share the work around amongst the independent operators. We handed our papers and passports over to Andrew with the promise of an efficient clearance process (US$40 all inclusive). Had lunch and waited on board and Andrew came back to tell us that we were cleared to go ashore and walk around. We walked along the road up to Fort Shirley on Cabrits headland north of the anchorage (which used to be an island). The fort is beautifully restored and now used as a function centre. It will be hosting a big jazz festival next weekend! Got back to the PAYS office and our papers were not quite ready so we had a drink at SeaBird, the beach bar next door. Debby and Fraser (SY Everlonger) arrived and joined us and not long after that our papers were delivered to us in the bar. Great service. We are cleared in and out in one go, and can stay for 2 weeks. Plus Debby has booked us on a tour tomorrow.

Trafalgar falls

Kish, our guide for the day

We had a 7am start to meet the lovely Kish, our amazing tour guide for the day (and only female tour guide here). There are just 4 of us and a bus sized for 10 so it’s very comfortable. We head south and the roads are quite reasonable. Apparently the Chinese have put some money into Dominica, and we pass the Chinese Friendship Hospital (formerly the Princess Margaret Hospital…) Kish points out the some solar / wind powered street lights. The street lights have been looted of their batteries and solar panels so none of them work. Kish is a real lively character and she throws herself into all of the activities, sometimes literally! We stop first at Trafalgar Falls, which is a double waterfall in a lush, green valley. Just as we are leaving a couple of tour buses arrive from the cruise ship so it was worth getting here early. Next stop is a little café where we have some breakfast, which ends up being brunch, before heading on to Middleham Falls. It’s a 45 min walk each way and we have to cross a stream and scramble over some reasonably rough and rooty terrain, steep up and then down again and very muddy in places. The 60m high waterfall is spectacular though and we can scramble over some large boulders to get to the pool at the bottom of it. The water is pretty cool (no its refreshing says Kish!) and there is an incredible down draft from the fast flowing water like a roaring wind – amazing! We head to Titou Gorge which is quite a surprise. We have to don glamourous, tight fitting life jackets and hop into a pool – warning!! - the water is even more “refreshing” than at the waterfalls. We start swimming though a gap in the rocks and into the gorge. The walls of the narrow channel reach some 20m above us and the light filters through the forest at the top. We continue swimming along the winding canal with twists and turns for about 150m or so. As we get to the end it is just WOW as we see water gushing down a narrow “chimney” into a small pool at the end of our canal. With Kish’s help we scramble into the tiny pool. The force of the water is incredible and it is barely possible to stand under it. Getting out was a challenge as it means sliding off a rock and getting washed back into the stream by the fast running water, trying to hold onto the bottom half of my swimmers! Kish plunges off the edge with a half somersault, trying to film with her phone at the same time. This really was the highlight of the day and we were all blown away by the experience. Back in the pool there are a couple of pipes with some warmer water flowing out so we can thaw out a bit. Also from here is the start of the track to the famous Boiling Lake, 3 hours one way! Not for us today though. Apparently it’s only just re-opened after 3 weeks as it had run completely dry for some unknown reason.

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Middleham falls

We stop by the Botanic Gardens to see a few different native trees as well as the Jaco parrot and Sisserou parrots, which they are trying to breed. Next we head further south and all the way down past Roseau (the capital) to Scotts Head where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic. We will sail past this headland when we leave, but it is really interesting to reach it from land so we have seen both ends of this small island country.
 
Our final stop is just to the north for snorkelling at Champagne beach. This is so called because there is a spot where bubbles of air come out of the rocks below and rise like champagne in a glass, swirling in the currents like smoke as they rise to the surface. What a novel experience to swim through these bubbles - I guess this is the closest we will come to swimming in champagne! We stop at a roadside BBQ to have fried plantains for afternoon tea, a favourite local snack. Kind of a cross between a potato and a banana – Mmmm…Great carbohydrate fix!

Scott's Head - where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic

It’s a long drive back to Portsmouth but it’s been a great day and Kish has been very entertaining and informative with her stories about Dominican life and how they fared during the Covid pandemic. It was a really challenging time for them with their regionally renowned university closing, and tourism, particularly from yachties and cruise ships, coming to a complete halt – No job-keeper or jobseeker here! People just have to fend for themselves. We have dinner ashore at Mandiba before heading back to the boat for an early night.

Cooking up a storm at PAYS

It seems that many yachts are now heading south and a few people that we have met elsewhere turn up in Dominica this week. We catch up with Janet and Paul George from WindWitcher, who arrived yesterday when we were on the tour. They also have a Helia and we first met them in our last Spanish anchorage before arriving in Gibraltar, keeping in touch since then. About the same time team Cushla (who we met in Mindelo & Barbados) arrive, sneaking past us and anchoring close to shore. In the evening there is a BBQ at PAYS, which is an institution apparently, and pretty much everyone in from the anchorage is there. They do a fantastic spread with chicken and fish and salad, as well as their infamous rhum punch… It was lovely to catch up with everyone’s stories and meet some new friends as well. It was a lovely evening and Dominica has been the most sociable place we have been for a long time.

A touch of Dominica on ITIKI

Woke with a bit of a headache the next morning thanks to the PAYS rhum punch. The skipper from Samadhi (56’ Lagoon) dropped by on the RIB to say hi. They were on the mooring buoy near us, which we had though was set a bit too close. In the morning we noticed that they had moved to another buoy and wondered why. He told us that around midnight they woke as our boats had swung in opposite directions and our bow was touching their RIB! They tried to wake us, banging on our bow but due to our bedroom being in the stern (and also possible the 2nd or 3rd rhum punch…) we slept through the excitement. Ooops! Anyway we decided to go and anchor rather than staying on a buoy for another night, so we head out and dump the holding tanks before coming in a little closer to the fishermen’s wharf. One of the PAYS tour guides came by to say hello and mentioned that there was a sunken freighter near the spot we had chosen. Keith had a snorkel around and yes indeed there was a sunken freighter, although not exactly as marked. We decided we were a little bit too close to it, so went in and anchored closer to shore. It’s a weedy bottom but good holding. We made contact with Martin, one of the tour guides for the Indian River, who came highly recommended and he brings some beautiful Heliconias to ITIKI.

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Paul and Janet (Windwitcher) came around for sundowners later in the day and we ended up chatting until about 9pm! They are heading south tomorrow and will haul out at Spice Island boatyard in Grenada (we are going to Carriacou, just to the north).

Poling along as no engines allowed

Early next morning we do the Indian River tour. It’s a magical time of day and we have it to ourselves with just the sound of the birds as Martin our guide rows and poles his wooden dinghy upstream. The river is so quiet, with only the sound of birds. There are herons on the water’s edge and a kingfisher follows us as we make our way along the waters edge. The river is shallow, the water is muddy and the most incredible gnarly tree roots line the water’s edge, making a ghostly scene. Apparently some scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed here. Martin is a trained botanist and very knowledgeable about the flora, fauna and ecology of Dominica. He catches a fairly large crab and gives us an anatomy lesson. The males have a large claw on the right and females on the left. We stop and walk ashore briefly at an old settlement where Martin shows us some more interesting plants and explains their medicinal uses before slowly drifting back down the river. He stops to pick some Noni fruit, apparently it has some pretty amazing medicinal properties and I should cook it up and drink the juice (whilst ignoring the disgusting smell…). We continue to chat over coffee after he drops us back to ITIKI.

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Crazy tree roots, Indian River

​Well it had to happen I guess - our first brush with “the C word” (Covid!) since we have been back cruising. One of our fellow cruisers, who was at the BBQ the other night (and who shall remain nameless) drops by to tell us his wife has just tested positive for Covid. She only has mild symptoms, although feeling quite tired, and he is negative. I decided to test myself and I am negative. It’s not easy to shove that thing up your own nose - both nostrils!
 
On the strength of that we drop over to see Cindy and Adam from SV Bravo intending to go for a walk to Fort Shirley, but there is quite a swell in the bay and all of the dinghy docks are too surgy to leave the RIB so we give up and just have coffee and cake on ITIKI. They are leaving tomorrow for St Martin so need to go and sort out their paperwork. We finish the day with cocktails on the upper deck and we end up having an early night There is some loud music on the beach until 2am but we sleep through it.

ITIKI in Portsmouth

​Its Sunday morning and the church bells sound around 7am. We have omelette for breakfast and I make some bread.  It’s so hot and humid and we feel we should go ashore and do something but it’s just overbearing - we just have no energy and now start wondering if we might have Covid… Keith puts the gennaker up and sorts lines as we are heading off to Martinique tomorrow but that is about all we can manage. I get a message from Kish to see if we want some of her famous Johnny cakes  as she has been baking, so I go ashore to get some. They are kind of a cross between a donut and … well I don’t know really. They have a kind of cheesey filling – great comfort food and very filling! I always like to try the local treats although some things are like Vegemite – you have to grow up with it to appreciate it.

Passing Roseau, cruise ship in town

Well Dominica has been fantastic and I am so pleased that we did drop by on the way south. We have met some very special, friendly and helpful people, caught up with "old" friends and made some new ones! We would really love to come back, do some more hiking and see more of the north of the island. For now though we will continue to head south. We set off early the next morning and motor sail initially as we are in the lee of the island. Cushla heads off under sail and seem to be heading out to sea. We get to the southern end of Dominica and can sail a better angle but the sea state is awful and its pretty uncomfortable. We end up with 2 reefs in the main as we are getting quite strong wind between the islands – it tends to compress and blast through these gaps. As we get to the top of Martinique the wind is dying and wrapping around the top of the island. We slow right down, shake out the reefs and get the main caught on one of the lazy jacks, end up a bit close to some fishing pots, get annoyed with ourselves and so we drop the main and motor into the anchorage of St Pierre, where we have been before. Cushla arrive safely as well but we are all feeling too knackered to go ashore or do anything so an early night is in order.