Month: March 2018

St Barts, Gustavia Harbor

St Barths is the Caribbean island for the rich and famous and a little hurricane wouldn’t stop it. Though they got walloped, repair work was evident everywhere and the mega yachts were back to visit. It was the nicest island yet for clearing in and the main port of Gustavia goes out of their way to provide as many conveniences as they can for the average cruiser.

Unfortunately, the one thing St Barths doesn’t have is a good anchorage. They’re simply too exposed to the winds and the swell, and it was a few days of living in a washing machine. Even the masts of the mega yachts were swinging back and forth in the swell. I did have to laugh though at the ‘red light district’ that we were now living in. Any sailboat at anchor needs to have the top of their masts lit at night for safety purposes. Masts of a certain height (I can’t remember but we’re talking TALL) have to have a red light on their mast top for approaching aircraft. Needless to say, there were a lot of red light masts out there keeping us company.

Shell Beach

St Barths was prepping to host their annual Bucket Regatta – a 4 day race for yachts over 100 feet. We had a lot of fun ogling Topaz and some of the other boats both at the docks and while they were out testing crew. Once I was done ogling boats, then it was next to ogling storefronts.  I settled on a wildly expensive swimsuit (top only), new swim trunks for Trip, and a top I found on sale. I enjoyed watching the look on his face when I pointed out that many a dress in the store windows cost 700+ euro (that’s an entire boat buck). We made up for it with drinks and lunch at Le Select, the original dive bar also known as Cheeseburger in Paradise. Jimmy Buffett spent a lot of time over the years on this island and supposedly still turns up here and there to perform.

Topaz prepping for the Bucket Regatta

Seeking a little quiet, we climbed up to the top of Fort Carl. Though the fort is no longer there, it provides a great vantage point for both the main harbor and Shell Beach. We descended to Shell Beach where I collected shells (an aptly named beach) to my heart’s content.

The next day, on the recommendation of friend Deb who has spent a lot of time down here, we taxied over to the other side of the island. More damage was apparent here and some of the fancier resorts won’t open till next season, hoping to have adequate time to make repairs. We grabbed a burger at Jojo’s, toured the local shops, admired the beaches, and headed back to Gustavia.

I would have loved to have stayed for the regatta, but the roll of the anchorage was too much – I never get seasick (knock wood) and I woke up one morning a bit queasy. Added to that, some strange swells were coming again and word was that they were emptying out the harbor (where the swell would pile up) so we decided to bolt for St Martin.

Hardship in Gustavia – entire fridges of caviar and foi gras

Wing on wing run from Barbuda

We heard from multiple people that visitors were coming back to Barbuda. No island was hit harder by a hurricane – demolishing 95% of the island. But word was out that they had taken a beating but the beaches were still gorgeous. We had a great sail up from Antigua, but unfortunately found the anchorage to be much too rolly to even consider dropping the dinghy and going to shore. We upped anchor and started moving around to the next bay thinking it would be calmer, but it turns out the swell was wrapping around both the north and the south sides of the island making everything miserable. We went back to our original anchorage – joined by a few other boats, and had a nice but rolly evening admiring the beaches from the water.

We got up early the next morning to make a downwind sail to St Barths. Going wing on wing (double-reefed main on one side, jib poled out on the other, we were doing a steady 6-7 knots, flying along. The seas were still big, 6-8 footers that kicked us around quite a bit, and I got great video of Trip singing and dancing along as we rolled from side to side. Not exactly a sail for anyone with a queasy stomach.

Boats being loaded for race week

First a correction:  Our wind generator that initially was a great disappointment has redeemed itself.  This is producing enough power for our needs (which includes our 12 volt refrigerator which is always on).  With the light to nonexistent winds we were experiencing on our offshore run and our landlocked time in St Thomas, it never had a chance to prove itself.  I take back all the bad things I said & thought – the wind generator is great.

Dominica was as far south as we were going to make it this season given how much time we’ve spent in each location. I don’t regret the time anywhere, whether due to too much fun or lack of weather windows. It simply means we didn’t make it to Grenada as originally planned – first world problems.

We left Dominica early Monday as the winds and seas were ‘calming’. We still had winds blowing in the low 20’s and gusting to 30. The seas weren’t bad but we were flying along, sailing at 7 knots for most of the trip, even hitting 9.2 knots once. The passage between the Guadeloupe mainland and the Saintes had taken 3.5 hours coming over and less than 45 minutes on return! We dropped the anchor in Deshaies, cleared in, picked up some more boxed wine, and stopped for drinks and appetizers.

Boat guys in Antigua – wildly different than Dominica

Well rested, we left early the next morning for Antigua. Again, the weather was supposed to calm further. Instead, we wound up with a day of sailing that Trip described as ‘nice’ and I referred to as ‘active’. The first couple of hours were lovely – a couple of reefs still in the main, staysail, and half jib – running 7 knots comfortably. Suddenly we were riding the forward edge of a massive squall covering the northern end of the island. The next couple of hours gave us a range of no wind to 30 knots in short periods of time, combined with seas stacked 8-12 feet and starting to break. Thankful that we had never shaken out reefs in the main, we plowed on. Eventually winds and seas eased and the last few hours were as pleasant as the first, maintaining 6-7 knots under much calmer conditions. We dropped anchor in Jolly Harbor, Antigua late afternoon.

Nelson’s Dockyard

What a difference. The islands we’ve been visiting the last few months are part of younger volcanic chains – rising starkly out of the sea with deep anchorages. They don’t have the number of visitors that other islands do and several were pummeled by one or both of the hurricanes last year. Provisions and everything else have been limited. Now we’re in Antigua with shallow water (anchored in 14 feet of water), crystal clear seas, no winds funneling down the hills, and civilization galore.

Our one disappointment was to find that while we were moving north, Stephen and Maureen suddenly made a huge jump from St Maarten, to Guadeloupe. We had assumed they’d still be island hopping in the immediate area with lots of islands in between to visit and thought we’d have a chance to cross paths, but it wasn’t meant to be…..at least we had December with them!

Castaways Bar

Jolly Harbor was designed for the modern cruiser. Inexpensive slips, moorings and open to the general public who are out in the anchorage. Laundry, boat repairs, Budget Marine, grocery store, wifi, showers, and lots of good restaurants and bars with tasty drinks. What better place to wait out the coming odd weather (winds blowing from the west and big seas from the northwest).

Rum Bus Restaurant and Bar view

We had heard from others about a famous red double decker bus within walking distance that served fish & chips. Turns out the bus was moved MUCH further down the road and is now part of a fancy bar/villa compound call RumBus. We hopped on a bus and decided to go check it out. The bus has been converted into mini studios for rent, but it was still a great place for lunch and drinks right on the beach.

Next we caught the bus up to St John’s, the capital of Antigua. On our way in we noted that there were still plenty of moorings available so decided to hold on moving in from the anchorage.  St Johns is incredibly touristy because of the cruise ships that are constantly coming through, but it was fun to shop for tshirts, see the local markets, and I even managed to find silver beads for my new braids. On our way back out to the mooring that night we suddenly realized there was only one mooring left so we quickly upped anchor and came into the harbor. Quite the smart move we were later to realize.

Amusing signage at the cruise ship docks

We caught up with Norman and Sarah from Norsa, who we had moored next to all the time in Dominica, and only now really met. The four of us jumped a couple of buses to head off to Falmouth and English harbors. Our first stop was Nelson’s Dockyard, the British stronghold for so many centuries. After decades of neglect, it’s been restored and in the past two years has received UNESCO world heritage status. Though most of the buildings have been turned into inns or restaurants or shops, the yard is still quite beautiful to walk through. And the yachts. We saw everything at the boatyard from a 27 footer that had just been sailed solo across the Atlantic to mega yachts of all shapes and sizes – quite fun to ogle. We treated ourselves to a posh lunch at the Pillar Room at the Admiral’s Inn before wandering through the rest of town. A fun place to be, but Jolly Harbor is much more compact and convenient for our needs.

Boat projects never end

We were grateful for having moved to a mooring, as once we were back we watched a steady stream of boats coming into the harbor, looking for berths to escape the roll in the anchorage. Some boats dropped anchor right in the mooring field, even though it’s not permitted. We watched the tops of masts still in the anchorage swing wildly and knew it could not be comfortable at anchor out there. The next morning we were not surprised but sad to see at least one sailboat had broken free of a mooring or her anchor and washed up on shore.

During our wanderings around the marina we had met a Dutch couple from Canada who winter for two months down here every year. They insisted that we make it over to a local restaurant, Al Porto, on Tuesday night for 2-for-1 pizza, but insisted we make a reservation because it’s so popular. Norman and Sarah were in so I made reservations for 4, which quickly turned to 6 when friends from Tigger showed up and then expanded to 8 when yet more friends from Pearl Bali came in. It turns out we had all been in Dominica during the same week.  There had just been so many people and boats that we never had a chance to get to know each other till Antigua.

Shades of blue

Start of sunset

End of sunset

We needed a day to run errands and do the small stuff that always winds up taking an entire day while boating.

produce market

My first mission was to find eggs. Apparently the chickens operate on a hit or miss basis and I had been looking since Guadeloupe with no success. I went to the market first thing and of course found eggs. Sold without packaging – which meant I had to go an entire day with a plastic bag full of a dozen eggs in my back pack. Would you believe they made it back to the boat in one piece?

Trip’s mission was to print documentation and mail it to the States to update our mooring registration so we’d have somewhere to leave the boat when we get back. An hour of trekking through town and we found both a print shop and post office. Whew.

fresh eggs

Then out to Coco Mango where we had had a fabulous dinner with everyone just nights before. I had promised Peaches, the chef, some sourdough starter. The starter was looking a little bit worse for wear given all the jostling in my backpack all day, I reassured her that if she fed it, it would be fine. We stayed a while to chat and then headed back to town.

Shandy braiding my hair

That night PAYS hosted another BBQ, this time with an unusual theme. Lionfish have invaded the Caribbean and Dominica is no exception. All week the dive shop had been running excursions spearfishing for the invasive species, and Friday night was the grill off. I was bummed that we had missed the dives, but it was my first chance to taste lionfish. A bland white fish – fine with whatever sauce you add to it. We had a bit of a problem with pin bones, but another cruiser assured us it was simply due to sloppy butchering (they did have a lot of them to prepare for all of us) and that the bones are not normally a problem. Nothing that a bit of rum punch wouldn’t take care of.

Martin and beach side callalou soup

Saturday morning was the market tour. Martin, from boat Providence, took us through the market, teaching us about the local produce as we shopped. We then headed back to the pavilion for a cooking lesson. The PAYS team got us all involved and we proceeded to make fish cakes (locally known as accras) and callaloo soup, made with potatoes, local spinach, and coconut milk. After the class I headed back to the market, now knowing exactly what ingredients I needed for the soup. One of the things I learned about were seasoning peppers. At first glance, I thought they were a version of a habanero. Turns out they’re nothing more than a more flavorful version of a green pepper, in a tiny little form.

Kalinago elder

Saturday night the tourism authority from Dominica hosted a dinner for all the cruisers at Fort Shirley in Cabrits. This was an old fort built by the Brits in the 1700’s which has been beautifully restored and was a fabulous setting for a party. Dinner was the usual tasty assortment of fish, pork, chicken, rice and vegetables. Afterwards the DJ got going. The Dominicans like their music lively and loud. The first few numbers were local tunes (I wish I had Shazam on to capture the names). Then it turned into Michael Jackson night with a local who really had all the moves. I was excited to see Shandy, Martin’s wife (one of the PAYS guys), who had not only done laundry for me but also put in half a dozen tiny braids to my hair.

Dominica boy

Sunday was a full day out in the Kalinago territory. The Kalinago is the name taken by the local native population. Though small in number, they live on the windward side of the island in a small community and still observe many custom traditions. The day was tough. We had the chance to meet the local population, distribute donations (the area where they live had been particularly hard hit by the hurricane), and see a local performance. We did all that, but it felt more than a little forced. I did not go on any of the donation visits because I felt there were simply too many people (intimidating to say the least to have 6 white people show up on your doorstep with some donated goods). The performance as well felt forced, though I was still happy to have seen something of their local traditions. We were lucky enough to visit one of the shops where they sell their goods (straw baskets that the women weave) and I was happy to see everyone carting away some beautiful handiwork, adding a few more dollars to local hands.

Kalinago falls

hurricane damage

John, Mark & Ann decided to stay an extra day and this time we booked a private tour with Paul, who works for one of the PAYS guys who runs a tour bus service on the side (Eddison). We headed south where Paul got off the main road and took us down into some of the seaside villages. The destruction was incredible. You’d see one house demolished sitting next to another house that looked completely untouched. Dominica has the reputation of being one of the best islands with building codes to survive storms, but many of the older homes were built to no such standard and it showed. What was truly frightening was to see the houses that got caught by mud and rock slides. If they weren’t smashed and destroyed, they were either picked up and carried along with the debris, or simply filled up by the debris and mud as it rolled along. Many homes had first floors that were still filled to the ceiling by mud and rock and trees – the families are living on the second floors till they clear the first. In other cases the winds ripped off second stories so the families are now reduced to the first floor. Despite it all, roads were cleared, recovery work was going on everywhere you looked (often sponsored by countries all around the world), and the people still had a smile on their faces and were happy to see us.

hurricane damage – rockslides and mudslides

Paul thought we needed to follow the other tour going on, but since we had booked him privately we convinced him that we wanted to go off on our own, so we headed to Trafalgar Falls. The two sets of falls there are the most famous in the entire island and it is an incredible view. You can climb your way up to the falls, but it’s a lot of bouldering, and we gave up after only making it halfway to one of the falls. We headed back, stopped along the shore for lunch, and then went to check out the sulfur springs.

Trafalgar Falls

Dominica still has between 7 and 9 active volcanoes (depending on who you ask), though none have erupted in decades. They do have hot sulfur springs though at the southern end of the island. Unfortunately all of the main springs just at the edge of the ocean in Soufiere were completely wiped out in the storm, but if you dug into the sand you could still find warm patches and a few years from now those pools may be back. We drove up the hill to the main spring and the park had been mostly flattened. Again, rocks and trees gave way and the mud/rockslides had ripped through the entire area. Though the pools were wiped out, the springs were still there so it was fun to climb through the water up the hillside. Tour guide Paul stripped down to his skivvies and jumped in, climbing to where a pipe poured hot water out into the pools. He said this was the place they had always gone to anyway to get away from the crowds, so I was happy to see some things were still in place.

John pondering the falls

From there we headed back home. Judy spotted wood carvings on the side of the road, so we stopped and were invited into the artist’s studio where we could see the work he was doing post storm. They had a new litter of kittens and it was fun to see his young children playing with them, a little normalcy after all the trauma they’ve been through.

We got back in time for one of the PAYS famous barbeques. For $20 bucks you get a plate full of food and all the rum punch you can drink. The food is tasty but the rum punch is deadly and you have to be careful of how much you drink…………you’ll definitely feel it the next day. I don’t know how, but after putting away gallons of the punch at the last BBQ, Simon & Charles woke up at 3 AM to discover their anchor had dragged and they were drifting well out to sea. I’m not sure I would have done as good a job resetting the anchor after that amount of punch!

Indian River Tour, Judy & Daniel

Simon and Charles rented a van and we piled in along with Judy and Torben to explore the island further out. We headed north thinking we’d circumnavigate the island clockwise. Unfortunately just an hour in, we a) ran out of road (missed a turn because there are no road signs), and b) the van suddenly lost all acceleration and started spewing smoke. Luckily it was a downhill run back to town where we exchanged cars.

first rental car

It was great luck that we had Simon driving since Dominicans drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the right just like Australia where Simon is from. He did have a touch of Mario Adretti in him – the roads are full of potholes and there’s lots of sketchy switchbacks, but he’d attack them all with the same enthusiasm.

Portsmouth Market

We headed over to the windward side of the island that had some of the worst wind damage from the storm. Entire valleys had trees toppled everywhere and those that were still standing were completely denuded. Even so, 6 months after Maria, you can’t stop the greenery. You could already see the growth starting on the forest floor and working its way up and out.

Red Rocks

We stopped and asked some locals how to get to Red Rock, and wound up giving a lift to a young woman who was going that way. Turns out that was the start of a trend for the day, as we constantly needed to ask directions and people were always looking for (and appreciative of) rides.

Red Rock is an outcropping with a vivid red hue and dramatic shapes facing the sea. We hired a local guide off the side of the road (we’re learning that this is somewhat common in Dominica) to give us a tour of the area. Not only did we spend time exploring the rock formations but also learned quite a bit about Dominica’s plant life. The islanders are all quite knowledgeable of the medicinal properties of the plants on the island. We were even given a branch of fresh bay leaves to take back to the boats for cooking.

Emerald Pool

We headed back to the center of the island and after a few missed attempts found the Emerald Pool. It gets its name from the color of the water as the sun shines through the trees. Though the water was cool at first, it made for a refreshing swim and you could swim or climb all the way up to the waterfall. We were particularly lucky in that we had the entire place to ourselves. We didn’t run into any other visitors until we were leaving.

We were starving by now and asked someone if there was a local place to eat (none of the concessions at the pool were open post storm). We were given loose directions to a place up the road. Driving by you wouldn’t have even thought it was a restaurant, but we stopped and were rewarded with tasty pork sandwiches, fried chicken, and fish stew with some of the spiciest peppers I’ve ever tasted. And cold beer – lots of cold beer.

Sultan Falls

We decided to try for Sultan Falls on our way home. Once again, we drove right by as there was no sign. Turns out the entrance is at a random building being used to house trucks and construction equipment. A guy working there confirmed that we were heading back in the right direction, which is good because the driving got sketchy fast. The road turned into a track, turned into a washed out path and then simply ended because it had been washed away. Charles went ahead and reported that it was worth a slippery climb downhill to the falls. What a reward. The view was absolutely spectacular. You really had to be careful because everything was damaged or wet or algae coated, but you could get right in front of several falls. And once again, we had the entire place all to ourselves – no one else was there.

Torben & Judy’s friend John had just sailed into Dominica with friends so the whole group of us finished the night at a local restaurant Charles & Simon had discovered in their search for a new dinghy (theirs disappeared and we don’t know if it was stolen or untied and drifted out to sea). Coco Mango is owned by a Syrian gentleman and the food was delicious – fresh hummus and baba ganoush, shwarma sandwiches, and chicken. Somehow the conversation turned to sourdough starter and I offered to bring some out to the owner’s wife (head chef) along with some recipes. Always fun to share.

Giving a lift to locals

Dominica Trafalgar Falls

Welcome to our last point south on this voyage. We’ve lingered too long in other places so we’re scrapping our plans for Grenada. We’ll head north again after our visit here and start heading for home. I offered to Trip to get to Grenada and leave the boat for hurricane season, but the idea of being without the boat for summer in New England is more than he can bear and we can’t afford two boats.

Though the moorings don’t have pennants, Trip realized if I laid down on the deck of the boat midship we were low enough to the water to snag the mooring ball. Turns out that was a good idea because there were less than 12 boats in the harbor when we arrived and by nightfall there were 60+. We’ve witnessed a few instances of dragging so in all fairness, happy to have a mooring (& they’re free during this Yachtie Appreciation Week).

Dominica got absolutely pummeled by the hurricane last September. The island is incredibly lush and green, but when you look at the hills in the right light you can see how much foliage was blown away. They’ve been working hard since the storm and it’s evident that, despite the damage, things are trying to get back to normal. Though the damage looks to be the same, the attitude seems to be much better and resilient down here than in the BVI.

Indian River

Local boat guys chauffeur service

Dominica has a group called PAYS (Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services) that manages everything from mooring balls, to water taxis, to beachfront BBQs, island tours, and assistance with anything you can think of (laundry, water, etc). They operate the most brightly colored boats and they’re of incredible assistance. We’ve heard others complain about the aggressiveness, but we haven’t seen it yet. Instead they’re incredibly proud of their island, welcoming to visitors, and happy to help. Given the work they’re doing and the devastation they’ve been through, I don’t have a problem paying.

coconut carving

Our first night we had dinner with Tivoli (arrived a few hours after we did) and new friends Simon and Charles from Belle du Large III at one of the few beach front bars still in operation. It was a basic meal of fish/chicken with rice and vegetables, but we all cleared our plates it was so tasty. The beer flowed freely and we sampled the local rum as well (“Under The Table” infused with pot plants didn’t give me the high I expected). We found out Charles and Simon were doing a river tour early the next morning and decided to join in.

horseback riding on Portsmouth Beach

Daniel picked us all up boatside at 7 AM. Despite the early arrangements, it’s the best time to go since the heat hasn’t settled in and it’s not crowded – there was only one other boat. Once upon a time the river had a canopy that created a mysterious appearance (hence the filming of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie here). The canopy was gone from the storm & Calypso’s hut was destroyed, but it was still a great boat ride. Motors are forbidden beyond the first bridge so our guide Daniel rowed us upstream while he filled us in on all the local flora and fauna. The buttress roots were totally amazing and the Bush Bar was a lot of fun to explore. We didn’t see many birds but were lucky enough to view one of the local hawks, preening on a branch high out of the water.

Indian River

tall ships

This certainly is the place to be!  Last night I counted no less than 5 tall ships (Sea Cloud, Eye of the Wind, Frederic Chopin to name a few) as well as the Club Med 2, a 5 masted staysail schooner/cruise ship.  Very pretty views, especially as the sun sets or rises in this harbor.

OMG the Hunger Games continue for moorings each morning.   This morning I watched as moorings got snapped up one by one as boats left. Big winds and seas have already built, so most boats are leaving under two or three reefs and a whisper of a jib.  As soon as a mooring is vacated another boat is there to take it.  The first amazing site I had this morning was a guy at the bow (to run lines to hook up to the mooring) with a boat hook in one hand and a six month old infant in the other.   These moorings are not easy to catch (easiest by laying flush on deck and leaning down to feed lines through) so that would have been a sight to see.  The second was a boat that simply had no skill – the circled for half an hour making unsuccessful attempts.  Then they lowered their dinghy into the water and somehow managed to lose the dinghy.  Cue another 10 minutes rescuing the dinghy before they dropped the boat hook.  At this point a kind stranger from a neighboring boat jumped in their dinghy to assist.   The things you get to see here before breakfast.

next generation of palm trees

Yesterday we decided to head over to Plage de Pompierre.  A nice hike across the island and then a great beach that’s very popular with young families.

As the weather held us in the Saintes we decided to do some more exploring. We hiked (much longer and hillier than I expected) over to Pain du Sucre (SugarLoaf). They only had a postage stamp of a beach there and it was packed, but we managed to squeeze in and get in some remarkable snorkeling right from shore. The storm doesn’t seem to have done much damage, as sea fans and enormous barrel sponges were everywhere right off the shore.

wedding party in the Saintes

Coming back to the boat one day we noticed the outboard on the dinghy running pretty rough, and then it died. Luckily we were pretty close to the boat so Trip was able to row the final bit. Turns out when we were in Deshaies Trip went to the gas station and bought ‘gazole’ thinking that was gasoline. It’s not – it’s diesel (gas + oil). ‘Essence’ is gasoline. We hailed one of the guys collecting mooring ball fees and in my broken French I explained the problem. He promised to help out the next day. After a series of mixed up communications with his office he came back at the end of the day and took Trip ashore with the jerry cans to dispose of the diesel. Then he took him all the way to the next island (turns out the main island doesn’t have a fuel dock – destroyed in the hurricane) where he could get gas. Once again, cruising = fixing problems in exotic places. And it only took 24 hours!

Despite how small the Saintes is you really need reservations (both for lunch or dinner) at the best restaurants. We made a reservation for lunch at Dou Dou and were not disappointed. You sit under umbrellas (to protect from the sun and/or rain) but you’re right on the beach which means the first two rows of tables are mildly flooded at high tide, which is fun to watch. The presentation was worthy of any New York restaurant and the seafood was outstanding. Trip got the best meal all around – dorado (mahi mahi) with a creamy passionfruit sauce. Does not sound like it should work on fish but it was beautiful and delicious.

Grand Anse beach

The next night our luck finally ran out with the mooring ball. You hear stories about mooring lines breaking and it finally happened to us. After a few days of high winds and rolling waves coming in, I happened to walk forward to take a look at our mooring lines and chafing gear (extra heavy pieces of cloth wrapped around at the point of contact that provides the initial wear and tear). Imagine my surprise when I saw one set of lines dangling free. When I pulled them up I found the line had completely sheared and the chafe guard was gone. Trip got into the dinghy so we could put a replacement line on and wouldn’t you know it, as he got forward of the boat, nearly to the mooring ball, the next squall kicked up. For the next 10 minutes he crouched in the dinghy and I crouched on the forward deck as rain driving like needles pounded us and the wind gusted into the forties. The mooring ball disappeared underwater as the boat pulled it down with the force of the wind and we just hoped the last mooring line wouldn’t separate. We got lucky, the squall passed, the line held, and we were able to get a new line on.

split mooring line, chafe gear and all

We were so exhausted we collapsed in the cockpit afterward. I would have been happy to stay aboard to recover from that close call, but Trip really wanted to go ashore. There was one restaurant, La Fringale, we hadn’t visited that featured a classic French menu – including escargot. I got dressed and we went ashore. Turns out it was a well-deserved lunch. Trip had his escargot and I had a lovely beef carpaccio. We split a cassoulet. That sounds odd, as cassoulet is a national French casserole of sausage, duck confit, and white beans, normally savored in the dead of winter. I think we were so chilled from the rainstorm and exhausted to boot that the cassoulet was exactly what we needed.

While the winds and seas stayed high we hiked over to the windward side of the island. The smaller beaches were ok, but Grand Anse was fabulous. You’re never allowed to swim there because it’s considered so rough, but in these conditions it was particularly fierce. We were the only ones standing above the beach, watching the waves come crashing in – truly majestic. Trip also tried his hand at the French idea of an outdoor fitness center – he tried every single one of the machines they had there, though I only captured one picture.

Torben and Judy came back and we were able to have an afternoon drink and lunch to celebrate Judy’s birthday. While at the bar we happened to look down over what looked like and was indeed a wedding party. We later discovered they had rented the local Aqualodge – a small houseboat in the harbor. They were a bit loud that night but it wasn’t bad and we particularly enjoyed being able to cuddle when they played our wedding song – the Hawaiian version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

A weather window finally opened and we decided to head south to Dominica. The wind was still strong and the seas substantial – we got up to 7.9 knots under double reefed main and half jib flying along. Though I never really like the helm, at one point I was on it while Trip was down below checking charts. The boat kept rounding up with bursts of wind and I was a little uncomfortable at how close we were getting to a boat coming toward us. We probably only passed with 40 feet in between the two boats, but of course the other guy was French so he thought that was no problem whatsoever and then got excited when he saw me alone at the helm and gave me a thumbs up. Trip came up ruining my prospects at meeting my next husband…. : )