April 30, 2014

We weighed anchor and left Anse Deshaies at 0820. Our destination was Les Saintes, still part of Guadeloupe. We had cleared out the night before and had 48 hours to leave the country. We motored all the way down the west coast of Guadeloupe, winds between 5 and 10 kts and very little in the way of waves until . . . When we got to the end of the island we had to cross the Canal des Saintes, 6 - 8 miles of open water. The winds picked up to 22+ kts and waves to 4’ - 6’ making the going more difficult than we had earlier! We arrived at our anchorage at 1415, at Anse Fideling in the island of Terre de Bas. We didn’t put the dinghy down as we were only staying one night.

The end of the island of Guadeloupe.

 

May 1, 2014

As we had another relatively short trip to do, we left the anchorage at Anse Fideling at 0800 and headed to Dominica. Today we had the open water to deal with first. - the Dominica Channel. We had good winds averaging 15 - 17 kts and had a good beat to the north end of the island. We then picked up the “cape effect” with winds to 24 kts. We reduced sails and shortly after that lost most of the wind as we were in the lee of the island! Winds dropped to 11 kts but were crazy going down the island, one minute we had good winds, the next no wind and even winds coming from the west! We persevered though and made it to the capital, Roseau, by 1600. We were greeted by Desmond, an employee of Sea Cat, who comes out to greet boats and offer mooring balls. At $10 US per night we gladly accepted as the waters, even close to shore, were 65’, way too deep for us to anchor in. By the time we were settled, it was too late for customs. We lowered the dinghy and went to shore after our normal routine of having a cold beer and some appetizers. We found showers and internet at a bar/restaurant called Drop Anchor, which also had a good dinghy dock. We also treated ourselves to dinner at that restaurant.

Roseau, Dominica greeting area at the cruise ship pier.

 

Renovated Flamboyant Hotel downtown Roseau.

 

Female sperm whale skeleton, Anchorage Hotel.

 

Pool side Anchorage Hotel.

Runaway dinghy drifting by the restaurant (not ours!)

And we thought we were adventourous. These guys rowed "across the pond" from Sweden.

Interesting getting into the dinghy at this dock!

 

May 2, 2014

Jorge went ashore and cleared us in at customs while I stayed on the boat and tidied up a bit. It is sure surprising what a mess the boat gets in after one day of sailing but when you are sailing and heeling (leaning) dirty dishes never get done, life jackets including harnesses, never get put away and everything you have stored away so they don’t get tossed around have to get pulled out and put back in their normal spots.

Later in the morning we went ashore to check out the town and had lunch. Checking out the town, of course, included visiting the market and grocery store (I scored big time, finding a lemon cake for Jorge). After getting back to the boat and putting the groceries away, we tried the Anchorage Hotel for internet as they also had a pool for use (for a fee). Unfortunately we couldn’t get our Blackberry to connect so we walked to another bar and used theirs. It was a good move. The lady, originally from Mexico, gave us a good tip on getting to Trafalgar Falls without paying exuberant prices with the tour guides! Back to the boat for dinner and a quiet evening.

May 3, 2014

We were up by 0800, had breakfast and then headed into town. We were on a mission to get to Trafalgar Falls today. After getting directions from about four different people, we finally found the “bus terminal”, a bunch of vans parked along the side of the road by the police station. We asked one driver if he was going to the falls and he said yes. We got on the bus. About half an hour later the bus left. It seems there is no schedule. The bus driver leaves when he figures he has enough customers to make the trip worthwhile! The trip to the falls was about 20 minutes and after all was said and done, it was well worth it. It was about a 10 minute hike into the rain forest, rock steps at first and then just rocks. Being in a rain forest, we did get a bit of rain, but we had mostly sunshine. Not to rub it in, but I must say, it is hot here, the sun just biting. We are no longer tourists, we walk in the shade as much as we can, not like the cruise boat tourists who are in the islands for just a week. The waters at the base of the falls were crystal clear and cool. Running beside the waters were thermal waters. We first cooled off in the waterfalls, had a picnic lunch, then relaxed in the thermal waters and then back to the cool waters of the falls. It was hard to leave! We were fortunate in that a bus was returning to the city as we were ready to leave so there was no waiting this time. By the time we got back to the city, bought a baguette and dinghied back to the boat, the relaxing cool time by the waterfalls seemed to be a distant memory!  

Trafalgar Falls entrance.

One of the falls.

 

The second falls (side by side).

In front of the waterfalls.

 

The waterfalls (I sure hope these videos download).

 

The thermal waters.

Saturday morning market.

Look closely, that little speck in the water is the top shell of a sea turtle.

Leeloo, a boat from Montreal, we first met in Annapolis and traveled with at different times, had a mooring ball right next to us. It was good to visit with them. They have a similar schedule to ours, wanting to get to Grenada within the next week or so. We were going to originally leave Dominica tomorrow and head to Martinique but Monday’s winds and waves were looking better so we decided to postpone traveling by one day.

May 4, 2014

This morning was a relaxing one, well sort of. I usually save supper dishes until after breakfast the next morning (except when we are traveling) so that was my boat job. Jorge transferred fuel from the jerry cans into the tank. We talked with Mario from Leeloo and we agreed to travel to Martinique tomorrow together after checking the weather again. However the weather this week is supposed to be good.