More upwind sailing, and against the current. Uncomfortable, but it would be churlish to complain. Only 20 miles.
Dominica, when we arrived at Portsmouth on it's NorthWest shore, was completely different from what we had seen so far. Steep sided, with rainclouds on the peaks and what appeared to be just a few shacks, rather than any large scale development. We did see a few buildings and a petrol station later.
This was also the first appearance of the boat boys, which seemed more prevalent as we moved Southwards. These fellows shoot about the bay in wooden boats, with Yamaha Enduro outboards, offering to show you where to anchor, sell you flags, food or water, run tours for you, guard your boat when you are ashore and many other services,
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Eric Spaghetti "]
[/caption]This was Eric Spaghetti, my favourite name, ever, I think. The pilot guide had warned that some of these guys could be rude or threatening, and some would try and steal. This was not our experience at all, they were curteous and good natured. We anchored, Portsmouth being a good anchorage, shallow and sandy, and headed ashore to a bar, Big Papa's, for a beer and to watch the sunset.
The street behind this beach bar showed a bit more of the true nature of Dominica, as far as I could tell.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Street life, Dominica"]
[/caption]We returned to the boat. Vegetable chilli with rice and Fajitas.
The following morning we had decided to take a trip up 'Indian River', a bit of a tourist attraction, and used in the film Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead men's chest'. $EC 40 each, about £9. No outboards allowed so Eric rowed us through the tangled roots of the mangroves, fish and wading birds all around. No other life though, Eric explained how they'd shot many of the monkeys as they stole bananas. Who'd have thought it, eh?
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Indian River "]
[/caption]At the furthest navigable point up the river, we stopped for a walk in the rainforest and refreshments at a small bar. Grapefruit crush sounded nice, although a later stomach upset left me wondering whether the water came directly from the river.We quickly upped anchor on return to Cafe Seerose and sailed South for the Capital, Roseau. The anchorage was poor, 20m of water close in to the shore, and 200m a mile or so off. First time we anchored with a Stern line ashore, but dragged, so we abandoned tht stern line and managed to hold.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Will the anchor drag?"]
[/caption]Look happy don't I? We went ashore for food. A single line of concrete shacks led to the main town. We found a shop for provisions, but walking back, in the dark, I was concerned, staring at people drinking in the unlit insides of dwellings that were open to the street. There was nothing to worry about, and we enjoyed a lovely meal at a local restaurant.
[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Roseau, Dominica"]
[/caption]
