At midnight we heard a loud crash on the top deck. It was windy and rainy and very dark out from the lack of stars and moon. We turned on the lights and looked out the back windows. Everything looked fine. The kayaks, dinghy and dock boxes were all secure. Eric went outside briefly and glanced at the top deck. All looked fine. We couldn’t figure out for the life of us what caused the crashing sound.
About the same time as the crash, the wind calmed down some and the seas started to improve a little. By 0100, we were in the lee of Guadalupe and the ride became smooth and nice. The wind was blocked by the big mountains on Basse Terre, so it died down to 3 5 knots. There are definitely a lot more lights at night on Guadeloupe than on Antigua, but it is no surprise since Guadeloupe has 450,000 people and Antigua only has 72,000.
We left the shelter of Guadalupe at about 0400 and it was instantly back to not being a fun ride. At sunrise, Dominica was visible, but the big mountains were mostly enshrouded in clouds. As morning progressed and we got closer to the island, the waters got more protected and the ride slowly but surely got calmer and nicer. The whole entire passage we were pelted by squalls, sometime being hit by several per hour. Some brought a lot of wind and rain, others just rain.
At 0800, Christi came on watch. As soon as she walked up the stairs, she was horrified to find that the whole upstairs smelled like exhaust. Eric immediately went downstairs to look at the gaskets. They were fine and the engine room was clear of exhaust. Christi increased the RPM’s to blow out the stack. All looked to be normal with the engine, although it was running a slightly warmer than normal. Hmmm”¦. Where was the smell coming from? Christi noticed the smell was stronger in the living room and went to open the back door to let in some fresh air. As soon as she opened the door, it was apparent the smell was coming from the cockpit. Was it some kind of strange wind that causes a rare exhaust blow back from our smokestack? The one blower was out, was that the cause? We started beating ourselves up about not getting the blower back in Antigua.
As we approached Dominica, we could see more of the island through the mist. Dominica is quite hilly and green. We rounded the corner into Prince Rupert Bay. In the distance, through the mist, we could see what looks to be a town along the middle of the shoreline and a lot of boats dotting the shoreline. That must be Portsmouth. At the more extreme ends of the bay there were a few scattered buildings that were a bit isolated. One of the buildings at the north end has a nice looking dock in front of it.
We picked a spot and dropped anchor at 0930. Of course, a squall decided to blow through right at that moment, so Christi got sopping wet in the rain. And she got really cold, too. While dropping the anchor, we were approached by a guy on a surfboard selling fruit and flags. The cruising guys had warned that we’d be inundated by people coming out to us trying to sell us stuff. In Tonga, we learned the hard way never to buy anything from someone who approaches you the instant you arrive, before you have had a chance to check prices on shore. We sent him away. Two more people approached us within 5 minutes.
Once we had dropped anchor and were getting settled, we noticed the cockpit had a lot of soot all over it. A shocking amount of soot. How on earth did the soot get back here? We went to the upper deck to get the dinghy down. And that is when we saw it. We couldn’t believe our eyes. All the puzzle pieces instantly fit into place”¦ the crash”¦the exhaust smell”¦the soot. The smokestack had fallen over, parallel to the boom, and being held by the railings.
We aren’t sure why it took us by such surprise, since we had been warned that it happens on Nordhavns. The stack is held up to the mast with rubber mountings which eventually deteriorate. We should have checked them more often. Anyway, the mountings could be repaired, but it was going to require some climbing up the mast. At the moment we really needed to check in. The stack was lying on top of the dinghy, so we called a water taxi to take us to shore. And it was a pretty long ride to the check in area.
The water taxi driver told us that customs and immigration are at the same place, and dropped us off at a commercial dock at the southern edge of town. Several fishing trawlers were tied up to it. Here is a shot of the bay looking north.
We wandered into a gated complex of warehouse style buildings. Dominica was hit by a Hurricane Omar in October 2008, while still rebuilding after a hurricane in August 2007, and the recentness of the disasters shows. The buildings are definitely in need of maintenance. The grounds around the buildings are incredibly overgrown. It is clear that the soil is fertile and plants grow fast here, because there were things like construction equipment that didn’t look very old, yet were covered in plants.
We wandered around what seemed to be a mostly deserted complex until we found someone who showed us where to go. We probably would not have found the little official’s office without help. Check in took about 10 minutes, with just a few forms that were all processed right there. We were delighted to find out that if we planned to stay less than two weeks, we could check out then, too. Check out was even faster than check in. The fees were only about $4 USD. The staff was super helpful and friendly.
When we were done, we asked the water taxi driver to take us to a restaurant. He drove north a short way to the mouth of Indian River. We passed two sunken ships, and we actually had to navigate around one of them to get into the river. The taxi driver, Andrew, explained that the swells from the hurricane pushed the boat into the mouth of the river and the locals actually had to dig a new outlet around it.
He pulled up to a small dock and explained that almost every place is closed this early, but pointed out one restaurant that would be open. We misunderstood him and wandered into the wrong place. The lady who runs the restaurant said the food wasn’t ready yet, but she’d figure out something to make for us. She was such a sweet woman. The restaurant is in excellent shape, as are the bank and gas station across the street, so maybe it was just the warehouse area that was so badly battered by the hurricane.
It was clear as soon as we walked up that this is definitely a locals’ hangout. There was a big group of men loitering about, taking shelter from the rain that had never let up. We normally try to be bright and cheery and warm to the locals, knowing that 99% of the time they will respond in kind to whatever vibe you emanate. But, today we just didn’t have the energy. We were really tired and out of sorts from the night passage, hungry, and really bummed about the smokestack. Since we were stone faced and uninviting in our demeanor, we expected them to basically ignore us. They didn’t. They were super cheerful and friendly, trying to engage us in conversation. We think we are going to like this place. One guy had a sugar cane stalk in one hand and a knife in another. He cut bits of stalk and chewed on it as he talked.
Out came a plate with several pieces of deep fried chicken wings, a pretty salad with lettuce, tomato and carrots, and a big basket of bread. The plate size was comparable to Antigua, but in Antigua you would get a single piece of bread, not a whole basket. The food was delicious. After, Eric asked for dessert, and out came a bowl of cut up grapefruit with sugar. The grand total for both of us was $25 EC, which is roughly $9.00 USD. You can’t even get an appetizer in Antigua for that.
The most popular tourist activity in Portsmouth is a 1.5 hour tour of the Indian River. We debated about having Andrew do the tour for us right then, but we decided we were too tired. Plus, it was still raining. We went back to Kosmos, planning to take a quick nap and then start working on the smokestack. Andrew drove us along the edge of the bay, which is literally lined with sunken ships. It is truly disconcerting to see so many sunken boats. From what we could tell of the buildings, most looked weather beaten, but a few looked nice.
It was noon when we got back. We got up from our nap at 1700, and felt too zombiesque and out of sorts to do anything at all. We were delighted to discover that there is wifi to the boats, and the connection is fairly good. We watched movies and played on the internet. We are sad to report this is a rolly anchorage. We seem to be doing several 180 degree changes in direction, shifting with the wind. It is a good thing we anchored farther out in the edge of the bay, away from just about everyone. We are also sad to report that a club we were anchored near played loud music until 0200.