Category Archives: Caribbean

Indian River Nature Preserve

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Today we arranged to do two sightseeing tours with Arielle. The morning excursion was up Indian River, the second was a trip to the Syndicate Trails rain forest hike. Andrew picked us up at our respective boats and took us to the dock at the mouth of Indian River. Dominica boasts 365 rivers, but Indian River is one of the few that are navigable. He directed us to the gas station/mini market to buy tickets into the wildlife preserves. Both Syndicate and Indian Rivers are in preserves, and we asked for a day pass for both parks. The clerk sold us the tickets, and assured us it was a day pass good for both parks, and sent us back to the boat. We picked a great day for sightseeing. It was clear, sunny and warm out. Actually, it was a little on the hot side.

Beyond the dock, it is forbidden to Continue reading →

Hoisting the Smoke Stack Back Up

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Eric went right to work as soon as he got up. He took down the rest of the mountings from the mast. The second shot is of one of the broken mountings. You can see it used to be a perfect square with 4 holes.

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Eric had agonized yesterday over how to fix the problem, until he remembered that in his cache of spare parts there is a rubber hose intended for exhaust, so it could stand to get really hot. He dug out the hose and cut it into squares, then made holes for the screws. It was a total pain in the rear to get the shape and holes just right. He is becoming a pro at fabricating spare parts these days.

Eric went outside and mounted the rubber pieces to the mast. Originally, there had been Continue reading →

Welcome to Portsmouth, Dominica

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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 Continue reading →

History of Dominica

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Dominica is not the same place as the Dominican Republic. Dominica (dah-mah-nee-kah) is an independent country made up of a single island, located in between the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. The Dominican Republic (Doh-min-ick-an) shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, several hundred miles northwest of Dominica. Dominica is 290 square miles and has a population of 72,400. It features the highest mountains in the Eastern Caribbean. It has fertile soil and plenty of rainfall, making it the “bread basket” of the Caribbean.

The first inhabitants on the island are believed to be Continue reading →

Start of the Passage from English Harbor to Portsmith, Dominica

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Yesterday was chore day. Eric changed the forward racor fuel filter, changed the generator racor fuel filter, changed the main on engine fuel filter, changed the generator on engine fuel filter, changed the transmission oil and filter, ran the wing engine, and replaced the sea strainer for the diaphragm bilge pump. Eric also put the storm plates back on the salon (living room) windows, which we had taken down for the boat waxing. He also put Lanicote corrosion protector on the screws for the storm plates.

Christi did laundry, cleaned, and did the never ending and thankless job of reorganizing storage spaces.

This morning we walked over to Falmouth Harbor to go Continue reading →