Oh Dominica - You Are Special

(Note: Joe and I wrote two versions of Dominica and I chose to publish both as Dominica was quite spectacular. We’ll change it up for the next post.)

What we’re enjoying the most about this adventure is the diversity of the Caribbean Islands. Each one has it’s own history, culture and vibe. But there one that has stood out (the week of June 5th) and that’s Dominica.

One of our Tradewinds captains said she loved Dominica so we were looking forward to experiencing it. We knew had been hit hard by hurricane Maria in 2017, so we weren’t sure what to expect. What we got was the most amazing four days on this island that has so much to offer.

As we entered the bay, we were greeted by Andrew, a PAYS colleague. PAYS stands for Portsmouth Association of Yacht Services. They’re basically conscierges while you’re visiting. The PAYS in Portsmouth is run by Eddison and the service was excellent. Andrew took us to our mooring ball, helped us hook up in the ”sporty” winds, took all of our documentation and cleared us in, (something that is normally quite a hassle.)

He returned with our authorization to go on the island just in time for the Sunday evening BBQ they have for “yachties.” These guys make a living off of people like us, traveling on boats around the Caribbean. They do your laundry, take your trash, set up tours, take you on tours and everything. The BBQ was a blast as we met other “yachties” some our age, but many were young. I spent time with the dad of the kids who I enjoyed on the St. Martin dock. He, his wife and two daughters are sailing to Columbia. They homeschool the girls, his wife is working as a medical writer and he just quit his job because he got a promotion and they were requiring him to work too many hours.

The next day, Andrew took us on an early morning Indian River tour. Once again, we were by ourselves. He said that during high season there are so many boats on the river that it’s hard to turn around. It was so quiet as 57 year old Andrew rowed his old wooden boat with very heavy oars up the river. He described all of the plants, showed us the shack and area used during the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean.

The afternoon was spent with Yellow, the local mast climber who helped us with a rigging issue and our halyard that pulls the main sail up. If any cruisers are reading this, Yellow, although a little unorthodox, knows boats. While Joe and I are willing to go up to the spreaders which are a little over half way up the mast, Yellow just popped right up to the very top. (Joe will tell you more about Yellow.)

The next day Grey Goose, our tour guide took us around the north part of the island. First stop Chauderiere Pool. Cold water. Coloradoans, think end of summer cold. And we jumped from 15 feet up. Pretty good for 60-somethings.

We hiked up to Calibishie, went out on Red Rocks. The view of the Atlantic was spectacular. Before lunch, we toured the Pointe Baptiste Chocolate “factory.” They purchase cocoa nuts from the local farmers and make this delicious chocolate in a small facility. Much of it done by hand except for a contraption that the owners brother-in-law designed with PVC pipe and duct tape.

Grey Goose’s van had a sun roof, so I could pop out of the top and take photos of the sea and the many plants along the side of the road. The communities have a competition as to who can have the most beautiful road side plants. So they have flowers and colorful plants planted by hand along the road wherever you go.

Back to our boat where we enjoyed a lovely dinner at Matiba’s which was a 60 yard golf shot from our boat, so dinghying back in the dark wasn’t an issue.

With our sail ready to hoist for the first time in a week, we sailed south to Roseau, the Capitol of Dominica where Mr. Beans met us as we entered the harbor. He works for SeaCat. We were truly getting spoiled by these guys. He took our mooring lines, helped us hook up and we were off to the market for fresh vegetables.

The next day was one of the most spectacular days we’ve had. Armstrong was our tour guide. Born here, but he worked on a cruise ship for 10 years. He loved talking about his island. First of all, he was trained by a botanist about all of the millions of plants on the island. He’d say “if you boil this is water, it will cure this ailment” and ”if you eat this daily, you won’t get sick.” He has 5 kids and we figured he was in his 50s.

He first took us to hike around Fresh Water Lake that’s in a crater. Again - we were by ourselves and there were steps originally put in by the Carib Indians on much of the trail. It was foggy and cool and when the clouds lifted, we could see a little of the Atlantic.

Our next stop was Titou Gorge cold water caves. Armstrong donned his swim suit, took a lifesaver ring out of his van and jumped 15 feet into take-your-breath-away cold water. We slid in and swam to the back of the caves to a spectacular waterfall. Again. No one near us until we were leaving when we ran into some “yachties” from Washington state.

Trafalgar Falls was our last stop and I wasn’t quite prepared for what was ahead. Armstrong had asked if I had shoes, which I had for the hike, but had taken them off because they were muddy. I saw the sign that said 15 minutes to Trafalgar Falls. I thought - “I can wear my flip flops.” Armstrong proceeded ahead, not noticing my flip flops and guided us up a 20 minute climb on slippery rocks to two waterfalls that come together. One is hot and the other cold.

The fact that I did it in flip flops was extremely stupid, but I made it. We first went into the cold one and again, take-your-breath-away cold. The rocks had sulfer on them so they were orange then there was green moss. It looked painted. We then moved over to the hot water fall that was like going into a hot tub. We’ve never experienced anything like this before.

As we left Dominica on Tyler’s birthday, June 10th, we couldn’t be more grateful to all of the PAYS and SeaCat guys who made our experience on Dominica a memorable one.

#Dominica

Andrew rowing on the Indian River

These plants were planted on the side of the road everywhere we went.

The stairs that took us around Fresh Water Lake.

Joe and Armstrong, our guide for the southern part of Dominica who guided me up to Trafalgar Falls in my flip flops.