Dominica in Stealth Mode!

Hi everyone.

 

Note: I recorded my latest video on 23 December in Le Marin and it has been uploading ever since – only at 39%. I guess I’ll have to learn to talk quicker 🙂

 

I thought I would go ahead and post the blog anyway!

 

Greetings from Martinique.

 

Right now we are anchored in Fort de France, the capitol of Martinique.  We have covered a lot of ground since our last blog so let me catch you up on our movements.

 

We made our way back to Falmouth in Antigua from the beautiful Green Island and we were busy getting our official antigen tests ready to comply with entry rules back into Guadeloupe.  We found a small health centre in Falmouth and the graciously agreed to do the antigen tests for the princely sum of 100 USD per test.  The whole process took a couple of hours but we came away armed with the necessary paperwork.

 

We found an amazing pizza place in Falmouth and takeaway pizza on board Bermuda was the order of the day as we prepped ourselves for the passage to Guadeloupe.  We left early on Sunday morning (Dec 12) and although conditions were a little frisky to start with it soon settled and we had a nice fast passage to Deshaies getting in at around 4pm in the afternoon.

 

I managed to get the message feature of our Garmin I reach device working and I was able to send a message visa satellite to my sailing buddy Andrew during our crossing – Its always nice to know someone is following our progress when we’re on the longer open Atlantic passages.

 

We cleared customs in Deshaies and no mention of the antigen test – after shelling out the 400 USD and all the hassle to organise them😞.

 

The next day we headed for Basse de Terre, the capitol of Guadeloupe situated on the South west coast.  We stopped on the way in Pigeon Island which is renounced for its excellent snorkelling  – This was one of the spots on Mandy’s bucket list as it was discovered by Jacques Cousteau.  Well it didn’t disappoint.  We took some good footage with the Go pro….

 

 

As always our next challenge was to research the health requirements for Dominica, the next destination on our list.  We learned they had recently opened up again to visiting yachts.  The requirement was a PCR test taken no more than 72 hours before departure, then we had had to send a “request to travel” email to the authorities along with a copy of the negative PCR test.  Then we wait 24 hours for them to approve and then we can leave.  This starts to get very tricky when we are coordinating weather forecasts and working out our timing.  In the end it was just too difficult to organise.  There was a one week waiting list for PCR test in Guadeloupe so we decided we would push on and move south to Martinique.  Technically we needed to stay 2 miles offshore when passing Dominica but we decided we would take a chance and anchor in one of the bays to get some rest.  Dominica is not very yacht friendly with very few anchorages, just very deep water right up to the shore line.  From a safety perspective We had been advised not to anchor on our own but there were no other yachts to be found so we dropped our hook for the night.  We turned off our AIS in case the customs were monitoring and had a rather sleepless night.  A local pirogue came zooming out to us in the middle of the night full of local Caribs.  We held our breaths but they just shone a torch in our direction and kept going.

 

We all sighed a collective breath of relief.

 

We woke at sunrise – 6am and got going again.  The lush landscape in Dominica is because of all the rain.  It was pelting down and we all wore our rain jackets.  Even though the temperature is warm its a little early to get soaked to the skin!

 

The scenery looked amazing and hopefully we will find a way to visit on the way back.  It is said that Dominica has 365 waterfalls – one for every day of the week.

 

We headed out for our open Atlantic passage for Martinique.  This was a pretty tough passage.  We had two reefs in the main (as many as we have!) and only a small amount of the Genoa was rolled out.  The wind was 20-25 with long periods of 25 knots and some higher gusts.  The boat and crew did great but steering took some concentrations as the waves were huge!

 

As we approached Martinique we got hit with a 30 knot squall and torrential rain.  The rain actually flattened the seas state and though we had a few anxious moments all was ok.  When we rounded the end of Martinique we were celebrating and thinking we were home and dry but we saw another squall line, this time reaching 37 knots.  We rolled in the Genoa and he sanded down wind and held on until it subsided.

 

Then we headed up to Saint Pierre, the main town on the north of the island.  We found a nice anchorage and were happy to have a well deserved rest.  We had a lot of miles under our keel in the last week.  Antigua to Guadeloupe, Guadeloupe to the Saintes, Saintes to Dominica, Dominica to Martinique.

 

Personally I was very excited to reach Martinique as it is home for my friend and colleague Daniel Depaz.  Daniel and I started our WSI businesses 14 years in November 2007 and we both went through the same boot camp training in Toronto that year.  I have always been really impressed how Daniel has run such a successful business on a small island like Martinique that has a population of 350k.  But what a place to work and live.  It is so beautiful in terms of scenery and an amazing culture.  Being part of France there is a great mix of Gallic and Caribbean charm.

 

In many of the places we visit we rely on the guide books for information and use the local sailing facebook groups for tips on what’s going on.  However we were blessed in Martinique to have Daniel as our guide.  He has been an amazing host.  He picked us up in Sanit Pierre and drove us out to see the Depaz Rhum distillery.  This was founded by Daniel’s grandfather after the big Volcano eruption in 1902 destroyed the town of Saint Pierre.  His grandfather Victor Depaz showed great resilience to come back and build this up again after the destruction.  It was wonderful to see the plantation house that Daniel had so many great memories growing up.  We had a tour of the factory and stocked up on some Rhum – well it is a long trip :).

 

On Saturday (Dec 18) we sailed to Fort de France and found an anchorage behind the old Fort wall of Fort St Louis.  This is an active naval base for France and the French flags filed proudly from the hill top.

 

Little did we know, Daniel in his role of host was just getting started.  He invited us to his house for Sunday lunch. We graciously accepted and I can only say, this was been the most amazing experience of our trip so far.  Daniel lives on the East coast of the island in Baie de Francis.  We stopped for some photos along the way as the coastline, fringed with reefs is stunningly beautiful.

 

This was no ordinary lunch.  Daniel had prepared his world famous “Cochon de Lait”.  In English translates loosely to suckling pig.  Its baked for several hours in his outdoor cooker.  What a treat – A spectacle, a conversation point and a delicious meal all in one! Daniel really laid on the entertainment and we had a wonderful afternoon meeting his family and friends and sipping Rum punches in his swimming pool which he likes to call his Rum Tank🙂. Martinique is already a special place but these experiences with Daniel provided our whole family with an experience that we will remember forever.  Thanks Daniel!

 

Next we visit Grande Anse D’Artlet which is a short sail away.  We will stay just one night and then on to Marin which is the main yachting centre on the SE of Martinique.  We have a few jobs to get done on the boat.  Dream Yacht Charters have a base there and we hope to get them to look at our Windlass (the mechanic which helps lift the anchor) which has been causing us issues.  Then. It’s the usual refuel and take on water ready for our next passage.

 

We’ve decided to move on to St Lucia on Thursday and hopefully we will spend Christmas there.  We have our usual challenges with the health check but this time we were able to book PCR tests in Marin on Wednesday morning.  The only challenge is that we will leave for St Lucia without the result so fingers crossed we get the all clear!

 

Our destination is Rodney bay – This is the sailing capital of St Lucia and the destination for many translatlsantic trips.

 

Till next time.  Thanks for watching.

 

Follow our boat Bermuda on https://www.noforeignland.com/boat/4967280230268928