Blog by Rod (see earlier photo of old guy with a camera!)
Wednesday 17th - Thursday 18th April 2024
Marigot Bay
Thankfully, today’s plan was to visit Marigot Bay, which we had seen from Fort Napoleon yesterday. My legs were aching from the climb up to the Fort, so a relatively short walk over to inspect said Bay seemed a piece of cake.
After breakfast and a phone call to my better half to wish her a happy birthday, we set out for town. This involved a longish dingy ride as we are moored about a mile from the town dock. The wind was light so that the dingy ride was dry.
We set out for Marigot Bay after a visit to customs to check out as we planned to depart in the morning for Dominica. Even more important was the visit to the bakery to stock up on baguettes as we certainly weren’t going to get any on Dominica.
What looked to be an easy hike turned out to involve some sketchy scrambling along a very narrow pathway on the side of a steep hill. Fortunately, most of the path was somewhat shaded and a friendly lizard posed for some photos.
We had hoped to checkout a reputed marina at the end of the path, but it was quite disappointing, mostly a boat junkyard. The bay was picturesque, but open to the north, so not a good anchoring place except in very settled weather.
Scrambling back along the path was somewhat easier, but at the end we found ourselves rather “peckish”. Luckily, there was a restaurant still serving lunch that would accommodate us. The host told us that there was only fish left on the menu. We thought they meant only seafood, but what became clear was there was only one entree left making choosing our lunch very easy. No menu needed!
It turned out to be a very delicious meal, though we are still not sure what fish was served. Two beers, a large bottle of water and ice cream seem to be adequate reward for our hike.
The walk to town was quite warm, and it was a great relief to get back to the boat and go snorkeling and cool down. The snorkeling wasn’t nearly as good as that at Pigeon Island, but the cooling water was much appreciated.
After quick cockpit showers and a bit of evening chatting, we ate a light evening meal and went to bed a bit before “boater’s midnight” (9 PM).
Portsmouth, Dominica
After a rather rolly evening (meaning the boat was rolling from side to side in the ever present swells), we got up at 6 AM to prepare for departure. We dropped the mooring at 7 AM and hoisted the mainsail, mostly for a riding sail as the forecast was for light winds today, and we expected to motor-sail the entire 20 miles. We pointed the bow to the south for Dominica, barely visible in the haze. Our otherwise uneventful trip was enlivened by Mike’s shout “fish on”. Which turned out to be a 2 foot barracuda. Mike despatched the fish and filleted it.
Upon entering Rupert Bay, we were met by a workboat that showed us to our mooring and assisted us in attaching our mooring lines to the eye on the top of the mooring ball. This is a great help as otherwise it is quite a feat passing lined through the loop from the bow of a boat that is bouncing up and down
Checking in at customs was quite easy for me as I just watched the process as Mike filled out the required forms. A long dinghy ride took us back to the boat, where we picked up Gloria and went to the nearest dinghy dock and strolled along the waterfront street to the police station so Mike could get a temporary permit to drive.
Back at the boat, we spent the rest of the afternoon resting. It turns out that no one slept well last night. Todays’ heat and humidity certainly got me down. After the early evening temperature dropped a bit, Mike prepared an excellent dinner of green salad, Spanish rice, fried plantains and the star of the meal, the barracuda!
Tomorrow, we’ve hired a vehicle and plan to tour some of the Island by car.
Rod
15 34.896 N, 61 27.785 W
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