Dominica

Indian River tree roots

Early on January the 14th, we set sail for the island of Dominica. Hours later, we tied up to a buoy with the help of Marcus in the port of Roseau. Being a pretty deep anchorage, buoys are the best method. You can call him ahead on VHF 16 for assistance. He is also helpful with arranging tours on land. Check in is near the cruise ship port. If you are staying 2 weeks or less, you can clear in and out at the same time.

Tasting all sorts of jungle foods (grapefruit in the photo).

We hiked to Trafalgar Falls, explored the hot springs and sulfur pool, and some of the town. This included a stop by the Roosevelt Primary School to meet the principal and arrange for Stef to teach some robotics activities to two fourth grade classes. Marcus handed the kids the largest orange we had ever seen to share at the end of the trip. They all sat along the dock enjoying the sweet treat.

Our next port was Portsmouth and we had Bonti's help this time. He met us out at sea and offered us a buoy. He did not mind when we said we'd prefer to anchor. After we were settled, he stopped by to see if we needed anything. Of course, he could assist in arranging tours on land. Later that evening, Bonti brought his brother Max out to the boat where we scheduled three days of land excursions, the first starting the next morning at 6:45am! *If you are in a group, you can negotiate a group rate.

The sun had just risen when we stepped aboard Bonti's boat, along with two other sailing families we were traveling with. As we passed under the bridge, Bonti turned off the engine and began paddling us slowly up the river. We encountered many different species of birds, saw a handful of iguana (some were quite large), and large shore crabs. Calypso home, from the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 movie, was mostly gone, being lost to the storms. At the end of the river tour, we walked around the Bush Bar grounds. Right now, it is in the last stage of refurbishment since hurricane Maria. It didn't matter though, as it was so beautiful, walking around in the jungle. Bonti made a present for each of the kids out of leaves. He is a very talented artist!

The kids played hide-n-seek while the adults admired all the vegetation. I was amazed at how quickly it had returned and thoroughly enjoyed all the brilliant splashes of color.

An hour later, we hopped back into the boat and Bonti delivered us home. He reminded us to be ready for the next day's adventures and set a pick up time of 9am.

Jungle vine fun!

I think my favorite tour was the jungle walk. We were taken way back into the bush with many times getting out of the van and walking around exploring. Max, our guide, gave us all sorts of foods to try, such as grapefruit, guava, passionfruit, papaya, cocoa pods, oranges, limes, lemons, cinnamon bark, and nutmeg. We saw baby pineapples growing and learned about the farming techniques. Later on, we hiked to Middleham falls and enjoyed a refreshing swim in the cold water. Along the way, Max showed the kids are jungle vine to swing across on. Everyone ended up taking a few turns. =)
We returned to the dock around 2pm and settled in at a beach bar to relax while the kids played.

Zach holding a prop from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

Jean Baptiste, founder of the Chocolate Factory, Dominica.

Tasting the cocoa nibs before processed into smooth chocolate.

Handicrafts of the Kalingo Indian tribe.

Daniel, founder of the Cassava Bakery. 

We learned about the process of making Cassava bread from root to finished product.

Our final day in Portsmouth found us being guided by Shadow, a Kalingo indian. We learned about his people, explored a little of the territory and chatted with some of the ladies selling their handmade goods along the sides of the road. Shadow also took us to the Chocolate Factory, where we learned about the process of making chocolate. We all got to taste the bean nibs, liquid chocolate, and then sample all of the varieties they produce. This was by far the tastiest part of the whole trip! We purchased a few bars to take home and set about preparing to sail to the Isles de Saintes and Guadeloupe the following morning.

Touring a cave in Red Rock.

5:30am found Jared, Zach, and I in Bonti's boat as we wanted to stock up at the Saturday morning produce market. This is by far the best market I have ever seen! Bonti asked us what we wanted and he took us all around to the different vendors to find the freshest goods. Our bags bulging with fruits and veggies, we thanked him for his time and promised to tell all our friends about his great service and hospitality.

By 9am, we were sailing away from charming Dominica. This is our favorite island so far. If you ever get a chance, this country is a definite must see!

Max holding out a cocoa pod for us to try.

Martinique

Waterfall hike, Martinique.

We had a fantastic sail over to Martinique. It took about 12 hours, and was a little bumpy with the swell, but not too bad. We started off with a brown bird who kept circling our boat, diving occasionally for the flying fish. Eventually we had a few more join him and then as we sailed into the anchorage near Point Catherine, we had about 10 of these birds. They were quite comical, as they'd dive over and over again, attempting to catch a fish. They'd get lucky about every 50 dives or so. What a challenging way to catch a meal.

Point Catherine anchorage was lovely and calm. We enjoyed a nice paddle around. It has a long stretch of beach, perfect for stretching the legs after sailing. The following morning, we navigated all the fishing buoys (they are just about everywhere, including the channels, so be on the lookout) and entered the Cul-de-sac-Marin. It is extremely crowded in here! We anchored off of Queen's island, away from the hordes of boats, and dinghied over to Le Marin Marina to toss the garbage and check into the country. Checking in at the marina office was fast. Just go into the computer room on the right (don't bother to wait in the line), fill out the one page form, submit, and wait for your name to be called. You'll be asked to sign the paper and pay 5 euro. That's it. They don't ask to see any boat docs or ask any questions. Super quick and easy!

How boat kids take out the garbage.

After checking in, we dinghied over to the Leader Price grocery store dock. This dock was donated generously by the property owner for cruisers to use. We had a walk around the town, scored a Digicel data card (Google Fi towers were down), hit up the bakery, and stocked up on some provisions. The Leader Price store has better prices, but make sure to go in the morning or everything is picked over by the afternoon. The Carrefour market is nearby but small and prices are double that of Leader Price. There is a larger Carrefour on the island, but you'll need a rental car.

We met up with some other sailing families who invited us for drinks and hangout at a place called People's Beach. So, we hauled anchor during a squall and dropped the hook in St. Anne's Bay. This is a huge bay and has plenty of space for many boats. We still felt a bit crowded though.

Hiking trail near St. Anne anchorage.

5pm found us tying up to the floating dinghy dock in front of Pirate's Beach Restaurant. To the left is a jungle path that leads to People's Beach Resort. At one time, this must have been a nice resort. It is still maintained, but not very busy (maybe it is still the low season). There are a couple of above ground pools, games for the kids, and nice drinks for the adults. They were not serving food yet.
The kids had a blast playing laser tag with the other boat kids, swimming, and hitting up the foosball table. We had a good chat with a few other families and didn't get back to the boat until late. It was a fun evening, as we always enjoy meeting new sailing families.
We hung around this spot for a couple of days, met up with some friends we met in the Med for drinks back at People's Beach (kids really enjoy the pools there), and then decided it was time to move on. The clock is ticking, as we need to get to Panama in April.

Anse D'Arlet town. This building reminded me of Greece.

We moved around the corner to Anse D'Arlet, and had a great time there. We spent the day snorkeling and saw more fish, sea turtles, and colorful coral than anywhere else! The bay is super calm and we loved it here. Early the next morning, we grabbed some bakery treats, and then set sail for Anse Noir. We had read there was great snorkeling here and the interesting thing about this spot is it has black sand, where as the bay next door, Anse Dufour has white sand. We dropped anchor at the back of the bay (being shallow draft cat, we can get away with that), and put out a stern anchor to keep us from swinging into the other boats ahead of us. It became quite crowded in there after a while and by sunset, we were packed in. We were very glad we had the stern anchor to keep us away, as the wind was light and fluky inside that bay.

St. Pierre ruins

We learned all about St. Pierre's tragic past as well as how the Caribbean islands were formed. Did you know there are two different aged groups of islands?

The next morning we checked out Fort de France and then sailed up to St. Pierre, where we enjoyed the next few days exploring the town, volcanic and science museums, and snorkeling the underwater statues. Sundowners with friends topped off the experience.

Next island: Dominica

Sailing to Dominica.

Barbados

Minutes after we dropped the hook in Carlisle Bay, Barbados. 

We sailed into the anchorage at Carlisle Bay around 2:45 pm on December 26th, dousing Big Red just before dropping the hook. After cleaning up, we took a crew photo, jumped in for a swim, and then called it a day. We crashed hard, as we were finally at anchor after 16 days at sea.
The following morning, Stef and Matt set off for customs to check in to the country and remove Matt from our crew list. He would be flying home later on that afternoon.

Stef's notes about checking in to Barbados:
No need to call on the port authority on the VHF. Just anchor and dinghy in. We noticed that all the boats who hailed on the VHF had to circle outside until the cruise ships departed, which can be hours or even all day long. Some friends who arrived ahead of us filled us in on the details, and so we were thankful to have avoided that issue.

You can tie up the dinghy in the small canal, just past the large green bridge (go underneath it) on the right side. Beware of some broken lights strung along the wall. It is advisable to lock your fuel tank to your dinghy and then the dinghy to the wall (there are cleats to lock up to). Rubbish bins are nearby. There are local fruit and veggie markets, bank to pull out some Barbadian currency, a mall, and supermarkets near here, as well.

The walk to the port is about 20 minutes from the dinghy parking lot. Walk along the Princess Alice highway (side walk goes along through a little park) until you see the large Bridgetown Port sign. The security guard is in the little building on the right, sort of near where the cars drive through. You'll need your boat docs, passports, and crew list. The guard will check these over and then provide you with a wristband with permission to visit customs.

After getting our wrist bands from the security guard, we proceeded on to the large A-frame tourist mall. On the far western side, we entered the building and climbed the stairs to the health office. You have to go in order of health, customs, immigration (although if there is a long line, they will sometimes give you permission to go out of order, just to keep people moving). Be sure to go either early in the morning or wait until after 2pm. The cruise ships and mega yachts get priority and you'll be told to come back later if these guys are checking in ahead of you. 
We filled out one form and handed over a copy of our crew list (if you don't have copies of your crew list, you will have to complete a separate form). From there, the health official gave us a slip of paper and we chatted a bit about her island and things to see. We next walked across the hall to the customs office, where we encountered a very busy and overworked official. She reluctantly handed over two forms for me to complete, twice, so after completing these four pages, we returned to her office to find her gone. A cruise ship had come in and so we'd have to wait an hour or so before we could continue on. In fact, all of the officials from health, customs, and immigration left to go to the cruise ship, so Matt and I walked around the little mall for an hour.

We eventually returned to customs and got processed. There, after the official apologized for being so busy and making us wait, asked a few questions about any pets on board (we were not checking Sunny into the country due to the complications here), length of stay, and next port of call. She gave us the go-ahead to visit immigration, clearance papers in hand.
Immigration involved filling out a form for each crew member, getting passports stamped, and removing Matt from the crew list (crew disembarking will need to show flight details). She was very kind and a cheerful lady. Procedure done, we walked back to the boat and had lunch prepared for us by the kids.
Upon clearing out: You will need $50US or 100 BD which is paid to the customs fee building clerk (behind the customs area, left of where the cruise ships dock. You'll see a yellow 2-story building marked STAFF ONLY. Go inside and up the curved staircase to the office at the back marked SUPERVISOR). Once you pay the fee and fill out a one page form, you'll walk away with a receipt and instructions to visit customs. After filling out two more forms in duplicate for the customs official (the same you completed upon checking in), you'll need to visit Immigration to complete the clearing out process. 
Bringing pets to Barbados: online it says you must complete their pet import application, pay a $25 application fee, a $60 vet fee, and also obtain a customs clearance agent (which would involve paying another fee). So, we didn't clear Sunny in here. We heard of two other boats who brought their dogs and customs didn't care, no fees paid, no vet inspection, etc. So, it may not be as complicated here as it appears online. Either that, or those boats just got an easy customs clerk.

Jared texted me while we were on our way back that Zach would need to see the dentist asap, as he broke off part of his front tooth! Yikes! Apparently, he had slid headfirst into the dinghy and broke his tooth on the anchor locker (we have told our kids over and over not to do this, as the dinghy  bounces with the swell caused by all the jet skis zooming around). I guess he was escaping one that zoomed too close to our boat, bumped his mouth while sliding in and learned a hard lesson.

As it was the holidays, everything was closed except for an aesthetic dental specialist that was by all miracles, was open! They had a spot available for the following day. Thank goodness!

We said our goodbyes to Matt and Jared dropped him off to catch a taxi to the airport. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, cleaning up the boat, snorkeling with friends, and just relaxing.


We had quite the introduction to the party boats we had heard about. These boats wander throughout the anchorage blasting music from about 7pm until 7am, no joke! It is really loud and forget sleeping. We had heard a little of it the night before, but we had crashed pretty hard after the crossing. We all agreed we would move as soon as possible, if it kept up.

Boat kids at play!

Up early, we wandered into town to get the boys' haircuts, source some provisions, and get to Zach's appointment. We showed up around noon, (our appointment was at 3pm) just in case they had a cancellation and we could go in earlier. We were in luck! While I filled out the paperwork, Jared took Matt and Cadence to a nearby cafe and then Zach was brought back to start the work on repairing his tooth. Dr. Car---- was amazing and so kind to Zach. After learning Zach was a swimmer, he told his story about being an Olympic swim coach! We had a great chat and 2.5 hours later, Zach's tooth was repaired and we were on our way. The office asked to take a photo of us, to use for their instagram account (they loved our sailing adventure story) and with 'farewells' and 'visit our shores soon', we set off to meet friends on the beach.

Landing the dinghy on this beach was a laugh. We thought the swell had passed and made a run for it, only to be surprised by a sneaky wave which filled the dinghy with water. After pulling Hermes up higher on the sand, we pulled the plug and drained out all the water. We then helped our other friends pull up their dinghies and bail out the water (they had the same surprise waves). We all enjoyed drinks from the Pirate's Beach Bar and soaked up the sunshine while soaking in the lovely water. Now this is the way to relax! The kids happily playing nearby, finding all sorts of things like lost sunglasses and discarded beach toys.

Roundabout hosted about 30 people for a huge Atlantic crossing party to celebrate our big accomplishment. We also welcomed in our friends on No Plans Just Options, as they completed their crossing around 6pm that evening.

Dinghy parking lot behind Roundabout!

We spent a few more days here, spending our time snorkeling and playing with friends. Everyone gathered on the beach for  crazy, fun and wild New Year's Eve party . Fireworks completed the night at midnight and boom, just like that we entered 2019.

New Year's Even party and all the boat kids celebrating crossing the Atlantic!

After a last morning snorkel and swimming with friends, we said 'see you later' to all our friends (we also delivered the Atlantic Crossing flags the kids made for our group who crossed with us), and set sail for Martinique.