After a brief sail from Woburn to St Georges in Grenada we had to fit a new Autopilot display head as the led screen on the old one had finally faded to nothing. Our S3 Raymarine control box has been check and has no faults but we can continue using the S2 as that is also functioning well.
16th December
Head for St Lucia and arrive mid morning, have a quick snooze then go to customs and do some shopping.
We spent Christmas day with yachties, Elena has kindly allowed us to use her restaurant for a pot luck lunch which went down well. We met up with some friends, Dirk and Nancy from Renegade, that we met at a jam in Grenada. Dirk is a saxophonist and he and I play a jazz and blues mix with backing tracks after lunch.
We stayed for the new year in Rodney Bay St Lucia, and met Paul and Sharon from Ya Fohi. Paul plays a mean guitar and we have jammed a couple of times playing blues and Latin jazz.
Winds are high and sea is rough so we wait for a weather break, check out, then head off north.
5th January 2016
We head north towards Culebra.
Unfortunately the Autopilot is failing intermittently and the wind has dropped. So after a 17 hour sail, with 7 hours of motoring at a half hour after midnight, we pick up a mooring in Portsmouth Bay Dominica.
We have been to Dominica twice before and this time our "boat boy" is Lawrence of Arabia. Who informs us that we picked up a private mooring last night so we move to the next one with his help. 25XCD per day for a mooring, about 6 quid so we are happy to take one. It is free to anchor and check in is a whopping 10 XCD for two weeks, about £2-50! We buy a load of fruit from Michael on a kayak grapefruit, avocado, limes and passion fruit, and some mangoes from Antonio on another kayak, The fruits are all excellent and a third the price of St Lucia and a bit cheaper than Grenada. Paul and Sharon arrive on Ya Fohi and we meet up for a beer in Sandy's beach restaurant. Sadly our favorite, Big Papas bar has fallen into disrepair and he has left the island
We take a tour with Paul and Sharon and another Antonio as driver,
The first stop is for Saltfish bakes for breakfast then we head west to Calabishie where we meet our guide Daniel who takes us around point babtiste. he is a young looking Rastafarian who tells us that it is his 38th birthday.
Daniel
We are shown the Tree of life, to make a tea, Noni fruit, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morinda_citrifolia) cure for prostate cancer sweetsop that we know as soursop, lemon grass, ylang ylang, cinamon bark, and a load more. Point Babtiste has views of the only white sand beach on the island and a black sand beach nearby. You can see Marie Gallant island and the Atlantic from the point which is a strange red rock that is almost rock and almost mud. Danial has carved out steps in various places and we descend into a crevice that has a small temple carved into the rock. The area could be a film set from Mars.
A short drive to a Chocolate factory where Alan Napier takes us around his factory. this is a lot smaller and lower tech than I had imagined. producing about 60 bars of chocolate every three days.
Fruit is picked and left, then opened and the beans are left to ferment for about a week, Then dried, then husks separated by being blown away, then beans are stone ground for three days. the ground beans are then put through a heat treatment. there are six different types of chocolate crystal so this is the most technical part of the process. Sugar and flavours are added then the mix is put into molds.
Next stop is in the Carib village in the Kalinago Territory where we buy Cassava bread and stop at a shop selling various items made from Calabash shells, wood and coconuts and baskets made from local grasses.
Dominican Eggplant
We travel on to St Davids bay for a lunch stop. Creole cooking, star fruit juice, baked or smoked chicken blur marlin and various provisions, rice and salad. All served up with a fantastic view.
Rum options including
Cockstand
View from Restaurant "Island View"
Onward to the Emerald Pool. A short walk down steps through the rain forest with signs saying "Debarking of the Trees is Prohibited" to a waterfall with a pool beneath it. After a refreshing dip we climb back and are back on the road heading for home.
On the way back we encounter the devastation caused by hurricane Erica. The Layou river is the longest and widest on the island. it has burst its banks in several places taking away bridges and roads. the wrecks of cars and trucks are all over and in a couple of places parts of villages have been washed into the sea,
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