As you may have noticed, there is no mention of the Saintes in the subject.  Another very windy night with the anchor alarm on and the day started with a 37 knot puff, not very promising.  We set off from Pigeon Island at about 09.30 in bright sunshine and just the staysail and engine running to see if there was more shelter at Anse a la Barque, 16.05.42N 61.45.70W pretty place, but skipper not impressed so we continued to Pte du Vieux Fort.  Pretty uncivilised as we left the shelter of Guadeloupe, with a force 7 and raining, oilskins and lifejackets, harnesses and lines and Les Saintes up to windward.  A no brainer really, so it was head for Dominica and St Rupert’s Bay on a reasonable fetch with some motor assist to keep Alcedo’s nose up to windward in some wayward seas.   We were very pleased to get into the shelter behind Prince Rupert’s Bluff Point, where we were met by Cobra who seemed to quite understand that we had promised Providence that we would go back to him.  We anchored well into the bay this time, just to the North of the mooring buoys in a sunny force 5/6 at about 15.45.  Martin came out later and we agreed to a tour of the North of the Island with 2 Canadians form a nearby cat.

 

 

Sunset, Prince Rupert Bay

 

Saturday, 11/1/2014.  A lovely day with driver and guide Paul and the Canadian couple, another Paul and Susanne, from Quebec.  We drove across to the East coast through fabulous mountainous country covered with a mixture of forest and “farmland” and learnt about the agriculture, Dominica’s main source of income and the flora and crops.  We walked to cold sulphur springs and a beautiful river pool in the forest for a cold swim, followed by a less relaxing look for the van keys, which turned out to be locked in the van.  Driver Paul was mortified!

 

 

Paul showing us an old mill in the forest.....

 

 

...where we walk up the river to find this man harvesting coconuts....

 

 

...and where we swim in a forest pool up the river.

 

We drove through several villages and had lunch off a lovely beach in Calibishie, salted codfish and local produce including dashine, fried plantain and bread fruit, very good, while what looked like an osprey did some fishing off the beach to

provide more entertainment. 

 

Fisherman bringing in their catch off one of the beaches on the East Coast

 

 

An Idyllic lunch spot.....

 

 

...with a view that would be unpleasant from the deck of a yacht...

 

..

 

We then drove to the red rocks, a weird mud and lava mixture that provides a spectacular “Kodak” opportunity as the afternoon light starts to change to evening. 

 

 

Donny shows us the Red Rocks.....

 

 

 

....and we scramble around it.

 

The finale to this lovely day was seeing some red necked parrots on their way back to the Syndicate Rain Forest for the night, sadly not close enough and flying too fast for a photograph.