Portsmouth

Mystic of Holyhead (successor to Lynn Rival)
Rachel and Paul Chandler
Wed 8 Jan 2020 13:03
N15:34.9 W061:27.8

We left Carriacou on New Year's Eve, hoping to reach Dominica before more northerly winds set in.   We sailed comfortably most of the way but had to motor through the wind shadows, first off St Vincent, then Martinique and finally Dominica.  Although too far off to see any of the firework displays we were not far enough to escape the effect of the mountains (Next time we'll try harder to follow the 7 league/2 pistol shots rule).

It was after sunset when we arrived in Prince Rupert Bay on the northeast of Dominica.  We've been here many times before but didn't want to risk entering the main mooring field in the dark.  So we spent a night anchored further south in the bay and motored past the town of Portsmouth in the morning to pick up a mooring off PAYS.

January 2nd is a holiday in Dominica so everywhere was quiet but in the coming few days we revisited our favourite haunts, including having a delicious lobster supper at Madiba's beach restaurant as our New Year's treat. 


Lobster and local beer on Dominica - a treat for us while supporting the local economy

Not having done much walking lately we started with a gentle hike to the eastern battery of the Cabrits - overlooking a big new hotel development in Douglas Bay which is now open but didn't look busy.  Another day we got Bongo, a local taxi driver, to take us up to the Syndicate Forest for the same walk down (part of) the Waitukubuli trail we did in April.  At this time of year the rainforest is even greener and with frequent rain showers the steep bit of the trail is very slippery but still thoroughly enjoyable.

While here we've been keeping a close eye on the weather as it's important we get to Guadeloupe by next week.  The forecasts are showing unusually strong winds and stormy weather for next weekend so no time to linger.