Dominica & A Plan
'Sarf & West mate, Sarf & West'
Pete Bernfeld
Wed 18 Mar 2009 11:02
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15:17.230N 061:22.606W
Rouseau at last! We had a fairly boisterous trip
across from St Pierre, winds constantly in the 25 - 30kt range (a bit more in
gusts) abd 2 - 2.5 metre seas. This was reflected in the average speed, from
anchor up to securing to a buoy 7.2 kts. Most of the time in open water between
the islands we were doing between 7 and 9 kts. YeeeeHAA!!
Anyway, rented a buoy from a character called 'Sea
Cat' quite close to the Anchorage Hotel, $10. US per night and a dingy dock.
Water available at a nominal fee, so all in all not too bad a deal for 3 nights
or so.
The plan (whether or not
it's a cunning one, time will tell) is to rent a car with Lois & Derek
(Alderbaran 2) and tour the island as they know it well, then move up to
Portsmouth (free anchoring) for a few days before going up to the Saintes. Then,
it'll be time to head south.
Assuming my insurance coverage is modified, we'll
head for Trinidad (where Helen is planning on returning to the UK, airfares
becomining progressively more outrageous the further west you go). Trouters will
come out of the water for a couple of weeks to be cleaned and (toxically)
antifouled. During that time I may fly back for a quick visit to Blighty myself
for ten days or so. I have a list of 'improvements' I'd like to make (assuming I
do actually win the lottery!).
I'll be 'liming' in Trinidad & Tobago until
very late September, then assuming there be no lurking hurricanoes, a quick
blast up to Grenada then across to the ABC islands (Aruba, Curacao &
Bonaire) which are 'out' of the hurricane belt. Leave there late October/early
November to cruise along the Columbian coast to Panama, arriving in San Blas
early December. From there, arrange a Panama transit for late Feb/early March
(assuming next year is not an 'El Nino' year, in which case I'll stay in Panama)
and it'll be Westward-Ho! Galapagos, Marquesas, Tahiti, Tonga and New Zealand
(by ealy Dec 2010).
So, anybody interested in some or all of that, book
your cabins now. Reasonably rates (well, I think there're reasonable :)
)
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