Saturday Morning in Dominica

First Trip Ashore in Dominica

It was a drizzly Saturday in Portsmouth, Dominica. We heard that there was a neat farmer's market in town and we needed fresh produce! We docked our dinghy at the local fishermen’s dock near town and headed in to check out the market.

There were many local fishermen at the dock.  Some were cleaning fish, others mending nets, and milling around and visiting with each other.

Showing off the day's catch

An open-sided building housed the farmer’s market. Vendor stalls and tables spilled out onto the nearby street, around the corner and down the next street.  

We enjoyed checking out all the locals.  They were jostling each other to get a good position at the stall (including elbowing me out of the way since I was just looking and not buying anything yet!). People were walking around eating. Vendors were shouting out to each other as buyers asked for things they didn’t have in their stalls.

The vendor “stalls” are simply tables with all their produce on display. No one is remotely interested in “merchandising” as everything is piled up on the table… bagged, bunched, or loosely scattered about.  There is usually a scale of questionable accuracy which to weigh produce, particularly tomatoes, pineapples, and mangoes.

You have to ask the price of everything.  Boy, were we confused!  This was the first island in which the EC (Eastern Caribbean) currency was used.  We only had American dollars and converting it to buy stuff was just too hard early on a Saturday morning! Long story short, a local vendor helped us out and converted some of our dollars to EC.  10EC is equal to approximately $3.70 USA, “helpfully” rounded off to $4 by the locals.  

There was produce of every variety… avocados, onions, tomatoes, pineapples, plantains, bananas, herbs, greens, carrots, potatoes, cute little bundles of herbs tied with string, starfruit, papaya and  a lot of things I couldn’t identify.  I asked about some of them and got answers such as “callaloo”, “christophene”, “breadfruit”.  When I asked how to cook them, I got the same answer for everything… "boiling".  Looks like there is going to be some boiling in my future!

Some of the vendors were not very friendly at first.  Sometimes they pretended we were not there and would sit with their bodies turned away from us, lazily chatting with a vendor at the next stall.  Being newcomers to the island, we didn’t want to appear rude or pushy.  We finally realized we just needed to be patient and persistent.  I think they are used to tourists that come just to look and not buy.  


Eventually, we would get noticed and transact business.  

We spent about 30EC (about $11 US) on lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, onions, green onions, cucumbers, and pineapples.  

LA spent some time in the farmer’s market shed getting to know some vendors.  They introduced him to a local delicacy… salt fish salad (think… tuna salad) stuffed between grilled plantains.  










I didn’t try it.. fish for breakfast?? Uh, I don’t think so!  They watched him carefully for his reaction as he tasted it and he pronounced it “delicious”.  Now, was it actually delicious?? I think ‘unusual’ might be a better word to describe it.

We also checked out the fish market.  The fish is sold straight out of the fishermen’s boats when they arrive so it is very fresh. They sold mahi mahi, snapper, tuna and wahoo.

We meandered down the street checking out the sights.  There were children playing among the vendors, families hanging out together, people visiting in the streets, dogs walking around looking for scraps, roosters crowing, and chickens everywhere. 




















As we got further away from the farmer’s market building, vendors became more aggressive as we walked by with people shouting  
“Buy this", "Check this out", "Come over to see me!”. Very different than the laid-back vendors near the open air building. 










These enterprising young men had a growing concern with coconuts and sugar cane. They hacked off the tops of green coconuts and served them with a straw for drinking. Children enjoyed chewing the sweet sugar cane. 

A light rain began to fall and we ducked under the eaves of a local nightclub.  One thing we’ve noticed about rain here… it comes and goes quickly. It can be pouring one minute and five minutes later, the sun comes out.  Nobody worries with raincoats or umbrellas. They just duck into a doorway and let the rain come and go.

We walked down the street and checked out the local sights.  We walked all the way down to the Indian River to see where a local guide would take us the following day into the mangrove rain forest.  It was a fun way to spend the day!

Local man using his head to transport grain

A local "convenience" store

Home along a side street.  

Interesting warning sign: Interpretation... "Bad Dogs. Knock before you enter". 

Someone got really creative with conch shells :)

Goats were staked out all along the roadways. Natural lawnmowers!

One of the nicer homes along the street.

Sailing skiffs for kids

Children learning to swim in the surf near a local recreation center.

Standing on the bridge over the Indian River.

Children playing at the entrance to the river.

Indian River Tour Boats

Excited to be on the beautiful island of Dominica!

Passage Making... It's a Real Bash!

A BASH you say??  More often than not it IS a bash heading down the islands, and I'm not talking about a party with wild bands and booze, I'm talking about slugging it out against the prevailing winds and currents day after day. 

Where are the lazy days of sailing we had in the Bahamas! We had it sooooo easy, but we just didn't know it at the time.  We bashed all the way from the Bahamas to the Turks and Caicos.... all the way to the Dominican Republic... all the way to Puerto Rico.... all the way to the US Virgin Islands... then all the way down to Sint Maarten.  Would heading to Grenada be any different?

The Latest Passage Plan....Leave Sint Maarten and sail directly down to Grenada.  The fast track, if you will.  Yes, there were plenty of islands to visit... but we knew we would catch them later on our trip back north after hurricane season.  It is hurricane season already, and we wanted to get into the safer (?? hopefully!) waters of Grenada, and we were anxious to meet up with our friends Rene and Stacy Foree on Pipe muh Bligh and have some fun!

Anticipated Date of Departure:  Tuesday, July 1, mid-morning. A projected 68- hour passage directly to Grenada, arriving early Friday morning, July 4. 

Trip Planning: Customized weather forecast from Chris Parker, the Caribbean weather guru.  Tell him when you think you want to leave and he will advise you on whether:
A). You can safely go 
B). You shouldn't go 
C). You could chance it and go, and it might work out OK 
D). You are bat crazy if you go.

Here is the weather forecast we received on Monday, June 30, the day before our planned departure. 
(Please scroll on through this if it is like reading Greek or bores you out of your skull; I'll give a brief translation at the end so you won't miss anything...)

squalls and windy weather in the area today (Monday) are associated with WAVE Action But conditions should subside significantly on Tue July 1, allowing you a good opportunity to sail S from SXM beginning Tue1.

Weather looks very good Tue1-Thu3 (moderate E Trades in upper-teens gusting a bit over 20k, and seas close to 5', with very little squall activity).

Thu3 night-Fri4 builds ENE@20g27 with larger seas...but from a N-of-E direction so you'll be on a beam reach.

Late Fri4 afternoon-night and into Sat5 you would see: 120-140@20g27, squalls/T-strms to 35k, seas 7-10'. You definitely don't want to be out-and-about in that. If, for some reason. you fail to reach Grenada Fri July 4, you'll want to stop wherever you are.

Sea Surface Currents:
You should see mostly adverse NW-N flowing currents of 0.5k to 1k. There's probably not as much adverse current near the Leeward Islands than there would be if you were significantly W of Leewards....so I'd stick close to the Island Chain. You might want to pass N&E of StKitts/Nevis area...then pass on either side of Montserrat (I would probably pass W of Montserrat)...and pass W of the rest of the Islands all the way to Grenada.

FORECAST:
Tue1 morning, departing StMartin: 100-110@17g22, wind-chop 5', swell 6'/8secESE-SE.

During Tue1, sailing SE-SSE toward StKitts/Nevis...wind moderates to 15g19k, wind-chop settles to 4'.

Tue1 night-Wed2, passing W of Montserrat/Guadeloupe/Dominica: 080@17g22, wind-chop 5', swell 5-6'/8secESE.

Wed2 night-Thu3, passing W of Martinique-Grenadines: 090@17g22, wind-chop 5', swell 5-6'/8secE.

Thu3 night-Fri4 morning, approaching Grenada: 090<060@20g27, wind-chop 6'.

Fri4 afternoon-night, near Grenada: 070<140@15-20g27, squalls to 30-40k, wind-chop 7-10'.

And now for the brief translation.... Better get your fanny down to Grenada in a timely manner because the sh*t is gonna hit the fan just a few hours after your arrival. 
In other words, option C). You could chance it, and it might work out OK 

OK, then.  We had our forecast and we were ready to go. Things had to go perfectly in order to safely arrive on time.  Perfectly, huh? Has ANYONE out there EVER had anything go PERFECTLY when it has to do with a boat?? Well, hope springs eternal! Obviously, one can hope, because we decided to head out and hope for a perfect passage. (Note to self:  A thought lurks around in the dark crevices of my mind...Hope? Hope?  A good friend of mine always said "Hope is not a plan". I am pretty sure she is going to be proven right once again). I'm just going to tamp that thought back down and go with the plan. Grenada, here we come!



Here's our planned route from Sint Maarten to Grenada.  Yep, a straight shot. Not the most comfortable route, but the fastest. Remember that tight weather window?? This route will give us some wind so that we can actually SAIL to Grenada. After all, we are in a SAILboat and we'd actually like to sail it once in a while instead of bashing into the wind for a change.
Heading out from the islands was definitely going to make for a rougher trip. We were prepared for the trip... we cooked food for the passage and planned our watches so that we could get some rest along the way.

Heading out through the Simpson Bay Lift Bridge in Sint Maarten at the 10:30 a.m. bridge opening.

Tuesday was a nice day for sailing. We were making pretty good time, averaging about 6 knots of speed with winds in the 17-20 knot range. 

LA and LuLu getting some rest on passage. LA was the one catnapping and LuLu had her "worried face" on.  She does not like it when the sails are up and making noise. She feels it is her duty as boat kitty to keep a close eye on those sails!

As the day turned into evening, the winds and seas began to build some. We were sailing with one reef in the main and the stays'l. By Tuesday night, we were bashing into the waves and it was hard to sleep off watch. We took 2 hour watches and didn't get a lot of sleep that night. 

By Wednesday morning, the winds were around 25 knots and had switched direction so that we were sailing pretty close to the wind, which made for a more uncomfortable passage. We were well offshore from the leeward islands and bashing our way down. The westerly current had also begun to slow us down to about 5.5 knots. Bashing sends waves of spray over the boat from stem to stern, covering the boat with salt. 

At 6pm Wednesday evening, we had traveled 170 nautical miles, still bashing, and the westerly current against the wind continued to impede our speed. We realized that there was no way that we were going to make it to Grenada before the scheduled heavy weather was going to hit and we were going to arrive right in the middle of it. Sometimes you gotta change the plan!

We checked out the chart, and we were 83 miles off the leeward coast of Dominica.  We could be there by morning, stay for a while, get some rest, and resume our trip south on another weather window.  We turned Genesis toward land, and bashed our way into the wind all night long to get there. 

Land Ho!  

We were so happy to see the island of Dominica!  We were exhausted from yet another night of bashing and very little sleep. 

The plan: check in with customs, then get some much needed sleep. 

Can't wait to get rested and explore this beautiful island! Stay tuned!

Marigot: The French Capital of Saint Martin: Hiking and...Wine?

Map Credit: Wikipedia

On March 23, 1648, the Treaty of Concordia established the terms of peaceful co-existence between the French and Dutch settlements of St. Martin/St. Maarten, with the French colonizers maintaining the Northern two-thirds (Saint Martin), facing Anguilla, and the Dutch, the southern third (Sint Maarten).

Supposedly, this is how the Dutch and French partitioned the island:  The two groups held a contest. Starting at Oysterpond on the east coast, they would walk westwards -- the French along the northern edge, the Dutch along the southern -- and where they met they would draw a dividing line across the island. The French set off, having fortified themselves with wine, the Dutch with gin. The ill effects of the gin, however, caused the Dutchmen to stop along the way to sleep off their drunk; consequently, the French were able to cover a much greater distance. 

Quite a story, isn't it? Well, I'm not so sure about this! Some of our cruising friends are Dutch, and I must say that I would put them up against any Frenchman in the drinking category!

L. to R.: John Hoedemakers (Dutch), Stacy Foree (American), Rene Foree (Dutch), LA, Susan,
and Jolanda Geerdink (Dutch) having a night out on the town celebrating Rene's birthday

In truth, though, the French had a large navy just off shore at the time the treaty was being negotiated, and they were able to win concessions by threat of force. The treaty was signed on top of Mount Concordia in 1648, but despite the reputation for peaceful cohabitation, the border was to change another 16 times until 1815 when the Treaty of Paris fixed the boundaries for good.

The capital city of Marigot is perhaps the most French in spirit of all the cities in the Caribbean. Colonial houses stand beside smart cafés and bistros, pastry shops and luxury boutiques, and in many ways it looks just like any of the French market towns you might expect to find on the Continent.  

The village of Marigot appeared towards 1689 on the initiative of a few merchants who used the bay to load their ships with agricultural produce on the French side. Originally, the area was a marsh surrounded by mangroves where one could get many crabs, even in the streets. The town was baptized Marigot, from the word "maricage" meaning ponds and marshes in Old French. 



Experiencing rapid growth the first half of the 18th century due to the introduction of sugar cane plantations, the little village became capital to different governors succeeding each other to develop and organize the colony. Batteries of canons and modest fortification guarded access to the port until 1789 when Fort Louis was built.

We visited Marigot several times during our stay on the island.  The last visit we made, we finally climbed the steep hill to visit Fort Louis.

Fort Louis remains the largest historic and only military monument in St. Martin. The plans were sent over directly from Versailles at the order of the ill-fated French King Louis XVI, who soon lost his head in the French Revolution.

The tricolor flag of the Republic of France might wave over the fort these days but you can still see the formidable walls and cannons which protected the colonial settlement from other European powers as well as pirates. The primary purpose of the fort was to defend the warehouses at Marigot port, where goods such as salt, coffee, sugar cane and rum was stored.

The steep climb up to the summit provided a panoramic view of the island and the sea surrounding it, and the view was stunning. We could see all the way to neighboring Anguilla.

The most beautiful and colorful views were the town of Marigot and the surrounding harbor. The hill in the background is called "The Witch's Tit" and the surrounding waters are the anchorage next to the Causeway Bridge on the French side. The red flowering tree in the right foreground is the Flamboyant Tree.

Behind us is Marigot Bay, a popular anchorage during the high season.  Although many cruisers have moved on, there are still a lot of boats in the anchorage.  The water is clear and beautiful. 

We reached the summit! 
The view... spectacular!

Locked in jail! We had fun playing at the fort!

What a great day we had hiking in Marigot!

There was one other place we wanted to visit in Marigot. An authentic French Wine shoppe! Our friend and wine sommelier Rene Foree introduced to us this little treasure during the Heineken Regatta.

Le Gout du Vin, "A Taste of Wine", has a great selection of more than 800 fine liquors...wines from all over the world, top brands of Champagne, and fine alcohols. It's a classic little French wine shop and it was fun to check out all the different wines.







Open since 1991, Le Gout du Vin sells to individuals, yacht provisioning services, and to the many fine restaurants on the island. The store clerk was very knowledgeable and LA enjoyed chatting with her about her recommendations for several French wines in our price range ($10-$20/bottle).

There was no shortage of choices.  From the very expensive to moderately priced wines, there was something to fit every budget.  We wished that Rene Foree, was with us for this visit!  He has introduced us to many fine wines in our price range. 

French wine is produced all throughout France, in quantities of 7–8 billion bottles. France is one of the largest wine producer in the world. French wine traces its history to the 6th century BC, with many of France's regions dating their wine-making history to Roman times. The wines produced range from expensive high-end wines sold internationally to more modest wines usually only seen within France.

France is the source of many grape varieties (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot noir, Sauvignon blanc, Syrah) that are now planted throughout the world, as well as wine-making practices and styles of wine that have been adopted in other producing countries. Although some producers have benefited in recent years from rising prices and increased demand for some of the prestige wines from Burgundy and Bordeaux, the French wine industry as a whole has been influenced by a slight decline in domestic consumption.

Here are some of our favorite wines:

If there is one thing that most French wines have in common, it is that most styles have developed as wines meant to accompany food.  Good food, good wine...two of the finer pleasures of life!

Our FaVoRiTe partners in "wine" crime... Rene and Stacy Foree!

Especially if one of them happens to be a wine sommelier!
Love ya' Rene!

We love wine!

Photo Credit: Pinterest