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Back in the Marina

This morning we motored back into the Rodney Bay Marina. Jim from Bees Knees hailed us on the VHF to see if we wanted help coming into the slip. Given that last time I back into a slip I made a bit of a hash of it I welcomed the offer. So around 9am, Anne and Jim dinghied over to Dignity and we made our plans.

We motored into the cut and hailed the marina to give us our slip number. They had earlier told us to have our fenders out on the starboard side but they’d had a change of mind and now it was port. As we approached the docks, Anne unhitched both their and our dinghy and took them to a safe place. We then approached the dock, span the boat and backed in against the wind. It went a lot better than last time.

Before Anne and Jim left, Sharon and Vaughn popped by and we discussed our plans for the Pitons. A new plan was agreed to meet up on Sunday in readiness of a Monday hike.

We said our goodbyes and got on with the tasks we had to do. I went to the marina office to check in. It took a while as the office was crowded and I had to wait my turn. Back on the boat we again met Jim and Anne who were busying around. I had asked for the marina staff to come and enable the power but they hadn’t turned up. So I stayed

on the boat while Helen when to the shops within easy walking distance not failing to bump into Anne and Jim yet again.

By the time Helen returned the power had just been attached – an overall wait of over an hour. I wasn’t too pleased but I guess it’s island time. Having started the batteries charging and equalizing I dashed off to Island Water World before it closed for the day to pick up a fishing lure along the lines of that recommended by the fisherman I spoke to in Marigot Bay. While there I bumped into Mario and his wife from Maltese Falcon who we met in Point-a-Pitre. Having discussed our summer options it looks like we’ll be in the same area in September so we may see them again in the near future.

Back on the boat we had a quick bite to eat then dinghied off to the local supermarket to provision for the next 5 weeks. Heading south we won’t see any big supermarkets until we hit Grenada so we’re stocking up on frozen and specialist stuff.

Leaving the supermarket with a full trolley we bumped into Vaughn and Sharon – seems we’re all doing the same thing. They were now having doubts as to climbing the Pitons as their quick in and out visa expires tomorrow and this may make things awkward. I let them know we’d just seen Bees Knees who would probably still be contactable. We dinghied off to our boats together and parted company when we reached Dignity. As Helen and I were putting the food aboard Vaughn popped round to say they’d run out of fuel. I was planning to fill our second spare can so I agreed to take them over to the fuel dock so they could grab a bit of fuel. By the time I made it round to where they had stopped they’d managed to get their dinghy going again by tipping it up but still wanted to get some fuel.

So over we went to the fuel dock and waited for the attendant to arrive. While waiting, guess who turns up. Anne and Jim arrived on Bees Knees to pick up diesel. Seems we can’t get away from each other. We again discussed plans for the weekend and more or less stayed with this morning’s plan with Sharon and Vaughn being maybes.

Now all the shopping is done and we can relax. The batteries will stay equalizing until this evening and we’ll continue to trickle charge overnight. I’ve asked for an 8am read of the meter so we can quickly depart and head south for our rendezvous in Soufrierre.

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Dominica Track

A little late but here is our Dominica track.


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Fort de France

We left Roseau at 7am this morning heading for St Pierre, Martinique. The forecast was for NE winds which we didn’t see until 8nm south of Dominica. It was slow going for the first 2 hours but when the NE winds kicked in we had a flying sail to Martinique arriving at St Pierre around 12:20. We didn’t stop as a casual glance over the anchorage made it clear it was untenable. We later learned that everyone had cleared off at the crack of dawn as it had got quite rolly around 2am. We therefore sailed around to Fort de France to get some protection from the NE winds which are due to go further to the North over the next few days.

There were a number of boats anchored in Fort de France but we managed to squeeze into the anchorage and here we are settled. I walked round to the customs but found them closed. The guy on the gate said to come back tomorrow at 9am. I do wonder if they’ll be open but I may try.

Walking the half mile back to the dinghy dock I decided to check out the town. There were a large number of people milling around in red tee-shirts, clearly the aftermath of a demonstration. All the shops I saw were shut bar one little cafe. All the cash machines that I walked past had been smashed too. So it looks like the strike is very much on here. Fingers crossed for our guests who are arriving next week.

Fishing was not successful. In fact, something chewed up and bit right through my wire leader. So we must have had something for a bit. We never noticed. So we’re down one lure. Better luck next time.

Not sure what we’re going to do now. There are a few things to do on the boat and still plenty of books to read.

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Roseau Botanical Gardens

This morning we took a walk around the gardens. They are more open and less formal than the splendid gardens we saw in Deshaies, Guadeloupe. It was quite restful to walk around the place. We also walked up the path called Jack’s Path which took us up a series of switch backs to the top of a hill where we were afforded great views of Roseau and the sight of an interesting cross.

Back on the boat we had lunch. The weather turned a bet wet so we abandoned our idea of a walk south and instead worked on the boat and read up on Martinique.

One more day in Roseau

Having checked the weather forecast tomorrow’s conditions for sailing are far better than today’s. So we’re staying put another day. We can visit the Botanical Gardens in town and maybe visit the villages to the south.