With another two weeks to go before Claire-Elise’s flight out of SXM (St Martin), we took the trip back north from Dominica at a leisurely pace making stops in Guadeloupe for some work and repairs, Les Saintes for a little R&R and finally Antigua for Classic Regatta Week.  It was actually more by chance than design that we wound up in Antigua for this exceptional event, but wow!  We sure were glad we did.  No, Taka Trois does not qualify as a ‘classic,’ and no, Patrice and I did not participate in the race, but thanks to a random conversation, our daughter, Claire-Elise did.

We arrived in Antigua several days before the start of the regatta when the marina was already buzzing with preparation and incredible classic yachts of all sizes arriving hourly from all over the world.  We happily joined the sailors, cruisers, classic enthusiasts, paparazzi and just plain gawkers rambling the docks admiring these beautiful specimens and drinking in the atmosphere as well as the free booze on offer every evening from the sponsors. 

For Patrice, events of this sort are sheer nirvana.  Those of you who have met my husband, know that he is capable of talking to anyone about anything, anywhere! He is not just an extreme extrovert , interacting and conversing with people on a daily/hourly basis is as necessary and natural to him as breathing. 

On the third evening of our stay, he started up a conversation with a gentleman because he was wearing a t-shirt from Guernsey.  Turns out the guy, Paul, was actually from Guernsey and with his wife, Claire, was in Antigua staying aboard Coral of Cowes and crewing for her in the regatta.  Coral is a truly magnificent British 80 foot yawl (a two-masted sailboat similar to a sloop or cutter, but with an additional mast known as a mizzen mast) built in 1902.  

To our astonishment, when Claire-Elise expressed a rather whimsical desire to participate in the race during that conversation, Claire promptly took her off to see the Richard, the owner and captain of Coral, who instantly signed her up as crew for the next day!   Truth be told, youth and sex had everything to do with her appointment, as it turns out that the crew on the foredeck was made up solely of young men and the captain had been told to be on the lookout for a female crew member to join them!  

Although we were sure she would be in good hands with Paul and Claire onboard, we were delighted to discover the next morning that Alex, our old sailing instructor of Blue Water Sailing in Grenada, who we had not seen in ages, was also crewing aboard Coral.  Coincidences like this always make my heart sing.

Claire-Elise not only survived and thoroughly enjoyed that first day, but was thrilled to be asked to come back for the rest of the race.  Needless to say it was the experience of a lifetime, especially the 2nd day of the race when the weather conditions made sure that the entire crew got soaked repeatedly and at times, the crew at the bow were completely dunked in the sea! Patrice and I lived it vicariously with her, avidly watching the preparations and the races from afar.  

Brief history Lesson: Dominca was put on the map in 1493 by Christopher Columbus, of course, who named it after the day of the week on which he spotted it; dominica which is latin for Sunday (I’m guessing at that point he was just running out of names and imagination).  The local Caribs continued to live peacefully there until 100 years later, when France turned up and started a colony with imported African slaves.  About 170 years later, the Brits took over until the island gained its independence on November 3, 1978 and on April 7, 2014, the Orléachs arrived.  

Due to the unfavorable conditions of our anchorage, we only stayed two days in Dominica—not enough time by a long-shot, but sufficient for us to become completely enamored. Honestly, I am at a loss to describe this island; lush, verdant, unspoiled, friendly, unique, colorful, spectacular are just a few adjectives that come to mind, but don't do it justice. So rather than use many more words,  I’m going to lean on the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and allow my photographs to do most of the talking in the rest of this post by offering you three slideshows—one for each of segment of our stay (just click on 'play' icon in the top left corner of each of the photos below to activate).

On our first morning on land, we cleared customs and walked through the picturesque seaside town of Portsmouth in search of internet, boat parts, produce, cold beverages, lunch and a feel for the town.  We were successful on all accounts.

After lunch, Martin took us on a tour of Indian River in his pirogue.  It is the widest river in Dominica and its claim to fame is that some of the scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest were filmed there.

On our second day we rented a car at daybreak and like crazy tourists set off to see as much of the island as possible driving from Portsmouth across to Marigot, down to Roseau, up to take a dip in the natural springs at Laudat and finally back to Portsmouth by early evening--whew!  It was a magical, yet frustrating trip as we did not see a fraction of what we had hoped, but we did our best to make the most of our short time.  We’ll be back.

Although we would’ve preferred to go directly from Nevis to Dominica, the wind and waves were not kind to us on the way down and we took refuge mid-way, anchoring for the night in Deshaies in northwest Guadeloupe.  We were rewarded with not just with a respite, but a glimpse of the elusive ‘green flash’ at sunset—the first time for Claire-Elise and Patrice and the only time I've ever managed to capture it on film.  

Determined to make Dominica the next day, we persevered under difficult sailing conditions, taking a beating most of the way down and by late afternoon we arrived safely in Prince Rupert Bay welcomed by a rainbow no less!  Wish I could say this was a good omen, but unfortunately the anchorage was quite uncomfortable and unstable with shrieking winds battling down on us.  Nevertheless we were so keen to visit the island and exhausted from our trip down, we decided to put ‘mind over matter’ and do our best to put up with it.

The first time we sailed in these waters 18 years ago, we had been warned that Dominica was not a safe place to anchor.  Since then an enterprising group of young men formed the Portsmouth Association of Yacht Security (PAYS).  They run regular patrols at night in the anchorage area and since this has been active there have been no problems in this area.   

Cruising friends had recommended we contact a certain member of PAYS named Martin by VHF upon arrival and he would take care of us.  Within minutes of the call, he appeared in his trusty pirogue aptly called Providence as he was such a blessing to us.   So that we would not have to put our dinghy in the water (a challenge in that anchorage), he offered to take us into town to clear customs the next day, recommended a place for lunch, arranged a tour of the Indian River for the next afternoon and found us a place to rent a car for the day after.  He even took our garbage and brought us a bunch of ‘banana figs’ a small plump tropical version of the fruit as a gift.  What a guy!

Although we were tempted to go ashore immediately to have look around, we were too tired to make the effort and decided that the 'splendor' of this fair isle could wait until tomorrow.  My last thought before I fall asleep while being jostled in my bunk from the swell is "Dominica, you better be worth it!"

Shortly after the Heineken regatta, we became official landlubbers on St. Martin.  As much as we love living aboard Taka Trois, working on a boat has become increasingly impractical and uncomfortable especially during the rainy season and with a significant mosquito problem on the island, not to mention that we found that it’s hard to be taken seriously when your address is a marina.  

So we found and rented a small one bedroom apartment a stone's throw from the marina and moved in mid-March, furnishing it entirely with a shipment we had organized from IKEA.  After putting together over 30 pieces of furnishings, I felt justified in dubbing myself the Queen of IKEA and Patrice, who helped with the bigger items, my Prince Consort.  It was a lot of work, but for the sake of efficiency, expedience and innovative space solutions for a very small apartment (think rabbit cage), it was perfect.  Her majesty is pleased with the result and needless to say, we are both enjoying the creature comforts of a land-based abode namely air-conditioning, a decent fridge/freezer, a proper shower and a toilet that doesn't need pumping to flush. 

A mere two weeks after we moved off the boat however, we turned around and moved back onboard (no wonder why my mother always asks me where I am every time I talk to her).  Since the beginning of the year we have been talking about sailing down to the island of Dominica, a place we have been longing to visit.  The arrival of our daughter, Claire-Elise, for three weeks from Manhattan gave us the perfect excuse to head off and do some cruising.

Dominica (pronounced dough mee nee ka) is about 210 miles/345 km from St. Martin, which for Taka Trois translates into a two day sail non-stop.   To ease our 'New Yorker' into sailing, we decided to break up our trip with a stop in Nevis, an island we had earmarked last year as a place where we wanted to spend a bit more time (go to this blog’s archive from April 2013 to read about our last stop there). 

Our wish came true as due to weather conditions we ended up spending three nights there moored off Pinney's Beach near Charleston just opposite Sunshine's, one of our favorite beach bars in the Caribbean.  We were delighted that our friends, Ann and Steve of Receta, were also moored there.

Nevis, which was derived from the Spanish, Nuestra Señora de las Nieves by a process of abbreviation and anglicisation. The Spanish name means Our Lady of the Snows in reference to the story of a 4th-century Catholic miracle: a snowfall on the Esquiline Hill in Rome.  Presumably the white clouds that usually cover the top of Nevis Peak reminded someone of this story of a miraculous snowfall in a hot climate. 

I knew that Greenland and Iceland had been misnamed by the original cartographers, but I did not know that Christopher Columbus originally christened Nevis as San Martin.  It appears that in the confusion of numerous poorly-charted small islands in the Leeward Island chain meant that this name ended up being accidentally transferred to another island, Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. 

The indigenous Amerindians (Caribs and Arawaks) were wiped out as it was first conquered by the Spanish and then passed to British hands with the usual blood-letting.  Sugar-cane madness and exploitation of slaves followed before it gained independence together with St. Kitts, her sister island, in 1983.

Today it is a sleepy little island relying mainly on tourism to survive.  Its claim to fame for the Brits is that Admiral Horatio Nelson met and married his wife there and for the Yanks, it's the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the USA and chief of staff to George Washington.   

With Ann and Steve as our cohorts we strolled through the charming town of Charleston (the only town on Nevis actually), provisioned our boats with fresh produce from the local market and took a leisurely drive around the island visiting the botanical gardens and and several charming restored plantation inns in the Gingerland district in the south east part of the island.  For highlights of our tour click on the arrow below: 

I must pause here in my narrative to share a serendipitous moment of our day.  Wherever Orléachs and Duerrs gather, conversations are often centered around food and Ann and Steve seem to be cut from a similar mold. During our trip around the island, I randomly mentioned in the car that sticky toffee pudding* is my all time favorite dessert.  Shortly afterwards we arrived at the lovely Golden Rock Inn, a sugar estate carefully restored by its artist owners dating back to 1801 perched in the hills of Gingerland (aka Wonderland as the place has a surreal Alice in Wonderland feel to it--see photos in the slideshow above).   We decided to stop for a cup of tea and were amazed to find that the special of the day was none other than that sinful, but delectable British pudding!  How sublime! 

We would’ve loved to linger in Nevis and climb Nevis peak, but Dominica was calling.  So after a memorable last evening watching the sun set over Taka Trois and Receta while sitting at Sunshine’s Beach Bar sipping killer bees,* we bade farewell to the crew of Receta and continued our journey south early the next morning.

*Killer Bees:  The bartender would not give us the ingredients nor tell us how this libation got its name, but we suspect it probably has honey in it as well as a lethal amount of wicked local bush rum.   It's also a popular way for cruisiers and locals to kill time.