On Route to Dominica

Thursday 8th July

Location: Port De Plaisance, Marina Bas Du Fort, Pointe A Pitre, Guadeloupe.
On Route To: Dominica
Up at daybreak, we had a busy morning getting the boat ready to leave. We were on a mooring ball at the front of the boat, and stern to the dock. It was too early for the marina staff to help us so Edi used the dinghy to cast us off from the ball, and we had a little help from our boat neighbors casting off the stern lines. We bobbed around in the harbor while Edi brought the dinghy up on the davits, this was not an easy task as he was getting horrible electric shocks each time he caught hold of anything metal. Eventually using rubber gloves he was able to get the dinghy safely up on the davits and secure, but was then feeling quite ill from all the shocks. We headed out of the bay at 8:30am.
The sail across to Dominica was lovely (even for me) we had great 20 – 25 knot winds and were flying along under full sail at a consistent 8-9 knots. Once again I had made our lunch before we left the harbor, so we were able to eat while underway.
Dominica has become known as the “whale watching capital of the Caribbean”. The unique offshore terrain and deep water around the island provides perfect conditions for whales to breed, feed and play. Among the most commonly sighted are, humpback, sperm, pigmy and pilot whales. Spotted and spinner dolphins are also regularly seen in these waters. Unfortunately we were not lucky this trip, despite keeping a constant lookout. I am hopeful we will see some when we leave on Sunday.
We arrived in the bay at Portsmouth around 2pm, and dropped anchor over by the Coconut beach hotel. Late afternoon, Bob and Edi went ashore to try to check in and rent a car. Tomorrow we head out exploring again…