Outbound on Pratique: Yachtie Appreciation Week in Dominica

The first ever "Yachtie Appreciation Week" took place in Portsmouth, Dominica on February 14-21. We had this event in our sights for a while, so after a brief return visit to Iles de Saintes we made our way down to Prince Rupert Bay. When we got there we were greeted by Alexis, our PAYS guide from last year, who made us feel welcome and at home. Then we saw some familiar boats, including Avocation, of Hank Schmitt and OPO fame. Over the past year Hank organized funding of new moorings in the bay for cruising vessels visiting Dominica, and so this week was given by PAYS and the island of Dominica as a "thank you" to cruisers who not only help the islands economy by visiting, but also helped out last year after tropical storm Erika devastated the island by flooding.

Boats at anchor and moored in Portsmouth for

Yachtie Appreciation Week

Nice! Right in front of Sandy Beach Wifi

Susan greeted by Alexis at the PAYS building

We started the week off just walking in town again. Somehow we missed this house last year:

We tip toed thru this block

"Shhhh. . . "

Local Stroller

Next few days we joined up with a number of the other boats (Kalani, Lagniappe, Persistence, and Rubicon among them) and participated in the tours of Dominica that were organized for all of us. Thanks again to Hank and also to Joan Conover on Growltiger for putting these together!

The first tour was led by Uncle Sam by van down the west coast of the island. Traveling with us were Barbara and Tom of Kalani, and Greg and LizAnn of Lagniappe.

Driving down the West side of Dominica

Driving these roads provided glimpses of the devastation that was caused by the torrential rains and subsequent flooding caused last summer by Erika. Most of the major bridges have been bypassed by temporary bridges, and travel north-south is fully restored.

Once down the coast we traveled inland to experience the TiTou Gorge and Trafalgar Falls. The water in the Gorge was so cold it froze our brains so there are no pictures. Here's Trafalgar Falls:

Father Falls and Mother Falls

Next stop was the Botanical Gardens in Roseau. There were nice examples of the island's flora, and the Parrot Conservation Center displays several Jacko Parrots, but the most memorable scene has to be the fallen African baobab tree that fell on an empty school bus during Hurricane David in 1979.

Tom, Barbara and Uncle Sam at the Botanic Gardens, with onlooker.

Uncle Sam hangin' out

Crushed bus. Nobody got hurt!

The day ended with a soothing soak in the Soufriere Sulphur Springs. Great tour, Uncle Sam!

The other tour we took was given by long-time taxi guide Winston, who was fantastic showing us a good portion of the north end of the island. He also said his hellos to no less than a hundred people as we passed them on the roads. I smell a run for mayor??? We traveled with Mary, Dave and Margaret from Rubicon (Peter stayed back on the boat to get chores done). The north edge of Dominica is as spectacular as the interior, with lots of great vistas

We hiked down a trail to Chaudiere Falls, or nearly. The last bit of the hike is to cross over rocks and then walk upstream to see the falls, but there were big rains over the past few days so the creek was running high and crossing was unsafe.

Winston puts the nix on crossing the river.

Oh well. At least I saw a cow:

"Hello, Cow. How's ya mother?

We drove along the north coast to Calibashie and had lunch. Then after lunch, the spectacular Red Rocks, a compacted mud/sand formation with a smooth red surface and several distinct crevasses:

The view northeast on Red Rocks

Winston guides us to the edge!

Susan "volunteers" to go down into the crevasse to take a few pictures:

On the way home we stopped to see the Cold Soufriere which is a group of numerous small bubbling pools. What makes them unique is that the water that bubbles up from them is, you guessed it, cold, not warm. They also give off lots of very strong sulphuric acid odor, Nice!

On the final night of the week the government of Dominica sponsored a farewell dinner for the participants of Yachtie Appreciation Week up at Fort Shirley. It was well attended and well received by us all!