5/4/2026 Portsmouth, Dominica
Up with the sun after a very calm and quiet night. The first music came on at 0730 and filled the anchorage with a modern reggae sound! We dinghied into the customs dock to check in. Customs was straight forward using sail clear prior to arrival. He took 30 EC, about $10 and sent us on our way to immigration a half mile up the coast. At the dinghy dock they fleeced us for $20 for parking! We found a dock close to the immigration office and tied up, nothing to lock up to. We walked to the immigration office, a few blocks, and quickly checked in with them. Along the way we found a Doctor’s Office that we need to visit, but they are closed today for the holiday, what holiday I do not know. Suzette and I both have earaches, too much swimming in bad water?
We dinghied up to where the music was playing. This was a place called the Breakfast Village, a series of pop ups selling all sorts of breakfast goodies. We had a drink called Sorrel, a dark red color made from Hibiscus petals, ginger and spices, delicious! The music was very loud and intense; we did not stay long.
We explored the anchorage by dinghy and tied up to a dock at the north end of the bay to walk the beach. Lots of boats abandoned on the beach, leftovers from some storm. The authorized concessioners for tours on or off the water is PAYS. They offer legitimate tours, rent the moorings and provide security, we were tied to their dock.
The clouds kept threatening rain, but significant rain never fell. The wind did blow as evidenced by a broken turnbuckle on my port side lifeline. Probably the result of the nylon fly being clipped to it. The wind had settled, giving me time to repair the lifeline. Then I reworked all the lines for the fly so they were clipped to d-rings made to carry a load. No swimming with these bad ears, just a cool shower.
5/5/2026 Portsmouth, Dominica
Up early to be first in line at the Doctor’s clinic. It was
very overcast and we did get a little rain. We looked like tourists with our
umbrellas up for the 5 minutes’ worth of rain. No waiting at the doctor’s
office. He took all our vitals, and everything looked good. For our ears he
said that they were too clean, stop using cotton swabs in your ears, the wax
serves a purpose. He prescribed an antibiotic ear drop, charged us $80 and sent
us on our way. He was a very nice guy with great bedside manners.
Next stop was the pharmacy, a very modern store not unlike a
CVS at home. Our ear drops cost about $25. I say about because everything is
priced in Eastern Caribbean Dollars, about 1 EC to .37 USD. On the way back to
the boat, we stopped at the roadside farmers market for fresh fruits and
vegetables. They grow a lot of food on this island that is sold to other
islands in the Caribbean. On the boat we looked at the weather and decided to
move south down the island to have a better jumping off point the next day when
we headed to Martinique. As much as I was looking forward to Dominica it is a
very third world place, not very clean and everyone is hustling you.
We sailed south until the wind died and motored into an
anchorage called Mero, just a nook along the coast. It was much cleaner and
quieter here with a few boats anchored. The doctor prescribed not swimming for
10 days, we complied. A relaxing evening for a bit of trip planning. In about a
week the wind and rain set in in, we needed to decide where we will hang out
for a while, perhaps St Lucia.
5/6/2026 Mero, Dominica
Up very early with the wind hooting. We prepared the boat
and departed at about 0700 heading south to Martinique. Of course, the wind
died down and was very fluky, we sailed on and off until we reached the south end
of the island. The wind picked up, we unfurled the main and jib but had them
reefed. With the wind on our beam this is not the most efficient sail plan, but
safe. At 20 knots of wind, we furled the jib and sailed main only. My little
jib does not like sailing off the wind. The wind is always highest when it gets
compressed around the north or south end of the island. The wind finally
settled in at 15 and we unfurled the full jib; it is only a 100%. We were able
to trim this configuration for an efficient sail.
As we cleared the north end of Martinique the wind died off
and we motored into Anse Le Touche off St Pierre. We had been warned about not
anchoring south of the tunnel because the fisherman had claimed that area for
their own. We managed a good spot north of the tunnel and settled in for the
night. Being a French Island, we could check in on line and not have to go in
person to customs. Our plan was to visit the zoo park in the morning. This is
sort of a botanical garden, site for old ruins and an outdoor free roaming zoo.
5/7/2026 Anse Le Touche, St Pierre, Martinique
After a very quiet night I was up with the sun and the
fisherman. I watched as they went from boat to boat and told them they had to
leave. These boats were all south of me and clearly in the fishing area
described in Navily. Then they came to my boat and asked if I spoke French. I
said no! They handed me a cell phone and said talk. Thinking that it was set to
translate I asked them what do you want me to say? Then the phone started
talking to me, there was a well spoken gentleman on the other end of the line.
He explained that I needed to be north of the tunnel. I told him I was, then he
said that I needed to be north of the blue boat that was north of me. I told
him I was north of the tunnel and only 100 yards south of the blue boat and I
did not plan to move. I handed the phone back to the fisherman and the man on
the phone explained to them what I said. I reiterated that I was not planning
to leave. Then they brandished an AK47…just kidding. They slinked off to the
next boat muttering something about the police. About this time Suzette came up
and quickly grasped the situation. At this point they had cleared most of the
boats but none of them seemed to be fishing yet. Suzette, being more sympathetic,
said let’s just go so they can make a living, off we went.
It was a lazy sail down the coast in light breezes to Fort
de France. We anchored just below the fort at the west edge of the rather full
anchorage. A couple on a boat we saw in the last anchorage came over on their
dinghy, Joe and Vicky on Dolce. They had been here before and they were a
wealth of information. Suzette always wants to shop at the Carrefour when there
is one available. Joe explained to us what bus to take to get there. The bus
stop was very close to the anchorage.
On shore our first stop was the AD Nautic, another favorite
store. I needed the cruising guide and some country flags that covered the rest
of our journey. They had what we needed, next we found the bus stop and figured
out how to buy bus tickets. The buses were very nice and air-conditioned. This
is a big city and the buses operated in a dedicated bus lane, very efficient as
we passed lines of cars sitting in traffic. The Carrefour was huge and
associated with a small mall of other shops. It was lunch time; we stopped at
Le Brioche for a sandwich and a delicious raspberry pastry.
We did not need much from the Carrefour but stocking up on beautiful French cheeses and a baguette is a must. The fresh fruits and vegetables section was vast and very fresh. They had an item that we had been looking in every French grocery store since we left Les Sables d’Olone on the Atlantic coast, Kevlar cooking sheets for the grill. When we outfitted Raffaellesco we bought this tray sort of pan made from what looked like Kevlar for the grill, we use it all the time. At the Carrefour they had sheets of the same stuff to use on the grill. It turns out it is PTFE coated glass cloth.
Back on the boat we followed Joe and Vicky across bay to
Anse Mitan and anchored up. We invited Joe and Vicky over for cocktails, French
cheese and a baguette. They are south African and have lived all over the
world. They have been cruising the Caribbean for 4 years on their Bavaria 56, a
great looking boat. We had plenty to talk about making for a great evening. Unfortunately,
we talked about weather and Joe reinforced Suzette’s concerns over some heavy
weather coming in a week or so, high wind and seas. Now she is on a mission to
get to Grenada ASAP!
5/8/2026 Anse Mitan, Martinique
In the morning Suzette was ready to get underway and bee
line it for Grenada to beat the weather. We needed to check out of Martinique,
rather than back track we headed south to Anse D’Arlet to visit customs. We
anchored just off of the pier, and I dinghied in with my papers to check out.
Despite the cruising guide saying they were open on Saturday, they were closed
until Monday. I took a picture of the closed notification and headed back to
the boat, and we left without an exit paper. Because this was a French Island,
I did at least have a digital form for check out.
The wind was a perfect 15 knots ENE and the seas were not
bad, we decided to skip St Lucia, we had both been there before and the check
in process was cumbersome. We sailed 70 miles south to St Vincent. We had only
our second Caribbean Dolphin sighting along the way. There were lots of birds
following us, they catch the flying fish that take to the air as a boat disturbed
the water.
We arrived about 1730 in Chateaubelair, St Vincent. St Vincent and the Grenadines are an independent country and comprised of a long chain of islands. A young man was paddling his little plastic kayak and waving to us. He introduced himself, Mikia, and welcomed us to St Vincent. He guided us to a great anchoring spot and moved on to an arriving catamaran. His partner paddled up and clearly wanted something. Suzette engaged him in conversation while I settled the boat. Turns out he wanted crackers?! Suzette gave him a bag full of packages of crackers, and he was very grateful and went on his way.
Returned and inquired about our stay and we indicated one night but we need to check in. He said that customs were still open and he would let them know we were coming in, he said they would wait. We secured the boat and dinghied into the dock where another young man greeted us and promised to watch our boat for us. Let’s just say that there are too many young able bodied men that seem to just mill about the waterfront, job? We found the customs office in the basement of a house on shore, outside more young men milling about. Their electronic system was not working so we did it the old fashioned way, hand filled form in triplicate using carbon paper. Fortunately, I had EC cash and could pay the fees, no credit cards. The bulk of the fees were for overtime, no wonder they stayed. The Grenadines are a long chain of islands so I told him we would be here for 3 days. Back to the boat for some food and rest after a long day of sailing.
5/9/2026 Chateaubelair, St Vincent
We were up early with fair weather; we decided to make the long
run to Carriacou. We put up the code while underway and enjoyed a great broad
reach pass Bequai and many small islands. On the way I was reading the cruising
guide and realized that Carriacou is not part of the Grenadines, and we would
need to check out before going there. We diverted slightly east, furled the
code zero and unfurled the jib and arrived at Charlston Bay, Canouan, Grenadines.
It was Saturday and customs were supposed to be open. A young man, John,
arrived in his dinghy offering a mooring. We inquired about customs and said
they were closed, we would have to go to the airport, a long walk but they
would be open tomorrow, Sunday, at 0800. And Fuel? The marina around the point.
We were not desperate for fuel, both tanks were sitting shy of a quarter but
catch as catch can here in the islands.
We motored around the point and into the most beautiful
marina we had ever seen. Pulling up to the fuel dock to young men greeted us
and helped with lines. We took on 101 gallons at about $5/gal, not bad as
marine diesel goes. We inquired about a slip, and they were available for
$56/night, the only catch was that they could not accommodate my 50 amp plug
in. If I cannot run my AC in the stuffy marina, I would rather be catching the
breeze at anchor and off we went. It was a beautiful marina, only 8 years old
and part of a development that would include homes and retail. The Islands
governor was visiting today to tour what was being developed as a golf course.
We anchored in Charlston bay, clear water but strange green
color. We elected to get some chores done as there was not much to see on
shore. The slide for one of the drawers in the galley was coming loose, all
that pounding we were doing. In the process I drop the star bit in some
unreachable place. Opening an access cover I discovered that this is where the
refer drawer condenser lives. In 4 years, it has not been cleaned, and it needed
it. Suzette cleaned while I finished fixing the drawer. It occurred to me that
if this condenser was so dirty the refer condenser would also be dirty, we tore
into that clean up job as well.
For dinner it was Pizza on the grill.
5/10/2026 Charleston Bay, Conouan
Overnight the wind was gusty, and the anchorage was a bit rollie.
We were up with the sun and off to the airport to check out with customs. We
beached the dinghy at the south edge of the bay as close to the airport as
possible. The walk took us through neighborhoods where several young men wished
Suzette a happy Mother’s Day. It was about a 25 min walk to airport. We arrived
at about 0830 and a young lady indicated that customs should arrive in about 10
minutes. At 0915 we inquired with the gate agent, and he said they should be
there about 0930. At 0945 we inquired with another gentleman, and he said he
would call the customs agent. He reported that they would be there in 10
minutes. Sometime after 1000 the customs officer ambled in, and I was able to
check out. Another couple from Austin Texas had arrived to accomplish the same
task. They were on a catamaran, Muci.
Suzette inquired with a taxi driver about taking us back to town,
which he was happy to do. I think he was a shuttle from one of the resorts. I
told Suzette I only had 5 $5 EC but I have dollars and euros. He accepted 40 euros,
in his pocket, I am sure. We were happy to quickly get back to the boat and get
underway, it was already 1100. We motored south in 20 knots of wind and 3-4’
seas on the beam. We arrived in Tyrell Bay about 1330, quickly anchored and
headed to shore to check into Grenada. Customs was supposed to close at 1400,
but we made it in time and we had already checked in electronically. They had a
credit card machine, but it was not working and I was fresh out of ECs and did
not have enough USD. They sent us off to the ATM, but the ATM would not accept
my card. We went back to the boat and grabbed all of the USD I had in the safe.
Back at customs they were happy to take my USD and away we went, our final
check in for this trip.
Relieved to be checked in and this close to our final destination we enjoyed cocktails on the foredeck and a delicious pasta for dinner. With 2 weeks left on the boat, we are thinking about our meal planning and to do list.
10/11/2026 Tyrell Bay, Carriacoa, Grenada
A very quiet night, gentle Caribbean breezes and flat seas.
The landscape has changed drastically here in the Grenadines, very arid and
sparse on these low lying islands. We got underway under clear skies and
building wind we got underway putting up just the main with a double reef. The
wind reached 30 knots, and the seas were running 5-7’. I set a course with wind
and sea behind us to go outside of the Volcano exclusion zone. Yes, there is an
active undersea volcano called Kick Em Jenny and a big red circle on the chart
that encourages you to go around the volcano. There are three concerns with
this volcano. The first is obvious, it blows and rocks and lava fly up in the
air and land on you. The second is a Tsunami is created. The last caught my
attention, the volcano can emit enough gas bubbles into the water that buoyancy
is affected, and you simply sink!
Once around Kick Em Jenny we had to take the wind and seas broad side to get to our anchorage. At least the period was long enough that we generally rose up and over the swell and did not get knocked down, probably some of our roughest seas so far and it is just getting started. We arrived in Maran Bay and had just finished anchoring when the radio crackled “Raffaellesco”. It was a passing Catamaran, Grace, inquiring if we were familiar with this anchorage and were we planning to spend the night? No and yes. He advised that this place was notorious for boardings and people taking your dinghy and holding it for ransom. Needless to say, we thanked Grace and pulled up our anchor to head further south.
We were now comfortably in the lee of the Island and
motoring south. We anchored in G
rand Mall Bay. It was not an easy task, very
inconsistent depths, rocks and weeds. After 4 tries we finally found a good
place and settled in with several other boats just off of the beach. We were
very happy to have reached our final island after cruising nearly continuously
since early last September.
Suzette was happy because there was a grocery store at the
beach next to us. We went in for some items, most importantly, toilet paper! Back
on the boat it was time to start thinking about the process of storing
Raffaellesco for the long hot summer.
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