I wasn’t sure what to have as a title to this post and was thinking that I might use yet another reference to whacking moles.  However, as has been the case with so many issues that have come up this winter, I thought that something about it being a “pain in my AIS” was more fitting.  So, that’s the title…

Anyway, dear reader, I have certainly had my share of “technical challenges” with Pandora this winter and it is worth noting that, for the moment anyway, the FINAL mole was whacked into his hole as of this morning.

When the SSB radio crapped out a while back we had a power surge that also took out the AIS transponder.  AIS, the following link is a bit outdated as the system is required on much smaller vessels now but not on those as small as Pandora.

Automatic Identification System, is a program similar to that used by aircraft designed to make it easy to identify who’s going where and how close they are likely to come to one another.  From my perspective, it is a terrific safety feature to have aboard as it allows us to monitor other vessels in the area and to determine if they are a threat to us.

Getting the AIS repaired proved to be problematic and we ended up having to purchase a new one.  That was very painful but it had to be done.   The installer, with the hope of saving time for the installation, made a point of replacing it with one from the same manufacturer so that it could use the same cabling and simplify the installation.   Well, it did include the same cables but getting it up and operational proved to be anything but simple.

As so many hours are in the SSB replacement job, I opted to do the AIS installation myself.  The electrician labeled the wires so I’d know which went where.  Simple yes?  Not!

I put it in place, powered it up and it sent out a signal but didn’t show up on my plotter.  Fast forward a day of fussing along with a few hours of diagnostics this morning it still didn’t work.  After we had exhausted every possible option the manufacturer finally suggested, “just switch the two wires and see what happens”.   Well, it worked.  All better now.  Of course, we won’t talk about the hours I messed around with it and all the back and forth with the installer.

With a functioning AIS I will be able to see all the big boats on my plotter and will be able to see them on my chart plotter including how fast they are going and how close they will come to me.   As an added bonus, those ships will also be able to see Pandora, assuming that they are looking, which they sometimes aren’t.  You too can track Pandora using this system on your smartphone.   Check out this link “where in the world is Pandora” to learn more 0n how to, sort of, “friend” Pandora and keep track of where we are.

All better now.  So all that’s left is to pay for all the work that’s been done over the last few weeks.  It’s going to be interesting to see what the bill says.  I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.   It’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure.

The good news is that Pandora is operational now and ready to head off into the sunset.   Let’s hope that no more moles show up.

Enough of that for now.  Let’s talk about boats, no make that REALLY BIG YACHTS.    How about the Maltese Falcon, an ultramodern square rigger, a nearly 300′ long technological wonder, as it were?   She’s one of the largest, and certainly the most technologically complicated sailing yachts in the world today. She was launched in 2006 in Turkey and was built for the Venture Capitalist, Tom Perkins, perhaps one of the most successful ever.  He made his money investing in early web startups including Amazon, Google, AOL and other high profile businesses. Stock and crypto investments helped him grow his wealth even further. The XTB Broker Review provides an overview of the trading platform that allows investors to access various financial markets, including stocks, forex, and cryptocurrencies.  And given the fact that he made his m0ney in Tech, it stands to reason that Falcon would be so technologically advanced.

Her rig, known as Dynarig, was originally designed as a way to power cargo vessels. She’s known as The Maltise Falcon, but as I motored up to her transom I realized that she’s actually “Falcon” from Malta, the country where she’s registered.  Oh yeah, I get it.  Clever.Perkins is deceased now and Falcon was sold a few years ago for $60,000,000 Euros, which is proof that no matter how much you have, “you can’t take it with you”.  However, if you rank him on the “he who dies with the most toys wins” scale, Perkins was a standout.

Falcon is now owned by a charter company and it is no longer used as a private yacht.  However, if you want to sail on her you have to pay for the whole kit and kaboodle.  No renting a cabin on her, it’s all or nothing.   Check out these photos and videos.  Amazing.

Want a video tour of your charter option?  Check this out. 
You really get a feel for her “hugeness” when you see one of her 17, count em, crew on deck.   Big boat, little crew person, by comparison. Her unstayed masts rotate to orient her 15 square, self furling, sails totalling nearly 26,000 square feet of sail,  to the optimal angle of the wind.  When fully furled they are oriented fore and aft, I guess, to minimize windage.  Windage? Good luck with that on a 300′ yacht.  When viewed from her stern, the pattern of the spars remind me of a double helix DNA strand. Falcon was the largest sailing yacht in the world when she was launched and surely reigns supreme as one of the grandest “high tech” achievements on the water today.    I am amazed every day when yet another magnificent yacht sails into Falmouth harbor here in Antigua.   I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

As amazing as they are, I can’t help but wonder what sorts of moles their crew must spend countless days whacking into their mega-yacht holes.

For me and Pandora, and I don’t want to jinx it, perhaps the worst is behind us but there is one thing for sure keeping her running well can sometimes be a big pain in the AIS.

I can’t wait till I get the bill.  As they say, “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”.   Well, I’m asking and my fingers are crossed.

Wish me luck.

Well, that’s it.  Brenda caught a cab for the airport on Sunday and I am on my own until Friday when Craig arrives.  I’ll focus on Craig’s arrival as I don’t want to think about the fact that I won’t see Brenda again until the 17th when I fly to Baltimore to see our son Rob, daughter-in-law Kandice and mother of our granddaughter Tori.  I can’t wait to see them all and Brenda will be there when I arrive too.

So, here I am ALONE in Antigua, admittedly a magnificent place that I couldn’t even have imagined visiting until a few years ago.

Alone or not, I’ll just have to make the best of it by having ice cream each day and take pictures of some ot the magnificent yachts here in the harbor.   Yes, ice cream and sailing yachts.

And what better yachts to focus on than the magnificent “J” class, the America’s Cup racers from the 1930s, of which there are only eight in the world, with another three in the development/build stage right now.  Already, there are more of these remarkable racing machines in existence than was the case when they were raced for the America’s cup during the Great Depression.  There is a website dedicated to the class.    It’s worth checking out.

As I understand it, the class was revitalized by Elizabeth Meyer who funded the rebuild of Shamrock V, the first of the “Js” to be rebuilt back in the 80s.  Actually, most of them on the water now are replicas built from the original plans as the boats themselves didn’t survive.

There is a special event here in Antigua in a few weeks, the classic yacht regatta, probably the largest gathering of classic yachts in the Caribbean each year.   Antigua is also the place that many of these huge sailing vintage America’s Cup yachts make their home for the season and I think that there are 5 or so of them here right now.   In May they will head up to Bermuda to race in conjunction with the America’s Cup event itself.

Brenda and I were here for nearly a month in March and now that we are back, many of these beauties are still here.  I know that they have come and gone for other superyacht regattas in St Barths and the BVIs.

These boats, while each unique, have a similar hull shape and are not to be confused with most any other classic design.  With most over 100′ long, they are sleek and fast.  The first of the J boats to hit the circuit in modern times was Shamrock V, the only wood J sailing today.  She is wood on metal frames and was restored by Elizabeth Meyer back in the 80s, long before the huge sailing yachts were as popular as they are today.   She has beautiful copper colored hardware, all custom, I would expect. While most of them have their woodwork covered while they are at the dock, they have impressive attention to detail as does Topaz.One of the boats Velsheda, has it’s own “tender” a magnificent yacht designed to look like a classic.  Bystander is it’s name, the same name as a tender owned by Vanderbilt when he campaigned a J in the 30s.  Can you imagine having the ability to have a 100′ racer and a support yacht like this?Neorion was launched in 1999 and yet looks like she might have been build 100 years ago.  She was built in the Netherlands and was completely refitted just a few years ago.
The attention to detail on Neorion is really remarkable.  You can’t let this varnish go for even a moment. Now here’s a real looker, Adix.  She’s probably the largest boat here in Antigua right now.  She’s also new and is over 200′ long, 213′ not to put too fine a point on it.   Learn more about her here.
She has a number of “toys”.  Nice little daysailer.  Nice davits too.  Everything about these yachts is huge.  How about the scale of the masts on this one. This is a Wally tender, I think made in Italy and cost, well, they cost a lot.   However, it’s peanuts compared to the “mother ship”.Of course, there are plenty of contemporary designs in the harbor.  I wrote about Leopard recently.  She’s one of the fastest mono-hulls in the world, capable of speeds of about 40kts.  She’s available for charter if you have the coin.   She looks fast from the bow. And from the stern.  All business. And speaking of charter, 100′ Penelope was designed for the charter business and even makes the point on her stern, “by Luxury Living”.   Check out her site.Want to charter but prefer a grey ride?   Check out Seawave. She’s fast too.  The site says that she cruises at 9kts and has a top speed of 11kts.  Pandora goes 9kts and she’s less than half as long.   Heck, skip this and go with Leopard if you want fast as she’s 4x faster.
Fast, sleek or even grey, there is nothing that compares to a classic schooner and Elena was designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff “the wizard of Bristol” in RI in 1911. Her namesake didn’t survive but the design lives on in Elena, a replica launched in 2009.I guess that the owner wasn’t hurt too much by the recession.    Check out her site.  Lot’s of great information about this remarkable yacht.

However, classic or not perhaps the queen of the fleet here in Antigua, if age and heritage is any measure, would be Mariette, also a Herreshoff design but she’s an original and was launched 102 years ago in 1915.   What an amazing boat.    Check out some great photos and information about her history here. Well, I guess that’s about it for now.  I could go on all day as there are many more yachts that I have not included here.   Antigua, at least in the winter season, is home to the world’s most magnificent yachts, that’s for sure.

And what better place to view the scenery than where Brenda and I had her “departure dinner” on Sunday before she flew out for home.  Did I mention that Brenda’s gone home?  I miss her, even if the Grand Dames of Antigua are here and she’s not.

I can’t believe it.  After months of frustration, the SSB long distance radio is back and running and it feels wonderful.   This morning I was actually able to talk to someone in FL as well as Bonaire.   To be able to say “can you hear me now?” and get an answer… Perfect.

I won’t recount all of the SSB trials and tribulations but I began to have problems months ago and it finally gave up the ghost back in late January.  Unfortunately, and for a number of reasons, not the least of which was a major misdiagnosis by the electronics guy that getting everything back in order has taken a really long time.    However, it works now and that’s good.

The only thing left to do will be to wrestle with the electronics guy when he presents me a bill that will likely include time spent on “a wild goose chase” or should I say “wild mole chase” for hours, no make that several days spent hunting for the real problem.  Anyway, days before the tech came to the same conclusion, I as pretty sure that it was the tuner but it wasn’t until he and I both reached out to ICOM tech support that he finally realized that the tuner was a major part of the problem.   Oops.  Very expensive Oops.

So, here we are again in Antigua, Falmouth harbor and Brenda flies out tomorrow for home.   I am sorry to have her go but she has a conference in TN that she wants to attend so that’s that.

Our trip south this winter was shorter than normal for a number of reasons, but it looks promising that we will be able to spend more time aboard next winter which will give us the time needed to go further south and spend time exploring the Windward Islands, perhaps as far as Grenada as well as many of the islands we had to skip this year due to a lack of time.

My good friend Craig will arrive on Friday to spend a week aboard while we make a run for the BVI.  It will be a lot of fun as it’s almost assuredly a downhill run and we have plans to stop in St Barts, St Martin and then in the BVIs where he will fly home.

After a few days spent cleaning up Pandora and no doubt visiting with other cruising friends in the BVIs, I’ll fly back to the states for two weeks to spend time with our son Rob and his wife Kandice as well as our new granddaughter Tori before I head home to CT with Brenda to get our house and gardens in shape for the spring.

After all that, I’ll head back to the BVIs in mid-May to bring Pandora north for the summer.  There are plenty of projects that will need to be done on her before I head south again in the fall as well as a solid list of “land home” projects like remodeling yet another bathroom that will keep me plenty busy.

Of course, I hope to fit in a bit of cruising in New England but Pandora will have plenty of time to rest after the many miles she will have traveled during our first winter in the eastern Caribbean.

It’s remarkable that we are here, Brenda and me, after so many years of being together and I have to say that I would have never imagined that I’d  ever be in a position to say that we have now spent five winters afloat and have spent so much time heading up and down the U.S. East Coast, sailing in the Bahamas, Cuba and now the Eastern Caribbean.   Who knew?

So, back to now, today, here in Antigua.  It was great to get up this morning and see this beautiful sunrise.It rained a few times last night so the salt was rinsed off of the decks.  That’s good as it was pretty thick after our somewhat sporty run from Guadeloupe the other day.

One of the squalls arrived after sunrise and left a beautiful rainbow in it’s wake.  I have posted so many sunrises and rainbows, you’ll just have to trust me that these are not recycled.  Honest…really.

When we were in Les Saintes last week I was impressed with how clear the water was, even near the docks and by the number of small fish that schooled near shore.   I wish that I could take underwater shots that look this good.  These “minnows” are about 6” long and are fished for by the locals.  They are pan fried whole and eaten, I am told, like French fries.  Yum… I guess…I thought that this ship/tug, military I think, was pretty neat. We saw her in a number of harbors in Guadeloupe.   I’ll bet that she can handle pretty rough seas. This ship, the Oosterschelde, now doesn’t that just roll off the tongue, is a three masted schooner training vessel from the Netherlands.  She will celebrate her 100 anniversary next year and is still going strong.  We have seen her in a number of harbors, most recently when she arrived in Antigua this morning.  She’s a bit rough but has nice lines.The stern is pretty jaunty, right?So, I guess that’s about it for now.  Brenda’s leaving, the SSB is working and I am going to be lonely, well, at least until Craig arrives on Friday.

After that, it’s north I go and back to sort of “real life”.   Let’s hope that I can keep the moles in their holes until I get back home.

It’s Tuesday and Pandora is back in the islands of Les Saintes, just south of Guadeloupe, making our way back to Antigua where Brenda will fly out for home on Sunday.

Yesterday we had a great sail back yesterday from Dominica, a beam reach with about 15kts of wind.  We moved along nicely, sometimes at over 9kts.   What a perfect dqy on the water.

Visiting Dominica was a real treat.  We had been told that Dominica was one of the most beautiful islands by a number of cruisers and they weren’t lying.   It’s very rural and quite different than the other islands that we have visited this winter.  I have to say that the variety is one of the best parts about this area as each island has it’s own unique personality and most all are within a day long sail.

For our rainforest tour we hired the same guide, Faustin Alexis, that we had used to do the river cruise.  He does a very good job.  He was busy that day so sent us with his nephew Fitzroy, a nice young man.  However, if you can, I recommend that you ask for Faustin himself as he is especially entertaining.  He can be reached on VHF channel 16 or at faustinalexis@gmail.com  His phone is 1-767-615-8821.

We were picked up at our boats by Faustin precicely at 08:00 and brought to the fisherman dock where we joined a van to take us up to the rainforest, a long and winding trek up into the mountains to the center of the island.   Some fisherman were cleaning their nets as we arrived at the dock. As we climbed the winding road you could feel the air get cooler as we rose in altitude.   The van seemed to work pretty hard to make it’s way along the increasingly narrow and steep roads, most of which were barely wide enough to pass.

Commercial farming has not found it’s way to this island which is a good thing.  They are still practicing “slash and burn” agriculture where a small plot of land is cleared in the forest and planted with a crop such as yams, coffee or perhaps bananas.  This “plot” is farmed for several years until yields decrease and than it is abandoned to be reclaimed by the forest.    This approach to farming is very gentle on the environment and can go o for hundreds or even thousands of years without destroying the forest.  This assumes, of course, that the clearing is done in moderation.  Unfortunately, in much of SE Asia, commercial farming, especially for palm oil and sugarcane, in part to fuel the ethanol/biofuel market is ravaging the tropical forests.  So much for “green” fuel.  Thanks Al Gore for helping to encourage such practices.   Think of him when you next fill up your SUV with gasoline that’s 10% ethanol.

Anyway, I digress.   Our trip took us by some beautifully tended farm plots as we drove up into the mountains.   Each tuber, probably yams or something, were planted in a perfect little mound of soil. Later a pole is inserted so the vine can grow up and mature.  Banana flowers are distinctive and lovely.   I understand that it takes many months for bananas to mature and then the plant itself dies.   However, little shoots come out of the base of the plant that flowered so they are removed and planted by themselves to begin the process all over again.  Bananas are not grown from seed, just from shoots off of those “mother” plants. When  Brenda and I were in highschool we purchased a banana plant that we had in our home for many years after we graduated from college.  That plant, or shoots from that plant, live on today in a friend’s garden in Florida, nearly five decades later.   Sorry, no bananas until “Bob” as the plant is known, found his way to Linda’s garden in Florida.   He’s doing very well now, thank you.

Actually, Brenda and I visited “Bob” last winter.  Here’s “Bob” with me and his “mom”, Linda who he lives with now.  Brenda and I no longer have many indoor plants now that we are away for such a long time in the winter. The locals also grow coffee up in the mountains.  The beans grow right on the branches and are harvested by carefully plucking off each ripe bean as it begins to turn red.  There were many birds in these garden plots carved out of the fores.  We spied a hawk looking to feast on something a little farther down on the food chain. Along the side of the road, plants so beautiful it was hard to remember that these are a “weed” of sorts here.   Nice weeds.  We spotted this beautiful amaryllis growing on the side of the road.  I don’t know for sure if this is endemic to the island or if it was planted.  Of course, you’d recognize this from the same bulbs that us northerners force for holiday bloom.  These flowers were the size of a large salad plate.   Beautiful. Not all the flowers were that showy.  Some were not much larger than a fingertip. I saw this beautiful vine growing on a dead branch.  The leaves are smaller than a pencil eraser. Everywhere you look something wonderful.  These ferns sported fronds that were only an inch or so long. It was hard to focus on them when faced by what might be called the “queen of all ferns” the tree fern.  They grow to great heights and look like something right out of Jurassic Park. Even big ferns start out little, but not that little.   No short jokes please.  There isn’t much more impressive than a stand of tree ferns in the distance. A mix of textures and shades of green.
As we entered the forest we were blown away by the majesty of it all.  Hard to take in the scale of these trees that lined the path. One view more magnificent than the last.
Just huge.Everything is competing for light.  The trees grow up and everything else uses the trees to climb up too. Some were hundreds of feet tall up in the canopy with roots that ran all the way to the forest floor.   Anything to reach the light.Some plants very small like this vine with leaves that were barely an inch long.  Vines of nearly every shape and size clinging to their host.
Once things drop to the forest floor don’t last long as there are plenty of fungi ready and willing to make short work of them like these beauties. We nearly stepped on this tiny frog who was hopping in the middle of the path. He blended in perfectly, well almost perfectly, into the ground litter. Along the way we stopped to do a short hike up a riverbed to an amazing waterfall.    As we made our way into the forest we spied the only orchid that we saw in bloom.  This one was growing on the side of the road.  The flower spike was several feet tall.  This African Tulip tree, with magnificent flowers was quite a stunner.  Each individual flower was perhaps 6″ wide.    Very showy and a stunning blaze of color in a sea of green. We hiked up the stream bed crossing first to one side and then the other as we made our way toward the falls. The trees towered over us. At one point we even did a “Tarzan” thing swinging from a vine across the river.   Not bad for a 61 year old guy.  Right?Made it. As we worked our way toward the waterfall we could hear it a long way off. I would have loved to go for a swim but there wasn’t time for that.  How about a photo op instead?This photo of our traveling companions, Dave and Chisholm of Plantina II and Bob and Carol of Oasis,  gives a better feel for the scale of the falls. That evening, as the sun set over the ocean to the west, we were treated to a real show, a wonderful way to cap off a great day.  We even saw the elusive “green flash” something that you rarely see except when the horizon is haze and cloud free.   The sun set like a giant fireball.And, just as it dropped down into the sea, a momentary flash of bright green. A closeup of the “flash”.  You can see it’s green on the edges.   I am told that it’s much easier to see when mixed with rum.  We have found that wine works well too.   However, too much wine somehow makes the horizon tip a bit.  How is that?Others have told us that Dominica is their favorite island for hiking and enjoying the natural wonders of a tropical paradise and if our experience is any indication, than they are right.

The opportunity to see such natural beauty, go for a walk in the woods and do so without seeing another soul all day long is one of the things that makes Dominica a real treasure.

So,there you have it, visit Dominica and go for a walk in the woods.  You won’t be disappointed.

Well, we finally made it to one of the “islands that touch the clouds”, Dominica, pronounced “Domineeca”.  Most of the admittedly limited number of islands that we have visited on this trip have not been very tall and, as a result, are fairly dry with plenty of cactus and other drought tolerant plants.    However, there are other islands, especially as you get further south, that are 4,000 to 5,000 feet tall so that the winds, as they blow over the mountains, form clouds that drop their moisture on the island.

Dominica is such an island and it’s beautiful.  It was a short 4 hour sail on a terrific beam reach for us to make our way here from Les Saintes a few days ago. This is one of the most undeveloped island in the Eastern Caribbean so there aren’t many services.  I guess that crime has been a problem in the past so a number of locals got together and formed an informal security group, PAYS, to patrol the harbor, provide moorings and give tours of the island.  They are a group of independant operators, entrepreneurs, who are able and willing to help with whatever you might need.   As we approached the anchorage on the lee side of the island, Alexis roared up in his skiff to welcome us.  It seems that who ever connects with a yacht first as they enter the anchorage “owns” them for the duration.  Alexis was the first to reach us as we rounded the point and gave us his business card.   “Welcome to Dominca, Welcome to paradise.   Let me know what you need.  I’ll get it for you.”Alexis is a very charming guy and is happy to do whatever.  His specialty is tours of the island as he has a taxi as well as a nicely appointed skiff.   There were other cruisers in the harbor that we knew so once we anchored we began to make plans, of course, with the help of Alexis.

The anchorage is a busy, if bumpy, place with fisherman coming and going all the time.  This guy was very popular with the frigate birds. Before we could go ashore I had to clear in at customs.  It was a 2 mile dink run down the beach on a really nasty commercial shipping dock.  Unlike some of the other islands we have visited, there are no natural harbors in Dominica, just the “leeward” side of the island.  When storms hit there is no protection at all.

This was the “customs office”.  Pretty basic. The island is very mountainous with mountains that truly “touch the cl0uds” And, speaking of “touching the clouds” the view of the mountains from Pandora is spectacular.   And, you can clearly see the cloud forest at the top of the mountain. The next morning I decided to go for a hike with some of our cruising friends. Brenda stayed aboard to do the laundry and relax as we were told that the “hike” was going to involve a LOT of up and down.  We took at bus, a sort of minivan jammed with locals, up and over the mountain pass to the windward side of the mountain as that’s where the forest is more lush.    The bus dropped us off at the beginning of a well marked trail.  The national park service has laid out many trails on the island.

We passed this cow as we entered the forest.The view that greeted us as we entered the trailhead was amazing. And we spent the next four hours winding our way up and down through spectacular ravines.We would climb up impossibly steep hills and then go down again.   The switchback trails were muddy but passable.   These photos don’t begin to do justice to how amazing the views were. Everywhere we went there were beautiful flowers.   This vine was draped for hundreds of feet from tree to tree. I particularly loved these red flowers.  They were everywhere. I am always on the lookout for orchids and wasn’t disappointed.  However, I only say one in flower,  a “Lady of the night” Brassovola Nodosa.    They are very common and flower high up in the canopy.   They bloom more than once a year unlike most of the others that only bloom in the spring at the beginning of the rainy season in late spring.  They are very fragrant at night.   I saw plenty of other orchids but they weren’t in flower.   These are likely a member of the Cattleya or Laelia families.  All these plants look about the same when they are not blooming but their flowers are spectacular.  I wish they were in flower while I was there.   Here’s a sample of some Dominica stamps, including Brassavola Nodosa in the lower right. Orchids grow in the very top of trees, attached to branches so they can get lots of light.  However, fungus grow down low and don’t need so much light.   These tiny mushrooms were on a log.  Each one is only the size of a pea.Everywhere I turned there were beautiful leaves and flowers.  These were about 3′ across.   Impressive with the afternoon light streaming through the canopy. As we took the bus over the mountain pass to reach the windward side of the island the air was much cooler, the part of the island near the clouds.  Tree ferns, sometimes 15′ tall, were everywhere.   Hard to imagine a fern that large. Everything competes for light.  This bamboo stand was perhaps 60′ tall, perhaps taller.  When in active growth, this member of the grass family can grow several feet per day.   The “stalks”, actually individual “blades” of grass, were about 5-6″ wide.   Bamboo is known to be quite invasive and I can only imagine trying to control something like this in a home garden.   “Bob, the bamboo broke through the cement patio again last night. Would you get out the chainsaw and cut down that new growth.”  I know of such things from personal experience as we had bamboo in our garden for years but ours was only 1″ wide and perhaps 15″ tall.  Still a handful to control.
Every tree seemed to be bigger than the last.
As we came over each ridge the view was spectacular.
In some areas local farmers had cleared the woods to grow bananas or other crops.  After a few years, they let the forest reclaim the land.  It opens up the canopy and lets new plants take hold in a sort of sustainable agriculture approach.
As things grow back, begonias and other delicate plants take hold.
I am not used to seeing such flowers growing “wild”.  We saw plenty of birds like this hummingbird out for a morning snack.  There are many native varieties here with all the native flowers.
There are no poisonous snakes on the island but this lizard, about 3′ long looked plenty fearsome.  It doesn’t show but he had a decidedly blue hue.
The locals “farm” in the forest and pick the fruit when it is ready for market.  This is cocoa.   Interestingly, the “fruit”, about 6-8″ long grow right out of the trunk of the tree.
At the bottom of one of the ravines there was a beautiful babbling brook.   I was dying for a swim but everyone else seemed intent on pressing on.  Perhaps they were afraid that if they stopped they wouldn’t be able to get up again without a nap.  So, on we walked, up and down, and up and down again, through hill and dale, mostly hill for several hours.  After that, out on the road we stopped for a cold beer before we caught a bus back to town and “home”.
All and all, a wonderful “walk in the woods”.  Amazing.

This morning we went ashore early to the Saturday farmer’s market.  Unlike many of the more arid islands, agriculture is big here with a wonderful selection of fruits and vegetables.   Coconuts grow everywhere and MANY coconuts are opened up to fill bottles with “water”.   A big pile of “nuts”. We bought flowers from this lady.  I loved her outfit.  She was well put together to encourage sales. We probably bought more produce than we can eat but it all looked so inviting. So, back to Alexis.  Remember him, the guy who greeted us as we sailed into the anchorage a few days ago?  We, along with several other cruisers, hired him to give us a tour of the nearby Indian River.  As he rowed up the river, no motors allowed, he entertained us with a very enjoyable patter of local historic lore.  I expect that at least some of it was actually true. He sat up in the bow pulling the skiff against the gentle river current.    During the rainy season, think hurricanes, the water level is about 8′ higher and the river, impassable.
There was plenty of wildlife to take in.  This heron was busy looking for lunch, which he found.We passed another tour boat returning from their visit.  Cute kids. One of the “attractions” was an abandoned “set” from one of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.   I can’t imagine where Johnny Depp stayed while they filmed the scene on the river as the roads are rough and I didn’t see any hotels nearby.It looked pretty convincing that a sorcerer would live here.  This is a scene from the movie filmed here.   I’d say that “you had to be there” and we were. The trees on the side of the river left plenty to the imagination. It would be easy for an overactive imagination to see these roots come to life at the stroke of midnight during a full moon. At the “head” of the river we visited a charming bar.  One of the “bar keeps” was cooking up some sort of fruit concoction that would be fortified with rum, what else?Bob and Carol, our fellow explorers.  They too are from the NYC area and have spent the winter cruising the same islands as me and Brenda. I can’t help it.  A picture of me and Brenda too.  We enjoyed meeting these two young couples who had sailed over from Europe, with their young children.  Both in their own boats.    Adventurous, for sure. River tour access is carefully controlled, which is good.  It’s a busy place but done in a way that ensures that it will remain a popular attraction for many more years.

When Alexis came out to welcome us to his country as we rounded the point the other day, he exclaimed “Welcome to paradise, welcome to Dominica”.  I agree.

We plan to spend a few more days here before we head back to Antigua later next week so there’s still plenty to do before we go.

Well, time for a swim so I’d better sign off for now.

Oh yeah, speaking of swimming.  Last evening just before sunset I took this photo of someone going for a swim, tarzan style.  I guess if you take enough photos, and I take plenty, you get lucky.   I guess that’s really it for now.  Stay tuned.