Sunday, May 29, 2022
An indiana jones adventure in dominica.
After a day-long tour of the northern part of the island, we found Dominica to be lush, tropical, mountainous and so well kept. The roads are very well maintained and there are committees in each village that take care of the plantings on the roadside. It was hard for me to capture in photos the steep volcanic peaks and the lush valleys where families have plots in places you couldn't imagine farming. They grow many different Caribbean fruit and vegetable, including yams, squash, pineapples, coffee, cocoa and lots and lots of mangoes. Our tour guide, Buddha, took us on hikes to a cold soufriere pool, a waterfall at the end of a gorge and a bat cave. To get to the bat cave, we waded through thick piles of stinky sargassum that were teeming with bugs, across a rocky point and over a rickety bridge with waves crashing below. I felt like I was on an Indiana Jones adventure! Then, when Buddha stirred up the bats in the cave and hundreds came flying out, I was sure of it. It was a great day.
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| The Bat Cave is in the village of Thibaud but it is difficult to get to the cave. I don't think we would have found it without our guide, Buddha. |
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| Buddha at the Bat Cave entrance |
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| Hundreds of bats swarming out of the cave |
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| Buddha instructed us to make sure and stay on the outer side of the bridge. It was definitely not in the best condition. 😳 |
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| Waves crashing below the bridge |
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Roads were very well maintained with beautiful plantings everywhere.
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| Pineapples growing by the side of the road |
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| Coffee beans, growing wild |
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| The views from up high were great in spite of the clouds and haze. |
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| So many different ferns and orchids |
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| Our tour guide, Michael, better known as Buddha. He married a woman from Columbus, Ohio and lived there a couple years but couldn't stay away from his home, Dominica. She did not come back with him. Except for the hike to the Bat Cave (we had to hike across very sharp rocks so he wore flip flops), he hiked barefoot. |
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| Joli at a mooring in Prince Rupert Bay, Portsmouth, Dominica |
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| We were expecting a dinosaur to emerge from the forest. |
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| A cold soufriere pool, bubbling with sulfurous gases. The water is about the same acidity as strong vinegar and is about 75℉. |
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| The day was cloudy and hazy but we were still able to see the Saintes and Guadaloupe (about 25 miles away) in the background. |
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| Looking up the walls of the gorge - there is a large rock balanced up there near where the waterfall comes down. |
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| We stopped at a roadside food stand for lunch - rice and lentils, vegetables (salad), chicken and Fig Pie, which was a dense mixture of fish and plantains with melted cheese on top. Bananas are called figs here and the Fig Pie was like a fish and potatoes casserole. All the food was delicious! |
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| The underside of the fern is bright yellow with pollen and you can knock the pollen off by placing the leaf right side up and smacking it. |
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| Chocolate making - a bit touristy but fun anyway |
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After drying, roasting, and separating they product is mixed (emulsified) for 6 days.
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| Cashew and bay leaves growing wild. The cashew fruit hangs from a tree upside down with the cashew at the bottom. The fruit is edible and it tasted good but had a weird texture. |
Wednesday, May 18, 2022
Fabulous le jardin botanique de deshaies, guadaloupe.
We had a very fast sail (averaged 8 knots!) on Sunday, 5/15/22 from Antigua to Guadaloupe. We anchored in the picturesque fishing village of Deshaies. This beautiful bay is surrounded by hills and mountains and can be a little gusty, as it was our first night here. The second day, winds settled down and we can tell we are getting further south and into the summer season because it is HOT and the water temperature is up a couple degrees to 83℉. There is a nice dinghy dock and three dive shops where we can get our tanks filled. The customs check in is easy at a little shop, Le Pelican. After checking in, we had a hot hike up to the Botanical Garden with our friends Chris and Laura on Zehpyr, but the view overlooking the bay is worth going on foot versus calling for the shuttle service provided. The Garden was FABULOUS! My favorites were the lorikeets, the flamingoes, the bright fuchsia orchids and the variegated bromeliads, but most of all - hanging out with Chris and Laura.
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The C&C 61 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Cuthbertson & Cassian and first built in 1970. The boat was built by C&C Yachts, at Erich Bruckmann's custom shop at Bronte, Ontario, Canada, starting in 1970. During its production run, a total of nine examples were completed, though it is possible the last two 61s credited as built were actually co…
The equation incorporates SA/Disp (100% fore triangle) and Disp/length ratios to create a guide to probable boat performance vs. other boats of comparable size. For boats of the same length, generally the higher the S#, the lower the PHRF.
C&C 61 is a 61′ 3″ / 18.7 m monohull sailboat designed by C&C Design and built by C&C Yachts starting in 1971.
The C&C 61 is a large sailboat designed by the maritime architect bureau Cuthbertson & Cassian in the early seventies. The C&C 61 is built by the American yard C&C Yachts.
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The C&C 61 is a 61.25ft masthead sloop designed by Cuthbertson & Cassian and built in fiberglass by C&C Yachts since 1971. 9 units have been built. The C&C 61 is a moderate weight sailboat which is a good performer.
The C&C 61 has an internally-mounted spade-type rudder and a fixed swept fin keel. It displaces 57,298 lb (25,990 kg) and carries 22,178 lb (10,060 kg) of ballast. The boat has a draft of 8.25 …
Skipper Robert H. Grant and his crew pushed the brand new C&C 61 in its first race ever to also win Class A. Robon’s competitors included some of the finest sailboats of the time, including the much larger Windward Passage …
KOH-I-NOOR is a 1974 C&C 61 currently available for sale in Anacortes Washington. This boat has a price of $339,500. and is listed with sales professional Justin Parkins out of our …