Once we were back in Turks we had to get a bunch of boat projects done with the supplies we brought back, and we had to wait for a good weather window to cross to DR. We also did a lot of provisioning and a bit of kayaking, and visited a local brewery. Most evenings we sat at the marina or at Bob’s bar and chatted with the locals and the guy who started the marina way back when, Bob. It was a great experience with great people!
We also took some time to hang out with a cool couple that we met at the marina, Dan and Zu. They are from the United States and are working while cruising. One day we took the local ferry and rented a car on the next island down the chain. It was really beautiful with some really nice beaches and a little hiking. One of the hikes included a really cool sea cave too. We also stopped at a look-off and saw a ton of flamingos in a lagoon.
We found it very complicated to figure out the weather because the cape map showed high chances of lightning basically every night. We ended up contacting the well known route planning guy, Chris Parker to help us out. He found us a window and gave us very specific instructions on when to leave and so on. When we attempted to leave on the decided morning, we got about 10 minutes our and our packing started to overheat again. We came back into the marina and got a technician to come look at it. He said it was fine, so Douglas just adjusted the packing nut. And cleaned the shaft and lubed everything again. This time it worked!
We had to wait a few more days for another window, and then we left at high tide one day and then early the next morning from a nearby anchorage. We had enough wind for motor sailing for most of the day. As evening crept on, the wind dropped so we took in the sails and increased the motor. Soon thereafter the motor stopped. Sails back up! Douglas went down below, checked the fuel filter – clean – tried to start the motor again – nothing. He went back down and got to the fuel lines. Sure enough the line going between the tank and the filter was totally clogged with crap. He had to suck it out, with his mouth, thereby covering himself with diesel. Very gross. After that was done he took a shower and ate dinner. Then it happened again.
At 8PM when the motor was running well, I told him to go get some sleep because he would probably be up all night dealing with that issue again. Yet, when he woke up at 6AM I was still sitting there motoring away after a beautiful calm peaceful night of watching the lightning off in the distance and the beautiful reflection of the stars on the water. I even brought out a bit of sail at one point although the wind was light it gave me an extra knot of speed.
We came to the Dominica coast just as it was getting light. It was unimaginably beautiful after spending months looking at flat barren landscapes. The mountains were covered in green and seemed to roll on forever. While we approached the entrance to the bay a small pod of dolphins swam alongside the boat. It was magical. Then we were in the bay, following a local boat to our new mooring that would become our home for 6 months, right beside our Nova Scotian friends, Gwen and Chris!
