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Dominica
By Alex | March 2, 2009
Thanks again to Charlie for writing this blog.
Dominica – Portsmouth and Roseau. January 10th to 14th
What a contrast. We arrived in Portsmouth, Prince Rupert Bay, Dominica on the evening of Saturday 10th. The first thing that struck us was that the land appeared to be totally enveloped with dense forest. And the number of shipwrecks on the shore- looks like the hurricanes come through here regularly (*). Upon landing ashore it was immediately apparent that Dominica is a far poorer and les developed island than Guadeloupe. Portsmouth, the second largest town on the island (Roseau, the capital, being the largest) would be considered little more than a small provincial town in the UK. Do not think however that we were any less excited or that we expected little from our time here…
The sail from Bourg Les Saintes was another gentle three hour sail. Once again we averaged approximately 7 knots on a broad reach, initially with a full main but changing to two reefs and the No. 3 headsail in roughly 25 knots of wind.
Sunday morning was for general admin, seeing as everyone goes to church on a Sunday, and then Sunday afternoon the Briggs (plural) took the short stroll up to the restored Fort Shirley which, situated in Cabrits National Park, overlooks the bay. Built by the British after the 1763 cessation of the island from France, it never saw active service but was a key look-out point and stronghold.
Monday morning was an early start- 5:30am wake-up. I never got up that early when I was working! By 8:30am we (Al, Chuckles, Duncs, Ewan and Duncan senior and Denise from Sea Topaz) had made the journey, via Roseau (rose-oh), to Laudat and the start of the hike to The Boiling Lake. Here we joined up with 6 Swedes from a boat in Roseau and started the 6 mile ascent. The climb took us via the Valley of Desolation, an area of rainforest destroyed by an eruption in 1880, which we could smell long before we reached it! Bubbling mud and hissing steam were in abundance and much of the surrounding land was various hues of sulphurous yellows, reds and greys. Pressing on we made The Lake by 11:30- the world’s second largest boiling lake. The 207ft-wide lake sits inside a deep basin and is, most of the time, shrouded by clouds of steam. Geologists believe the lake is a flooded fumarole- a crack in the earth that allows hot gasses to vent from the molten lava below. The lake appeared to invoke varied responses from the party, many of whom seemed to consider our stop in the hot pool on the descent far more worthwhile!
* In fact Dominica does suffer badly from hurricanes and in 1979 Hurricane David whipped in with 150 mph winds, killed 42 and destroyed 75% of the islands housing.
Topics: The Voyage - Leg 3 |