Tuesday 13th March
Portsmouth,
Dominica
15 34.917 N
61 27.821 W
Dale and Gerry took off at 08 00hrs to try and get us cleared at customs, get some Eastern Caribbean dollars and check out internet, trash disposal and laundry. Whilst they were gone I ran the water maker and typed up blog notes. When Gerry returned just over an hour later he said the trip was partially successful – they found the laundry service, trash and internet but had to return to immigration as the officers were dealing with the cruise ships. It means an
afternoon trip to the office again. He also said that we were booked to do the Indian River trip at 16.00hrs. Our next task was to bag up the laundry and dink it into Big Papa’s restaurant where it would be taken, washed, dried and folded then returned to us within 24hrs. As it had been a while since we had done any laundry it seemed like everything we possess on the boat needed washing. We had 3 large garbage bags full of dirty, salty clothes, towels and bedding – I fear it will cost us a fortune to retrieve it! Anyway we dropped it off but were told that the power was out so it may not get done today, just as well we are here for 3 days! We returned to our boat and after a lunch of left over lasagna from last night (just as good the second time around Laurie!) Gerry managed to get us hooked up to an internet provider for 24hrs. He then went with Dale back to the immigration office to complete the formalities stuff whilst I sent a couple of emails and loaded my recent blogs and photos. When Gerry returned he read for a while and then had a siesta whilst I continued to fiddle around with the 
internet – when you only have it for 24hrs you have to make the most of it! At 15.50hrs Gerry woke up – grumpy – and dashed about getting ready to be picked up for the river tour at 16.00hrs. Our tour guide, Andrew in this case, collected us from our boats and took us up the Indian River which is very narrow and shallow and can only be toured with a guide in a paddled boat, absolutely no outboards permitted. The tour lasted about 2 hours in total, was very peaceful, calm and the temperature was quite cool compared to the harbour we had come from due to the canopy formed by the trees. We saw some awesome trees and river scenery including 
one of the sites used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2, this photo of the site is dedicated to the Creighton Island Pirates, we love and miss you all! Half way through the tour we stopped for refreshments at a purpose built turn around dock, the rum punch they served there was stronger than any I have drunk anywhere – it was like rocket fuel! Our tour guide presented Lorie and I with a small souvenir of the trip, palm leaves which had been hand woven into a bird and a fish – very clever stuff. The return trip saw us back on Dale and Lories’ boat from which we headed into the dinghy dock for dinner at the Blue Bay restaurant. It 
was a good ending to a lovely day. The only sour note for the day was that Dale’s stern anchor for his dinghy came adrift from the chain whilst we were in the restaurant and he is going to have to go swimming for it in the morning, hopefully it will still be in the same spot as he dropped it. We have made arrangements to go on a trip tomorrow which takes us inland somewhere and as we have to be up early I’m off to bed now.
Dominica
15 34.917 N
61 27.821 W
Dale and Gerry took off at 08 00hrs to try and get us cleared at customs, get some Eastern Caribbean dollars and check out internet, trash disposal and laundry. Whilst they were gone I ran the water maker and typed up blog notes. When Gerry returned just over an hour later he said the trip was partially successful – they found the laundry service, trash and internet but had to return to immigration as the officers were dealing with the cruise ships. It means an
afternoon trip to the office again. He also said that we were booked to do the Indian River trip at 16.00hrs. Our next task was to bag up the laundry and dink it into Big Papa’s restaurant where it would be taken, washed, dried and folded then returned to us within 24hrs. As it had been a while since we had done any laundry it seemed like everything we possess on the boat needed washing. We had 3 large garbage bags full of dirty, salty clothes, towels and bedding – I fear it will cost us a fortune to retrieve it! Anyway we dropped it off but were told that the power was out so it may not get done today, just as well we are here for 3 days! We returned to our boat and after a lunch of left over lasagna from last night (just as good the second time around Laurie!) Gerry managed to get us hooked up to an internet provider for 24hrs. He then went with Dale back to the immigration office to complete the formalities stuff whilst I sent a couple of emails and loaded my recent blogs and photos. When Gerry returned he read for a while and then had a siesta whilst I continued to fiddle around with the 
internet – when you only have it for 24hrs you have to make the most of it! At 15.50hrs Gerry woke up – grumpy – and dashed about getting ready to be picked up for the river tour at 16.00hrs. Our tour guide, Andrew in this case, collected us from our boats and took us up the Indian River which is very narrow and shallow and can only be toured with a guide in a paddled boat, absolutely no outboards permitted. The tour lasted about 2 hours in total, was very peaceful, calm and the temperature was quite cool compared to the harbour we had come from due to the canopy formed by the trees. We saw some awesome trees and river scenery including 
one of the sites used in the movie Pirates of the Caribbean 2, this photo of the site is dedicated to the Creighton Island Pirates, we love and miss you all! Half way through the tour we stopped for refreshments at a purpose built turn around dock, the rum punch they served there was stronger than any I have drunk anywhere – it was like rocket fuel! Our tour guide presented Lorie and I with a small souvenir of the trip, palm leaves which had been hand woven into a bird and a fish – very clever stuff. The return trip saw us back on Dale and Lories’ boat from which we headed into the dinghy dock for dinner at the Blue Bay restaurant. It 
was a good ending to a lovely day. The only sour note for the day was that Dale’s stern anchor for his dinghy came adrift from the chain whilst we were in the restaurant and he is going to have to go swimming for it in the morning, hopefully it will still be in the same spot as he dropped it. We have made arrangements to go on a trip tomorrow which takes us inland somewhere and as we have to be up early I’m off to bed now. Labels: Dominica
posted by SV Orpailleur at 5:32 p.m.
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