Dominica - Portsmouth

Hi everyone,
We had a great evening yesterday at the PAYS Sunday BBQ.  The rum punch was cool and strong.  The food was good too.  We met many cruisers, including several OCC members.

PAYS Patrol Boat

During our sail from St Pierre to Portsmouth an Austrian boat Mauna Loa overtook us as we departed.  We took a number of photos of them and skipper Dietmar was kind enough to return the favour.  They are the first photos of Zen Again under sail since departing Australia!!!

Zen Again under sail!

Austrian yacht Mauna Loa

The photo of Zen Again above was taken while we had two reefs in the main and two furls in the yankee.  Once out in the channel between the islands we increased sail and actually caught up with Mauna Loa.

We had a quiet morning on board with a great breakfast of bacon and eggs (a delayed Sunday breakfast).  Thus restored I took the dinghy the mile or so south to the commercial dock where the customs building is located.  It cost us only EC$10 to clear in (and out).

Back on board, after lunch we took a shorter dinghy ride to the main town jetty and walked around Portsmouth.  It is quite a small town but we found the bread and veg we wanted, and at good prices too.  The sun was shining when we got back to the boat so we got some photos of the boat at anchor.

Zen Again at anchor

This evening we had David and Nicky from sv Baloo over for sundowners.  They too are heading for the UK this year so it was good to exchange thoughts on routes, stopovers etc.

Tomorrow we hope to do a morning tour up the Indian River and walk around the shore to Fort Shirley which overlooks Prince Rupert Bay (where we're anchored).