Dominica Contemplation

Tuesday, February 10, 2009.

The internet connection, for which I have paid a dear US$30 for a week's subscription, has been failing on a regular basis. We have a fine connection to the Portsmouth server, but nothing happening beyond that. The line is down from the Purple Turtle on out. There was a brief period where it opened up this morning, and I was able to post two updates with pictures, but then Alica got on and the whole thing failed again. It remains out as I pen this short essay.



The day has been very windy. We spent the afternoon in contemplation, I of the many wrecks, photographing, the camera set to some weird setting that only the artist understands. So some of the best shots are washed out. I'll post the good ones anyway, as well as some of the shots taken after she pointed out that I might do better with the camera set to automatic. Alicia and I contemplating shells and sea glass, destined for the sea glass repository outside the front door at 'Enfin' in Cap a l'Aigle. I found one blue one, then came upon a bunch of blue ones in the little souvenir shop where I bought two Carib woven insulating place mats. Their weaving is really good, solid and beautiful. There is a tribe extant in Dominica who do a lot of baskets and mats. One can find them in Ste. Lucie at the market in Castries. The artist took pictures of the kingfish dinner which I think are worth sharing.




After walking up to Cabrits National Park with our newfound dog friend, we stopped at the Purple Turtle for a drink and a chicken leg with fries. Who should show up but Jeffrey, president of the guide and security association. He is very interested in squiring Alicia around and shows up a lot. I have managed to fend him off, mostly. He is really very nice, but that may not be a good thing. He has asked me to correct a mistaken impression. Not ALL the security people are at the Sunday barbeque. He makes sure that the security here is maintained 24/7, and would like you all to be clear on this point. There you are then. We had an issue with a very poor looking character who paddled out on his surf board this morning offering fruit. Actually he had no fruit, but promised us mangoes and bananas and tomatoes in ten minutes. He also loaded our very large garbage bag onto the back of the board for an extra $EC 5. I am a trusting sole and gave him the money, telling him we were going out but just to leave the fruits in the cockpit. AFTER I had given him the money, Alicia called me in and said that Jeffrey had told her that the men on surfboards were mostly crack addicts. Normally we don't lock when we go out. This time I closed the door and hid the little Acer computer in the my stateroom. We came back with our shells and sea glass two hours later and no tomatoes or bananas were to be seen. Chalk it up to experience, I thought, and be thankful nothing is missing. We set out again for Cabrits Park and ran into Jeffrey on the way. He said he would look into it.

When we finally got home after dinner, there were the bananas, mangoes and tomatoes, just as advertised. I like to think it was my man on the surfboard, who was just a bit late delivering. Or possibly it was Jeffrey's crew making things right. Either way, alls well that ends well. If the internet will let me, there will follow some contemplative photos of wreckage, fish dinner, shells, a dog and a snake.

In the morning, we hope to make a long push into Martinique, possibly to Fort de France which is at about the limit of our daylight range. Jordy will be in St. Lucia next Tuesday to meet us.