If you build it......they might still not come

Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses - oh, they are already here. Welcome to Dominica 

So we enjoyed a rollicking sail from IDS (Iles Des Saintes) to Dominica.......that most Caribbean of Caribbean islands. Dominica is a stunningly beautiful island and there is a 99% chance that neither you or anyone you know (besides us) has been here. The island has been hammered by a series of natural disasters over the years including a couple of hurricanes in 2017; the word "natural" somehow making it seem more polite. The island is positively trashed. Very few houses seem to have roofs (five months after the fact). A couple of restaurants are open but needless to say we are eating largely on our own. Rastas are filling dirty jugs with water from spigots on the street......the water trickling out slowly and of dubious quality anyway.

Across the bay is a hotel which was financed for Dominica by the kingdom of Morocco (of all places). It had walls and a roof before the storm..........now it just has walls. The Moroccan construction workers have this forlorn, resigned look on their faces as they attempt to restart this project. Not sure who picked the location or who green-lighted the project, but this hotel is doomed. Dominica's roads are destroyed, it has only a small airstrip..........not sure what the designers were imagining when they did a business plan.

"Mustafa, How do we tell the king that the roof is four miles away?"

Quote from the King of Morocco - "What? Dominica and the Dominican Republic are two different places?"

There's an offshore medical school here which really drove the economy in this part of the island. All the students and faculty were evacuated before the storm and were relocated to the US. Without those students and the economic activity they generate, a lot of businesses have failed.........with the cruise ship dock destroyed as well, you get the picture. The two main sources of income here are gone for the foreseeable future.

We want to spend money to help but really don't trust the food, diesel, or gasoline in this fourth world island. The people are great and rebuilding but the soft sailors in us are dreaming of Martinique 50 miles away. This is really a lot like camping in central Africa (not that we've done that).

Table with a view please?

One great thing about leaving IDS was that we anticipated a break for yelling at people who anchor too close.

So, at dusk on Saturday, an acquaintance of ours on an Amel rolls into the bay and anchors kind of close to us. Had it been anyone else, the junk yard dog in me would have trashed him and shooed him away. But it's like another Ferrari has parked a wee bit too close to yours.........you assume the guy knows what he's doing and you try to maintain the decorum by saying nothing.

Next morning, as I'm doing a project downstairs Kirstin notices that he's now within 10 ft of us and dragging......over 21 tons of yacht about to smash into us. I yell over the boat (he's that close) and try to stir him out of his air-conditioned comfort. They immediately see the problem as their dinghy tied to the stern of the boat is bumping against our bow. We are relieved when he gets to the wheel only to have him yell over in a perfect cool-baritone Patrick Stewart accent - "I can't start my engine". Aargh - we run to grab our three largest fenders and brace for impact as the boat is now along side us and swinging in the wind. He finally starts the engine but then their windlass (the mechanism that pulls up the anchor) fails. You can't make this up... and our Caribbean chill has completely disappeared (but the junkyard dog did not bark). He is finally able to move his boat away about 15 seconds before impact. He and his wife were as freaked out as we were. Of course, being a Ferrari, er- Amel owner, he came over and apologized profusely. All was forgiven (although we will be keeping an eye out for them - we forgive but don't forget!).

As part of the effort to help the island, we've been participating in cruisers appreciation week here. Basically a bunch of sailors drinking on shore at a party organized by the locals. We've met some cruisers which was great. Kirstin is the youngest cruiser in the bay by some 15 years, so we're still trying to set up an age appropriate playdate for ourselves.

Long walks and scrounging for an open restaurant to spend money...............

No Michelin stars yet, go figure... (yes that is a food truck)