One of our friends, Charlie Love. with his sparkling smile and his awesome tshirt.

Day Four (we’re just getting started)

It seemed we must have seen all Dominica had to offer after our whirlwind tour with Eddison and Ken G.  We spent the next morning recovering and doing schoolwork while the guys on all three boats donned SCUBA gear and cleaned the bottoms of the boats.  This is not an easy chore.  It is tough on your arms and pretty gross, considering the muck that is getting swiped off the bottom into the water, which you are swimming in…

the guys rest after working hard all day

Portsmouth Lagoon house

Wendy and I had admired the wood work boats so much that the PAYS guys suggested we walk to town and visit Guy, the boatbuilder.  Jeffrey, one of the PAYS guys, was having a new boat made, so we could see it under construction.  This is another one of those “unofficial tours” we seem to make up as we go along.  Our favorite moments happen when we meet someone, have a lovely conversation, learn something interesting about their island, and then create an opportunity to see people in action, living their regular lives.  We followed the directions we were given: make a right when you get to the street off the beach, go over the bridge, and make a left.  Look for the house with sailcloth hanging over the front.

We had no trouble finding Guy’s house, which is also his workshop.  On the way, we stopped in at a local grocery to look around (you never know when you are going to find something amazing, like milk.  Or Ginger Beer!).  In the back corner, they had farm tools, and, see?  What did I tell you?  They had a whole display of machetes!  You never know what you will find in a food store.  Our anniversary was coming up, so I kept in it mind…  We bought flavored ices for the kids, which were made in fold-over plastic bags.  They were only 25 cents EC, which is about 8 cents US!  The kids just have to bite off the bottom corner and suck the ice out.  It became their new favorite treat when we told them that we would buy them as many ices as they wanted, the whole time we were in Dominica.

Guys workshop, with the sailcloth cover on the front.

Guy was at his shop, hanging out with two buddies.  Not a whole lot of work was going on.  He seemed surprised to see two women and six kids piling into his tiny space, even when he told us that the PAYS guys had called to warn him that we were coming.  We gave him the two second speech, since he didn’t seem like the kind of man who minced words: “We’re two families from the US living on our sailboats for a year.  We heard you are the man responsible for all the amazing wood boats in Dominica.  Can we look at the boat you are building?”

He sort of pointed at the boat, which was about three inches from us.  I realized we would have to be our own tour guides.  Wendy and I started firing questions at the poor man to see if we could get some “social studies lesson”-worthy information out of Guy.  Eventually he warmed up to us and explained the different types of woods he uses and how long it takes to build a boat from start to finish.  His workmanship was excellent.  He endeared himself to us further by pointing out the wood he was saving to build a boat for himself.  The whole kit and caboodle took about 10 minutes, but it was a special treat to see into the life of a Dominican boat builder.

Many schools have bright graffiti with inspirational quotes on the walls.

Next, we walked to St. John’s Elementary School.  We hoped to make an appointment to visit the school and meet the children.  We met with the principal and ended up chatting with her for about an hour while the kids played Red Light-Green Light with some of the students.  We learned a lot about the educational system in Dominica and planned a visit for early the next week.

Reese and Kate jumping off the dock

We headed back to Lagoon (pronounced Laa Go by the locals, which is why it took me until our second trip to Dominica to figure out what the heck they were saying.  What’s that?  You didn’t realize we went to Dominica twice?  You are worried that the rest of your free internet time this decade will be filled trying to read my damn posts about Dominica?  Deal with it.  It’s worth it!), which is the name of the area where our boat is anchored.  The kids decided to play at the beach and ended up playing for hours with some of the local kids, many of whom are Eddison’s nieces and nephews.  The PAYS guys taught them to collect these tiny little clams and that kept them busy for hours.  They came back to the boat with a small bucket full of them along with directions on how to cook them up for dinner!  Bryson took charge and made a fantastic appetizer that all the kids tried.

Wendy hanging out with Eddison and some other PAYS guys while we watch the kids on the beach.

Reese, Kate, and Bryson enjoy their clam appetizers.

heavy spring-loaded action on the swim platform.

Back at the boat, Chris was still in the water and saw some lionfish below our boat.  Remember lionfish?  The invasive species of fish that are destroying the coral reefs and terrorizing all the fish in the sea?  There is a Caribbean-wide goal to attempt to eradicate them, so even in protected waters, spearfishing for lionfish is allowed (well, overlooked at least).  Of course, Chris hadn’t actually tried his speargun yet, so we all amused ourselves trying to load it without spearing each other.

He didn’t catch them, but he got some good practice using the speargun.

At the end of the day, we watched the sun setting and thought about what an incredibly full, pure, and complete day it had been.  We had met some wonderful, inviting people.  The kids were playing with local children.  We were eating from the sea and spent half the day in the water.  We didn’t realize it yet, but all of our Dominican days would be this wonderful…