A big difference we’ve found between this type of cruising, and the 1-2 week charters we’ve done before, is being able to stop for a few days and get to know a place, rather than moving on every day. Dominica was a place where we were lucky enough to spend quite a while.

Diving and snorkeling is reputed to be excellent in this area. There wasn’t much to see immediately around the boat, so we got one of the local guides, Andrew, to take us over to Cabrits Marine Park. This meant we were able to do things the easy way, drifting down current over interesting corals and around a cliff face to where Andrew was waiting to pick us up. Although we didn’t get a picture of it, I saw my first Lionfish – these invasive fish have no natural predators and are becoming a big problem in the Caribbean. Free diving around the cliff face was stunning, with deep blue water on one side and bright sponges and corals on the other.

We also hiked at a nearby fort, ate ashore a couple of times, and got on with some boat projects.