We moved down the coast to Dominica’s capital, Roseau, passing stunning scenery on the way. Weirdly, the wind was oscillating between a very light westerly and a brisk easterly – not what we usually expect here!

The anchorage shelves quickly here and it’s best to pick up a mooring. We contacted local guide SeaCat who helped us pick up one of his moorings. Then we went ashore in search of provisions, ice and diesel. Roseau lost a lot of its waterfront, especially facilities used by yachtsmen, in hurricane Maria, so the only feasible dinghy dock is about half a mile out of town, and taking on diesel involves carrying jerry cans to the nearest gas station. However we found a good supermarket downtown where we were able to buy fresh milk for the first time since the BVI, and ice was available close to the dinghy dock.

The next day we joined Sue and Denny from Evening Star for a taxi tour of the southern part of the island, with SeaCat as our guide. This was definitely the highlight of our time in Dominica. First we drove up through the rain forest into the cloud forest, and hiked around Freshwater Lake, which is a crater lake. It was extraordinary how the scenery changed as we got higher.

After our hike, we were hot and ready for a swim. SeaCat was rather mysterious as to where we were going. We ended up a Titou Gorge. You jump into a pool and then swim up a narrow gorge, ending up under a spectacular waterfall.

The swim was fun but definitely chilly and we were ready for lunch. We stopped at a roadside cafe that turned out to have good local food and an amazing view.

Then on to Trafalgar Falls, which is one of the most popular attractions on the island. The tallest of the falls is the Father and the shorter is the Mother. The hike to the base of the falls is easy, and not too bad to the Mother; we of course decided to go for the Father. It was quite a scramble up through boulders and pools, and not all of us got to the top, but SeaCat encouraged Sue and me to keep going all the way up to a pool where the waterfall tumbles down. We sat (briefly!) under the waterfall and were amazed at the sheer weight of the water coming down.

We drove home, pausing for views of Roseau in the late afternoon, and then enjoyed sunset on board.