We’re in the Saintes… last year we climbed a few hills to get to various forts – this year on our brief stop we decided to climb to the highest point – another fort…

The highest point in the Saintes… got to do it!

A great view over Bourg de Saintes

See red arrow! Great views on the way up – but sadly none of Dominica, our next destination just 30 miles south, but hidden in haze. Sensibly, we walked up to the fort by way of a disused road – steep but doable. Stupidly, we decided to come down the other way via a steep footpath (blue arrow)… Now just remember that the Saintes suffered from the huge hurricane, Maria… we managed to lose the path very quickly and ended up bushwhacking our way down through nasty prickly thorny things and very a steep descent…

Today we checked out of the Saintes (having got our washing done) and sailed to Dominica. Our arrival was somewhat sad – it’s clear that they suffered major devastation as a consequence of hurricane Maria – massive de-forestation, damage to buildings and structures…

This hotel under construction had a red roof last year… no more…

The Dock is messed up, so is the building and the trees…

On the approach, it’s clear that there’s been extensive damage to the forests…

We arrived too late to check in, so anchored close to shore and will do the immigration thing in the morning. Meanwhile, I dived on the anchor to ensure its not snarled up with some hurricane wreckage (it’s not) and set the boat up for a gentle evening. There are 3 OCC boats here already for our relief efforts – Toodle-oo!, Alembic and Cranstackie. More will arrive tomorrow.