One of our favourite islands, Dominica, was hit hard by Tropical Storm Erika at the end of August. We’re planning to visit there this coming winter as part of our Transatlantic Voyage and, with your help, want to do something to assist.
Why is Dominica so special to us, you ask? Well, Picton Castle made an extended visit to Dominica in the winter of 2007, while filming Mark Burnett’s reality TV series “Pirate Master”. During the three months we spent sailing up and down the coast in the lee of the island, we became familiar with many of the coastal communities and the capital city, Roseau. Captain Moreland jokes about now being able to write the Dominica cruising guide, given the amount of time and travel we’ve done there.
Our crew became fast friends with many of the people from the island who were working on the production with us, as well as other Dominicans. We’ve enjoyed the beauty of the island – soaking in hot springs, hiking to the boiling lake, swimming in the many rivers and under waterfalls, snorkeling, watching sea turtles lay their eggs, and relaxing on the many beaches. Dominica is truly a hidden gem.
Because we’re so fond of this island, we want to assist in whatever small way we can with the recovery effort, which will be a long one.
We already have a very generous donation of school textbooks for grades 10-12 thanks to Park View Education Centre in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. We would like to bring school supplies and elementary school textbooks with us as well. We have lots of space in our cargo hold to bring donations, which we’ll unload and distribute to various schools on the island when we arrive in early 2016. If you’re able to assist with a donation of books or pens, pencils, paper, rulers, pencil crayons, calculators, rolls of newsprint, backpacks, or any other school supplies, please let us know. You can email us at [email protected] or call our office at +1 902 634 9984 to donate or find out more information.
