The plan that was presented to us said that we’d be sailing for about 12 hours to get to the next island. And the effort to get the sails raised and for the ship to get underway began at 6AM. I was still adjusting to the noises of the ship, not so much the rolling; that was an easier thing to get used to. But with everyone up early, everyone is up early.
The crew involved many of us as we were taking up space on deck as they set about doing what they know how to do — raising lines and sails and yelling instructions to each other. It was difficult to know when to step in and try to offer assistance and when we were really more in the way. Helping on the ship also involves drying dishes and that sort of thing, so I’m feeling more comfortable there. Although I did help hoist a few sails as we set out.
At about 10:30 the Captain came out to let us all know that there was an excellent snorkeling spot coming up, asking if we’d like to stop and take advantage of it. All said yes, so we geared up, and while I had thought we might snorkel right off the ship, we loaded into the inflatable dinghies and rode a short distance to a couple large rocks just off the coast — still in Martinique. The coral was good, and there were many colorful fish and really good visibility. And we even saw a barracuda — a small one. Once we’d had enough of that spot, we loaded back into the boats (not an easy thing to do — and not at all pretty), and rode over the waves to a second rock. Less visibility there, but a whole school of barracuda. I was getting cold so used the time to just swim… had hoped to swim back to the Florette, but was told that wasn’t a good idea, and truthfully it was a bit further than I thought. So I swam back and forth to stay warm until everyone else was done snorkeling.
While we were parallel to the coast we had to be under motor power — some sails were up, but it was really the motor that was moving up up the western side of Martinique. As soon as we cleared the island, more sails were raised and we caught the wind coming off the Atlantic. We were still going fairly slowly, but at least it was a true sail. Our destination was the northern tip of Dominica, so once we were on the western side of the island we once again lost some of the wind. Our time on board was spent with safety training and adjusting to a day at sea.
We didn’t arrive in Prince Rupert’s Bay at Portsmouth until after the sun had set. Almost as soon as we anchored a local man in a small motorboat with Titus’ Yacht Service painted on the side approached and thus began the relationship with this “tour” guide. He welcomed us and offered his services and we agreed that he would return the next morning at 8:30 to talk us through the options for our time on Dominica. It was clear that the captain had encountered this sort of offer before; having never boated into an island harbor it was all new and interesting to me.
We had eaten all our meals on board this day — lovely salads for lunch and Elke and Bernd made German spaetzle (from scratch) and lentils for dinner. Slowly we began to get to know one another, and the language and cultural differences are pretty evident to me, but perhaps once we’ve settled in it will seem a little less like I’m the outsider.
Each night the sunsets have been just spectacular — no green flash but really like the sky has been painted. And it seems to go on for awhile, as the sun dips below the horizon but then the rest of the sky continues to amaze.
