Thursday, January 8
Miles Traveled: 36.8

We listened to Chris Parker weather and then raised anchor at 740am for Dominica with 7 boats in front of us. Guess we aren’t the only ones that thought this was a good weather window to go between islands. We started with 1′ swells 30 min in which increased to 2′ swells within 15 min and once we we were passed the end of Martinique they rose to 5 feet/1ft wind chop with 10 kts apparent wind. We rolled out the reefed head sail and were sailing by 9am. The increased swells made me seasick even though I had taken Marzine, so I went down below for a nap. It was too hot and rolly, so I stretched out on the port settee in the cockpit. Feeling better, I took watch with 11 nm to go and eta of 1pm. The waves and motion of the boat was better entering the lee of Dominica. We sailed until 107pm when it was time to enter Roseau Harbor. Dennis, the boat boy, met us when we were on the outer edges of the harbor to guide us to his mooring ball. We were sure if we wanted to anchor or not, so declined his services, but in the end we did pick up on of his mooring balls for $10 USD a night. He offered to take us to Customs and Immigration for $40, which we declined. Rick on Vision Quest hailed us on Ch 68 and offered to pick Phil up to go with him and Walkabout to Customs and we agreed. Phil was picked up at 245pm and back at 430pm as they also went for Rick to get his propane tank filled. It turns out that you do need to accept their services as it’s a taxi ride in to Customs and Immigration for $50 EC for all and another $50EC taxi ride for Rick to get his propane.

Walkabout with boat boy at their bow in Roseau, Dominica.

Children playing on the rocky beach in front of their home.

Harbor in Roseau, Dominica

We were able to watch the sunset and saw our first Green Flash on this trip. Supper was brats, potatoes and cabbage made in the pressure cooker. We relaxed reading and such until time for bed.