After sailing away from Barbados, we immediately set the sails as the wind was in our favor to sail through the night and in the morning were delighted to wake to Caribbean skies and a warm easterly breeze. After we had our coffee and breakfast, we had an introduction to sailing with our Captain John Svendsen. Regaling us with stories of the past and how the sailors today operate this traditional sailing vessel. We had a few visitors along the way, one being a couple sperm whales and later in the evening some large octopus. We ended our evening with our Captain’s Cocktail Party where we met the Sea Cloud’s key staff and Captain John Svendsen had thoughtful words for our journey ahead. After a fabulous dinner, Expedition Leader Paula had a surprise star-gazing night on the back deck with the skies opening up for all to see.
1/28/2025
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Sea Cloud
Dominica
Named by Columbus because he landed on a Sunday, Dominica is known as the nature isle. It remains almost unspoiled. We next had an informative one-hour ride to the rain forest atop Morne Diablotin (or to use its Kalinago name Waitukubuli – “she whose body is so long”. The mountain was shrouded in clouds. Once in the forest we saw an endless variety of plants and trees. We returned to Sea Cloud for lunch and for a brief talk by our local guide, Dr. Lennon Honeychurch. Next stop, our snorkeling destination at Purple Turtle Beach, and yes one guest did see a turtle. After our snorkeling adventure, Lennox took us on a guided tour of 18th century British Fort Shirley. He was the principal advocate for the fort’s restoration. The fort is massive and spreads across most of the 200 acres of the Cabrits’ headland. It has only been possible to recover a small part of the original. Strangler vines and jungle cover the rest of the compound as you can see from Rich Reid’s photo of the commandant’s house. Our day ended with a great meal, and tomorrow on to Iles des Saintes.
