First Time I Sailed Through a Washing Machine!

We left Dominica last night around 4:30pm to Martinique and began our voyage with no wind. This was due to being on the leeward side of Dominica Island which was 20 miles of motor sailing but we made good speed at 6 knots. As we approached the 22 nautical mile open water pass between Dominica Island and Martinique Island I felt the wind speed climb from 5 knots to 25 knots in a hard blow. I quickly decided to reef the main sail to the second reef and fly only the staysail so I could maintain control of Dragonsbane. As the shore lights of Dominica faded into the star light of the horizon behind me large swells from the north Atlantic began to roll across my bow and mixed in with the east trade wind waves. As I hacked my way through the waves on my shift alone I felt the boat being tossed up into the air by the northern swells and then push down into the troughs of waves by the eastern trade wind waves with a sudden stop. Even with a confused sea, and the movement of Dragonsbane unpleasant, I had fun as I sailed 7 knots and on course for the entire night. I did get a little cold because some of the waves would dump into the cockpit right as I would be drying out from the last wave. I always answered the wave with a “Son of A Bitch!” and laughed with a big salty bearded smile on my face and hoped to go faster!

We made landfall around 5:30am and I enjoyed using the Radar to navigate through the busy harbor. It’s pretty cool to see little specs on the radar, track them, and avoid a collision. I felt very safe in Dragonsbane as we made it to the anchorage and dropped anchor right in front of Fort de France, Martinique. I enjoyed the sun rise with a cigar and the old city church bells of France ringing in the new day! Nothing better on this salty Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day Everybody,

Jacques