Location: Portsmouth, Dominica
Today began with the crew waking up to the beautiful sight of Argo, stern-to Pain de Sucre. All the formalities of getting the day moving were taken care of quickly, morning swim, coffee, breakfast, clean-up, then everyone had a download of science with a morning Oceanography class. After class, everyone started to prepare Argo for a 16-mile journey windward to Portsmouth, Dominica. There was a tutorial about reefing sails before we picked up anchor. Soon, we were off around the southern tip of Les Saintes with a double-reefed mainsail, main- staysail, forward staysail, and jib, headed for Dominica. The short passage proved to be pretty exciting as everyone was able to experience just how powerful mother nature can be compared to our previous passages. With waves breaking over the bow, there wasn’t a single dry soul aboard. Even people near the bow were screaming with excitement every time Argo pounded into a wave shooting blue water twenty feet into the air then making its way to the stern, drenching the entire deck and anyone or anything on it. We arrived in Dominica a short four hours after departure, dropped anchor, and had lunch. We then cleaned and tidied up Argo and afterward cleaned and tidied up ourselves to go ashore for a beach barbecue and night out.