Location: Roseau, Dominica
Today started extremely early for a large portion of the Argo crew. It was decided that last night’s passage from Les Saintes to Dominica was going to be PSCT’s (Professional Skipper Crew Training) first solo passage. This entailed all of the students taking the class to learn how to do everything from raising the sails to starting the engine without the help of the staff (but of course, they were there to help out if need be). At 10:30 pm, we started prepping Argo for the short passage. And finally, by 12:30, the mainsail, the main staysail, the forward staysail, and the jib were all raised and ready to go. We split the class up into two watch teams, so once we were underway, watch team two headed to bed for a short sleep while watch team one kept a lookout. At 3:00 am, my watch team was woken up. We slowly but surely climbed our way up on deck to find out that the wind had died. Within 20 minutes, we started our engine, and we were back on our way. At 7:00 am, we pulled into beautiful Dominica! Our watch team was definitely tired, but we eagerly took down the sails and anchored stern-to (Mediterranean style) to a cute little restaurant called Drop Anchor. After breakfast, we split into two groups, the first group diving and the second having shore time. Then, after lunch, the groups switched. Everyone who went diving said they had a blast and that their dive leader was spearing lionfish, which seemed pretty cool! Onshore, lots of people walked to town and were able to get some yummy food as well as some WiFi. It was nice to have a relaxing day without many responsibilities. Most people came back to Argo around 4:00 pm and jumped in the water for a quick shower before a delicious dinner of Ratatouille. For the remainder of the night, we have an MTE class, as well as a scheduling meeting. I am sure that once everyone’s commitments are over for the night, the whole crew is going to quickly hop into their bunks for some much-needed sleep. I hope everyone at home is staying warm as we bake in the sun every day. I miss you all. Talk to you soon!