Location: Redonda
Today was the highly anticipated sail to Dragon Island, a beautiful volcanic island rich with sea and bird life. To top off the beautiful views, we even had a Lord of the island on board, Kevin (aka Dragon), so this trip was of great significance. Now, I’m sure many of you are reading this saying a Lord? Yeah okay. But it’s true. You just need a little context. Our fearless leader and man at the helm, Captain Kevin Johnsen, was perusing through local magazines one day when he stumbled upon an article describing the history of a local island called Redonda, in particular, the series of self-proclaimed “Kings” who have claimed the island as their own over the years (the island hasn’t been populated in 100 years). Apparently, the last known king had died, and there was no proclaimed heir to the crown. Kevin thought it fitting that since he sailed by the island multiple times a year, he would be King Dragon and rename the island Dragon Island. He was undisputed for a while until the previous king’s will was found, and it turned out that he had proclaimed himself an heir. Kevin, unwilling to let up his rule, wrote the new king asking him if he could remain Lord of Dragon Island in exchange for checking on the island while passing by, which the king duly granted him. So today, the Lord returned to his island with an excited new crew at hand. The sail from Nevis went smoothly, as the crew steadily got more deft during the whole sailing process. I, for one, am starting to feel really excited about sailing passages because every time, I am getting more self-sufficient, which is really satisfying. The island itself was also better than I had ever expected, and climbing on the rocks and through a cave was probably a highlight of the trip so far. We even found a dragon skull onshore, which, of course, delighted the Lord himself. We spent a couple of hours downtime exploring the shore around the leeward side of the island, and we had a truly amazing time. It is safe to say that I may be contacting the king of Dragon Island shortly to request the Duke position.