Day at Sea, Sailing South past Martinique
At day’s first light we were just west of Guadeloupe. We continued south past the mountainous, green island of Dominica, then turned into Martinique Channel where we felt the force of the Caribbean trade winds. We have ideal conditions for sailing today!
We gathered near the stern of the ship to watch the crew go aloft; first they climbed the ratlines, and then went out along the yards to loosen the gaskets on the furled sails. Chief Officer Christian described the steps of setting sails on a three-masted bark. What a sight to see crew aloft, yards raised and sails being set! We sailed for the rest of the day towards Bequia in the Grenadines. The huge smiles on the faces of our Captain and ship’s officers gave away their delight in sailing today’s strong breeze; at one point our speed was an impressive 9.2 knots!
As we sailed past Martinique, we could barely see the peak of Mt. Pele in the clouds. The volcano had erupted in 1902 and totally covered the village of St. Pierre in a pyroclastic flow. The only survivor was found in the jail cell; everyone else had suffocated and burned within minutes of the eruption.
During the day we had a lifeboat drill, introductions to Lindblad staff, and an open house in the well-appointed ship’s spa. Historian Dr. Lennox Honychurch gave an overview of the geologic formation of the Caribbean, followed by afternoon tea, with Lee on the keyboards. Tonight is Captain Nemerzhitskiy’s Welcome Cocktail Party and Dinner. Ship life, Sea Cloud II style, is, well... luxurious. I don’t think life at sea through the ages has always been like this!
At day’s first light we were just west of Guadeloupe. We continued south past the mountainous, green island of Dominica, then turned into Martinique Channel where we felt the force of the Caribbean trade winds. We have ideal conditions for sailing today!
We gathered near the stern of the ship to watch the crew go aloft; first they climbed the ratlines, and then went out along the yards to loosen the gaskets on the furled sails. Chief Officer Christian described the steps of setting sails on a three-masted bark. What a sight to see crew aloft, yards raised and sails being set! We sailed for the rest of the day towards Bequia in the Grenadines. The huge smiles on the faces of our Captain and ship’s officers gave away their delight in sailing today’s strong breeze; at one point our speed was an impressive 9.2 knots!
As we sailed past Martinique, we could barely see the peak of Mt. Pele in the clouds. The volcano had erupted in 1902 and totally covered the village of St. Pierre in a pyroclastic flow. The only survivor was found in the jail cell; everyone else had suffocated and burned within minutes of the eruption.
During the day we had a lifeboat drill, introductions to Lindblad staff, and an open house in the well-appointed ship’s spa. Historian Dr. Lennox Honychurch gave an overview of the geologic formation of the Caribbean, followed by afternoon tea, with Lee on the keyboards. Tonight is Captain Nemerzhitskiy’s Welcome Cocktail Party and Dinner. Ship life, Sea Cloud II style, is, well... luxurious. I don’t think life at sea through the ages has always been like this!
