Last night was the most sleepless night of cruising I'd ever experienced, outside of the Tasman Sea (a different world in terms of rough water) and the eastern Atlantic off the coast of northwestern Africa. Last night came in third only to those, which are well known throughout the cruising world for having rough water. Which means it was a pretty rough night.
The high winds that have plagued us for days now are not abating. The sea is reacting in large swells, making not so much for a rocky ride, but a constantly leaning one.
I slept in fits, awakening 20 to 30 times throughout the night because the seas were so rough. Not rough, as in big waves, but rough in terms of movement. We kept having small leans to one side or the other, and things were creaking and sliding and clanging (hangers, against each other). I don't think I slept longer than 15 minutes at a time.
This morning, as we sailed into Roseau, Dominica (pronounced dough-man-E-ca), the sun was shining bright and I was hopeful that today might be both sunny and less windy, and the day we might snorkel Champagne Reef. But Dominica, known as The Nature Island, is also the rainy island. You might recall that when we were here on Thanksgiving, it rained all morning, in sheets.
By the time we actually approached the dock, two things were obvious: 1.) it had started to rain and 2.) the ship was listing continuously to port (the left side).
One thing you can count on in Dominica, besides rain, is rainbows. They have fantastic ones here, and the first one appeared off the port side while we were having breakfast in the dining room. We hurried up to Deck 7 on the promenade to get these photos.