Finally managed to cut the virtual umbilical cord to the dock (and unplug the actual power line, water hose, and dock lines) and make it away from the marina. I got an early start but somehow didn’t manage to get away until noon, so instead of sailing straight to Dominica I sailed halfway there, to the Îles des Saintes. The winds started off by howling but the reefs I had in the sails soon turned out to be a bit conservative but I kept them in anyway, as I was in no hurry and even passed the only other boat on the same stretch, a small ketch.
The little outboard boat used by LSM, which collect the mooring fees, was moving around the anchorage and waved me to a mooring ball on the outside of the mooring field despite my lining up for one much close to shore; I deferred to them and they helped me moor, but that night I wish I’d ignored them since out where I was the waters were very rolly and I spent the night with earplugs inserted yet still only slept fitfully.
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