On Saturday morning, August 28th, Weston Moses and Kerry Alleyne paddled off of Soufriere’s waters as they had many times before. This time, however, would be different.
Moses and Alleyne, friends and business partners, were set to become the first people in modern history to circumnavigate Dominica in single sea touring kayaks.
Of course, they’re fully aware and humbled by the many natives such as the Kalinago and Arawaks who have paddled these waters before them. The Caribbean has a rich history of paddling. In the modern-day, however, the feat remains unrecorded.
On Wednesday, the final day of their journey, they had to launch from Rosalie Bay which still had rough surf. Their start was later than usual to get a good visual on the bay which meant for a hotter day on the sea.
After analyzing the surf zone from the land, they found that the best place to launch was a protected little beach on the northernmost end of Rosalie Bay, near to where Moses had landed the day before.
This required portaging the boats across the Rosalie river, carrying all of their gear and both kayaks 600 meters down the beach, loading the kayaks, and portaging around a small rock outcropping to the beach for a safe launch.
After all that, the men still had to break through four waves before escaping the surf zone safely. En voyage to their journey’s end, the two enjoyed a restful lunch at Stowe. They looked for the fishermen who they had met on a previous attempt but didn’t see anyone.
Through the surf, Moses and Alleyne paddled friendly ocean currents and enjoyed a slight breeze at their back all the way back to Soufriere. On the shore, friends greeted them with animated cheers.
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