Lena Dess

I met Lena and Nico because I was sailing the brigantine TRES HOMBRES around the North Atlantic to the Caribbean with a cargo of rum, chocolate and coffee.  

After a 26 day crossing from the Canary islands we laid anchor in Martinique.  A day or two later a tug came alongside and took us under tow to the village of Le Marin.  We unloaded empty barrels and later that night the local yacht club hosted a dock. Our Australian cook barbecued some scintillating jerk chicken and the yacht club mixed Martainques traditional cocktails–a ‘ti-punch’ and such.  These are mostly rum and since the rum was good the cocktails were good. 

TRES HOMBRES is the kind of ship that draws a crowd.  Musicians show up  like a moth to a flame.  In a single breath she's magnificent, grubby, big, and small–a wealth of contradictions.  She might have been built in the middle of the last century but she looks and feels like something one hundred years before that.  Stepping on her feels like going back in time.  

By the time Lena and Nico brought out their instruments we were all deep in the rum, but I had the wherewithal to get my microphones and sit on the deck to capture the impromptu concert.  To be honest the details beyond what I filmed are a little fuzzy to me, and probably to most everyone there, but looking these over my hand seems remarkably steady under these dark and stormy conditions. Instagram: @lenadessmusic