Under way
Thirty-eight feet of Bertram running out along the leeward coast — flybridge, tower and the open cockpit you swim from.
Our boat · Bertram Sport Fisherman 38
Meet Lady Rose
The boat you spend six hours a day on matters as much as the whales. Lady Rose is the nicest boat in Dominica for sperm whale swimming — a wide open back deck to swim from, shade all day, a proper saloon and a head with a shower.
Back deck
Wide open cockpit at the stern — you swim from here
6 guests
Maximum aboard — never a second group sharing her
38 ft
Bertram Sport Fisherman, flybridge and tower
Full shade
Canvas over the bridge and cockpit for the whole day
See her for yourself
Two minutes aboard Lady Rose
Running out along Dominica’s leeward coast — press play.
The swim deck
Everything happens off the back.
This is the part of the boat that decides what kind of day you have. A sport fisherman is built around a big open cockpit at the stern, sitting low to the water — which is exactly what you want when a whale surfaces two hundred metres away and three people need to be in the water quietly, now.
You slip in, you do not jump. Three swimmers go at a time under Dominica’s permit, sitting ready on the back deck with fins on while the crew watches the animal. When the call comes you are in the water in seconds, with no splashing and no noise travelling down to the whale.
Getting back aboard is just as quick, and that matters more than people expect — a family can surface three times in an hour, and the rotation only works if the group coming out clears the deck fast for the group going in.
There is room back there for six sets of fins, masks and camera housings staged and ready, so nothing is being hunted for in a dry bag at the moment it is needed.
Why she matters
Six hours a day, on this boat.
A sperm whale day is mostly waiting. The engine goes off, the hydrophone goes in, and the boat sits and listens. So the thing you are actually on for six hours is not the swim — it is the deck, the shade and the seat you are waiting in.
Most of what runs these trips is an open boat with a bench and a bimini. Lady Rose is a 38-foot Bertram sport fisherman: an enclosed saloon to get out of the sun in, a galley to keep your lunches in, a head with a shower, and a flybridge to spot and listen from.
She also carries only six guests, so there is room to sit down between encounters instead of standing shoulder to shoulder for the day.
The boat
What is aboard
Nothing exotic — just everything you actually want on a long day offshore.
- Vessel
- Lady Rose — a Bertram Sport Fisherman 38, white hull, flybridge and tuna tower.
- Swim deck
- Wide open cockpit at the stern, low to the water, with room for six sets of gear staged and ready. This is where you enter and exit.
- Guests
- Six maximum, every week. No second group, no shared charter.
- Saloon
- Enclosed cabin with an L-shaped settee and wood-look flooring — somewhere to sit out of the sun and the spray.
- Galley
- Somewhere to keep your packed lunches and drinks, with a microwave, sink and counter space.
- Head
- A proper enclosed head with a sink, toilet and a working shower — rarer than it sounds on a day boat.
- Shade
- Canvas over the flybridge and the cockpit, so there is shade available all day.
- Helm
- Flybridge helm with seating for spotting, and a tower above it for the extra height when the crew is looking for blows.
Take the tour
Lady Rose, end to end
Taken at the dock, not staged — this is what you step aboard.
The flybridge
Where the crew runs the day and most of the spotting happens. Shaded, with seating for guests who want the height.
The saloon
Settee, galley and microwave. Somewhere to sit down, eat and get out of the sun between encounters.
The head
Sink, toilet and a shower that works. On a six-hour day offshore this is not a small thing.
Alongside
At the dock before a run, with the canvas up over the bridge and the cockpit.
Foredeck
Looking aft from the bow to the saloon doors and the bridge above them.
Six seats aboard, six days at sea
The 2027 dates and prices are online — see which weeks are still open and book from there.