Location: St. Helena, Somewhere in the South Atlantic
Ah, hello dear reader, we meet once more.
Today was a fine wake-up with a reminiscent era of music from the early 2000s, with help from our friends Fall Out Boy and Green Day. A hearty breakfast of overnight oats flavoured with the essence of vanilla latte and a healthy serving of Nutella was provided to initiate the day that waited ahead. A class began, Seamanship. A meeting occurred, students and charts. An instant kinship between student and chart formed. The long-time feud, the love-hate relationship between the two, is enough to rival any daytime cable. Some love it, some hate it. Some kind, find a course to steer, some find their coordinates on land (whichisn’tt great for being on a boat), but persevere they must and overcome the challenges of compass deviation they will. This was followed by a Marine Biology lecture presented by our resident Perrence, aka perrioin, aka Perrito, aka Pez. Following theday’ss educational activities, our sweet Vela had to be awoken from her slumber and be prepped for passage. Halyards attached, sail covers removed, booms topped, engine warm. To the fuel dock! wait, no, lunch first.
Pasta alla red sauce con Parmesan cheese. A dish to rival DonCorleone’ss Nonnas recipe. Ok, cleanup then to the fuel dock!. Blimey!It’ss a bit windy, no bother, whoa,it’ss wavy, no bother, fuel line too short, no bother, whoops, there goes a fender. All three and the fender made it a situation that we decided best to avoid, so alas, after an attempt to fuel, we decided to go and re-anchor! YES, more time to bathe and indulge ourselves in the waters that bless St. Helena. And you guessed it, dear reader, more education! Crazy that that happens on a study abroad!. So down we go for a quick, not-so-quick lesson on gases and nutrients in the ocean and plankton blooms, YAY (there were definitely some blank stares in the audience). After a nice 60 minutes of oceanography, it was just in time for vegetables. During the fuel attempt, we managed to sneak our imprisoned vegetables on board (YAY provisions, all hail Emma). So, a fresh meal of tacos, slaw, and tomatoes that were enjoyed albeit ingested all too quickly, prepared by the resident Tamara aka Pam aka Sami Peene. As the final clean up of St. Helena 2026 wraps up, students start to partake in their final ocean shower for 2 weeks, and dear reader, do they enjoy it. Whodoesn’tt love the ocean?? And as night falls, and passage calls, we settle down for the night, we prepare ourselves for first light, where a barge awaits with fuel, and we head out to sea with good mates. Farewell, dear reader. See you in 16 sleeps. Your ever cordial author of the day 🙂