Location: Tobago Cays
Hi blog people!! How are we? Its been 16 days since we last got to hang out. Life 16 days ago and life now are very different. As Im sure you know, the first big chunk of this semester weve been on passage basically a month and a half straight. We experienced some incredible days of sailing filled with star-filled skies and happy sails. But now were officially in Caribbean island-hopping mode (pretty epic if you ask me). Its been such a rewarding feeling for us all to get to have a steady deck under our feet, ocean swims at our fingertips, and some of the most beautiful views in the world.
Enough of that, though, lets talk about today!
Humble & Kind by Tim McGraw if you know country music, you know what Im talking about. Only the greatest wake-up song of all time. Who doesnt wanna be serenaded by the king of country music at 7 am on a Tuesday morning? I know I do, so you best believe that was blasting through the student cabins this morning.
Ive had a lot of muffins go horribly wrong on this boat. Somehow Ive had muffins that are burnt on top but somehow raw in the middle? Ive had muffins that taste like a pound of baking powder. Weve been through it with the muffins. BUT TODAY three words Lemon. Poppyseed. Muffins. CHEFS KISS! Literal perfection. Alexa and Erin delivered big time. Best believe Ill be throwing that one into the rotation again soon.
Todays schedule was a lot like yesterdays. The students had an oceanography class this morning, followed by a study hall. Weve been super go go go for well 63 days lol, SO weve taken a bit of a deload these last two days to catch up on some things. This morning, Grant, Nashota, Reed, Joey, Sam, and I worked on splicing some lines to create a new counterweight for our dinghies.
After that, we wrapped up, Nashota, Kyler, and I went on a mission to get rid of our trash.
Plan A: search the island for a trash can
Flaw numero uno: there arent any.
Plan B: find Captain Neil (our beach BBQ guy)
*Neil zips on over. Neil takes our trash*
Smashing success (applause)
Lunch today was maybe one of my favorites of the whole semester. We had chicken curry ranch wraps, complete with all the fixings, cheffed up by Vittoria and Erin. Cabbage slaw, corn, tomatoes, croutons and to top it off Erins now newly Vela famous homemade curry ranch dressing!!! Literally the most delicious thing ever. If you have a jar of mayo, curry seasoning, and ranch seasoning You wont regret it.
This afternoon, we had some more study hall/downtime in seamanship class with Sam. We sent Mac up the mast to check on our radar. Weve been having a few issues with its connection, but Mac found the problem! Yippee go, Mac! We went for a little swim after that before it was time for dinner.
Dinner tonight was yummy spaghetti bolognese! Always a hit with this crowd. We had some leftover bread buns from our BBQ the other night, and Erin turned them into garlic bread!! It was awesome!!
The squeeze question tonight was very fitting because we had the most beautiful sunset… the question was: what is your favorite thing that the sky does? My answer is when theres a rainbow during the sunrise!! UGH, its just my favorite thing ever!!! Other answers were phenomena like lightning storms, snowfall, a storm rolling in, Oklahoma sunrises, and star-filled skies. We ended by spelling our names in the phonetic alphabet because the students learned all about it today in seamanship.
Thats all for today, my friends! I cant believe we have less than a month left of the program. It truly is flying by. Were all trying to soak up every second together. This group has been such a blast to get to know and spend time with.
In the wise words of Tim McGraw: dont take for granted the love this life gives you. When you get where youre going, dont forget to turn back around and help the next one in line. Always stay humble and kind.
Gosh, I love country music.
All my love to my family and friends back home. I cant wait to see you in kinda sorta just a few weeks!!!
Hugs & hugs & alllll my love,
Emma