Location: Nevis
Good Morning from 170852.8 N 623741.8 W (aka Nevis)!
Long time no see! Day 21 of the program has arrived. Were officially halfway through this adventure sailing around the West Indies. Of course, that comes with mixed emotions.
Last night as we were waiting on a dinghy ride back from Sunshines (our shoreside dinner spot), I was standing on the beach with Lizzy and Emma. They were talking about their upcoming midterm and paper deadlines, and one of them said how freaking cool it is to be doing all of this on a sailboat.
And that, in itself, is such a crazy thing about the life we live. Even when were tired, overwhelmed, longing for some ice and cold water, or maybe even a bit seasick were still doing something really awesome. We live on a beautiful boat, watch sunsets over dinner (Lizzys favorite thing) and even the backside of the sunset (Perrys favorite thing), stay up late telling stories, and wake up early to dive in clear blue waters. Wake up in the middle of the night to sit on deck, listen to the wind, and watch the stars. If youve never approached an island by boat, Im not gonna lie, youre really missing out. There is something truly magical about sailing up to a new island first seeing it way off in the distance, then seeing it clearly and realizing youre still hours away. At some points you can see all sides of it, from the far south all the way to the far north (Saba especially, when you can see the whole thing at once). These landmasses just out at sea hold so many people (and sometimes very few), all their stories, all their lives, all their families, and the things they love the most. And we are oh so lucky to witness and experience just a little bit of that.
Some nights you go ashore, but when the night has come to an end you sit on the beach with your feet in the sand, get picked up by a little dinghy, and get driven back to this big anchored pirate ship. You climb aboard, and youre home. Home on an 88-foot schooner. Thats so freaking cool.
I was talking with Mo today, and I did my best to articulate just how special the bonds you form here really are. And how special and one-of-a-kind this experience really is. There will be a day when youre chatting with some random person in some random place around the world, and somehow you start talking about a trip where you lived on a boat. They say they did something similar. Turns out two years before you, they lived on the same boat. You ask which bunk they had, and they respond, The salon athwartship bottom bunk, which just so happens to be the one above yours. Immediately you know them, and you understand them. They know how annoying it is when someone drops the floor to the bilge at 0200 on a boat check and your its so loud your heart leaves your body or stubbing your toe on the benches in the salon that no matter how long you live here for will always catch you by surprise, what its like to drop our awesome pirate anchors, and what its like to sit around the cockpit after a full day of sun and salt, hold hands with the people around you and share your favorite memories from the day. Thats really special.
Anyway, Im sorry for talking your ear off. Youre probably wondering what we actually did today. Well, here it is:
My day started bright and early at 0530, long before wake-ups. Perry and Eva got up not long after me and jumped in the water at 0630 to practice some Dive Master skills.
I woke everyone up blasting We Are The Champions at 0700 sharp. We had Erik as our head chef today, and he killed it. Yogurt bowls for breakfast with lots of pineapple (aka BBF aka Big Breakfast Fruit). We also set up a sandwich station because today we (well, not me I didnt go) would conquer The Source: a four-mile hike climbing over 1,000 feet. So after prepping their sandwiches, everyone got ready to start shuttles to the beach around 0830.
But then in came the storm. The downpour began, and as I was sitting in the charthouse trying to post some past blogs (sorry for the delay I take full responsibility!), the fire alarm went off. This time it was not a drill. We had a little problem with our inverter, which caused a bit of smoke and set the alarm off. We got everything shut down, and once we deemed everything safe and secure, we again began shuttles to shore. While everyone else got in vans to start the hike, Gabe and I stayed on Ocean Star on storm watch, making sure we didnt lose a dinghy and going around taking up all the lines hitting the mast. Then we went to war on the inverter (all is well, dont worry).
The hikers got absolutely dumped on by the rain and at some point decided to turn back and head to the hot springs instead. Since I wasnt on the hike, heres a little cameo from Aoife about their adventure: The massive thunderstorm that hit us on the hike today was so fun. I love the rain and storms, so being able to hike up and down in such heavy rain was so much fun. We didnt even care that we got wet, that our shoes were muddy, or that we were a bit cold because the hike itself was just so beautiful. Plus, afterward we went to some hot springs to warm up so it all ended up alright.
On their way home, they stopped for snacks (a necessity, of course) and arrived back on the boat around 1530. Like every night, there were ocean showers and some downtime before dinner at 1800. For dinner: egg fried rice with chicken on the side. Some pretty hot chicken, I might add I think Erik was having a fun time putting every seasoning from the cabinet in. It was tuff, as he would say. And of course after dinner we squeezed (not gonna lie, I almost forgot to squeeze).
The question tonight was my go-to: What is one small or insignificant thing that just brings you a lot of joy? The sunset from a boat, driving a Mustang with the windows down, thunderstorms, dessert made by moms (shoutout to Aoifes mom I heard you make a mean banana bread), and throwing rocks in water, just to name a few. After dinner, they had a class by Perry about air-sea interaction and some time to work on papers.
A day full of rain, wind, and plenty of air-sea interactions, of course.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for following along. And to all of the ones we love most, thank you for loving us and supporting us through this crazy awesome adventure.
Until next time