Prepping Gorp’s Home For Passage
Location: Komodo, Indonesia
This morning I’d like to say everyone woke up to the Swedish song Kom igen Lena, which I put on, but in realit,y most of us probably woke up to the sound of Vela pulling up the anchor and moving a little closer so we could race to grab one of two mooring balls by the island we’re at in Komodo national park. Still, the song was definitely playing, and poor Finn thought he was having a stroke because he couldn’t understand a single word of it…
Once we were settled, the day kicked off with back flips off the bow and a well-deserved breakfast of pumpkin pancakes made by Thaxton, Perry, and Payton, who had gotten up at 5:30 to cook for everyone (we were all very grateful).
Not long after, we headed out for a snorkel on a nearby reef, which was awesome. We saw tons of colorful fish and even spotted a turtle gliding past! We swam through a flock of jellyfish and got our faces stung, but I made eye contact with a cute blue fish, which made me feel better.
After snorkeling, it was time for a hull scrub. I was on #teambarnacle, and I’ve got to admit, scraping those guys off the hull was surprisingly satisfying. The afternoon was dedicated to our second seamanship class, which was much more hands-on than the first. We walked around the deck learning about different parts of the boat, and got to try some new skills. Riley demonstrated one drill by standing on the far ledge of the boat and tossing us a line while simulating a strong tide. Our job was to catch it and secure it to the cleat as quickly as possible. It turned out to be trickier than it looked, but after a lot of laughs and some teamwork, we all made it work.
Once class wrapped up, we dove straight into passage prep since tomorrow’s going to be a big day. We’re leaving early for a sunrise hike up a mountain before setting sail right afterward. During passage prep, I spotted a double rainbow, which was definitely the highlight of my evening. On top of that, we got clean sheets (nothing better) and I managed to sneak in a quick sunset ocean shower before dinner. Not a bad way to end the day!
Can’t wait to see the sunrise tomorrow and find out what else is in store.
All kärlek till familjen där hemma! Älskar er massor och saknar er men hör av mig snart!