Sea Hares, Scenarios and Scenery
Location: Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Somehow we are 35 days into this adventure, and today is my first time being skipper and writing the blog! I think the job wheel gods (Rachel) were looking out for me, though, because I'm so happy I get to share about our 10/10 day in Aussie paradise.
We woke up this morning to some clouds, which I seriously enjoyed, as I have been getting plenty of sun these past few days. We had some chia pudding for breakfast, and then the advanced open water divers set out with our fearless divemasters in training, Lucy, Ozzie, and Shane. I was with Lucy, who absolutely killed it and made us do all of our skills perfectly. Hannah, Skye, and I were also collecting data on the species we found in the reef for our oceanography project in Nacho's class. Writing and diving at the same time is a bit trickier than I thought it would be. By the time we surfaced, the sun was up in full force, highlighting the beauty of the island we are anchored up next to. It is full-on picture-perfect with the bluest water, white sand beaches, and lush palm forests. On the beach, the low-hanging coconuts and thriving population of cute little hermit crabs really add to the ambiance.
After we got back from diving and the rescue divers finished up some of their surface skills, we had an early lunch in order to make it to shore in time for a super exciting marine bio class. Well, we thought we were gonna be on time, except Plaii (the dinghy) decided to act up and have some fuel tank issues halfway into our journey to the beach. We were stuck for a bit, and Banks and I started to try to paddle us back to Argo using some snorkel fins, which was somewhat effective but not nearly as effective as the nice new mix of gas Shane passed along to us. Eventually all 23 of us were shuttled to shore, and we met up with JP Hobbs, a marine scientist who works doing all sorts of research through Cocos and Christmas Islands. He gave us a short lecture and told us about himself and then set up a touch tank with some fun creatures to check out. We looked at a couple of different types of coral, some sea stars, and my personal favorite, the sea hare. It was super squishy and cute, and after JP Hobbs gave the go-ahead, Paul gave it a squeeze; it inked all over the little pool it was in. After that, we got to participate in some fish dissections, which were also pretty cool. Then we got a quick break and made a run for the water. There was a swim dock not too far out, and it didn't take long for a serious game of king of the hill to get going. After we totally tired ourselves out and had eaten a fair amount of coconut, we went back to class and got to learn how to identify healthy coral vs. bleached coral. We practiced snorkeling down a transect and collecting information about the reef. That was the last bit of our lesson, and afterward everyone was hungry and sun-kissed. We packed up and went back to Argo, and surprise! We actually had one more class, leadership, where Abby and Chiara gave us an excellent presentation on understanding others. Another fun surprise was the canned artichokes that exploded in the port six bilge. Capri, Skye, and JP were the cleanup crew and made sure it was safe in there. Then a few of us snuck in a quick swim and ocean shower before dinner. I have been trying to maximize swim time since we only have the rest of the week here to enjoy the water before being grounded to the boat for the rest of the trip due to gross dock water and great white sharks ahead.
During our swim, tragedy struck Argo (another scenario). Ozzie was the victim of a serious dive incident. The rescue divers had to respond and use everything they've been learning to save him. Of course we couldn't make it too easy on them, so Shane played the part of a hysterical parent, and Lucy was a full-on panicked sister. It turned into pretty much the funniest thing I've ever seen. It took the full power of Banks, Kares, and Gus to restrain Shane in the water while Riley and Capri dove down to recover Ozzie. Zinnia was swimming around trying to juggle two tanks, both bigger than she is. If I ever got into a dive accident, I wanted Riley to save me; he wasn't messing around down there. Gus ended up having to lure Lucy away from the scene with an apple. After a solid 20 minutes of all of the rescue divers splashing and fighting and being problematic, Ozzie was retrieved and given CPR and magically revived, and the family was reunited. Unfortunately, the only two who passed were Riley and Capri, but the silver lining there is that we have a couple more hilarious scenarios to observe. I'm really hoping I get to play a role in one of the upcoming ones.
After we rolled up the tarps and raised the dinghies with a magnificent pink sunset in the background, it was time for dinner. Chef Jen and her dancing kitchen crew cooked up a delicious spread of bangers (as they say it in the UK), sweet potatoes, broccoli, baked beans, and bread. After dinner, it was clean-up time, and as I'm sitting here writing this, I overheard August and Gus serenading everyone on deck in exchange for their computers, which were confiscated due to being left in the salon.
Going to bed tonight thinking about a winning strategy for tomorrow's challenge course (go team green), and crossing my fingers that Captain Shane is successful in his mission to acquire beverages for our beach BBQ.
Dad, you would absolutely love Cocos Keeling. We are on the same route as the Oyster rally, so there are a bunch of other boats anchored up with us, and I've been watching people wing and kite around the lagoon since we got here. Just imagine you wake up on a sailboat right next to the most beautiful deserted island ever and can hop right off the back and foil all day. Text the pickleball group chat. I feel like they would be into it. Let's make a plan because I would love nothing more than to come back here.
Mom, Dad, Sky, Aven, Opa, Grammy, Grandpa Bruce, Ava, Abby, Syd and whoever else might still be reading these I love you all so much! I hope school, work, and life are going perfectly. It is so strange being disconnected from all of you; I miss you and think about you every day. I'm having the best time and can't wait to talk soon!
Much Love,