Caribbean to Tahiti – Spring 2026

Imagine you had an anchor watch like normal last night. And you wake up in the morning at a normal non-passage time. But when you’re woken up, the boat is moving: since four am, the staff and various anchor watches worked hard on getting us to Tahiti.
These were the two surprises of the morning: we were underway to Tahiti. And it was Ruby’s birthday.
When the rest of us woke up to join the fun, the work was far from done: now all twenty-nine of us work together to get us docked safely at our new port. Our morning was consumed by these tasks: throwing docking lines; raising and lowering the anchor; standing off while another boat sorted through their issues; setting out fenders; cleaning the laz (we thank you for your service, laz folk o7); taking everything out of the laz and putting it back in; and whatever they did down below that made the salon explode. Also, Martín is in the kitchen. So, in short, chaos. The chaos didn’t stop as we had a whirlwind breakfast. We had a small eye of the storm when eating lunch, but went right back to work to finish our jobs and make everything clean again. Shoretime can be a pretty big motivator to get stuff done.
In that moment of calm, eating our delicious grilled cheese sandwiches, Megalodon (staff Meg) said these magic words: “Welcome to Tahiti!” We all cheered. Of course we did. It’s the moment we’ve been waiting for this whole trip, since Antigua—and since we first signed up for this program. On day 87, we have finally made it to Tahiti. That is just so surreal. Here we are. Tahiti at last.
Finally, at the fourteenth hour of the day (2 pm), we completed all our tasks, and we were granted temporary time to explore the marina, and however far beyond we could go and be back by 5 pm. The last time we were at a dock was in Colón, which feels like a lifetime ago. We were all excited to walk off the passrail and explore this port.
Depending on your point of view, the first thing I did was mundane. The first thing I did was locate the washer and dryer. We all flocked to those machines like vultures, fighting for the first load. Some people find laundry mundane. And yes, that is usually my perspective, but for me, when I’m doing laundry with friends, especially abroad, it’s an adventure. And it’s like what the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once says: “in another life, I would have loved to have done laundry and taxes with you.” The quote continues to rock me to my core. I will remember these people, remember doing laundry together at this port, and the excessive amount of laundry detergent Mars bought for the occasion whenever I think of this quote now.
We regrouped at 5 pm to talk about how to adjust to life after Sea|mester. Because cultural shock is a real thing, and we are all going to experience it very soon. The most important thing, we were told, is that everyone on this boat gets it. Everyone here will understand what we’ve gone through. When we go back home, wherever home is, or wherever we end up in the world, we will have these people around us who understand. We have all been connected by a string of fate. Although our strings will be cut soon, I like to believe that some tendrils will remain, softly continuing to bind us together.
Albeit a bit late, our shawarma dinner on board was incredible. There’s a restaurant next to us that has had amazing live music going the whole time. I was one of the people who could feel the rhythm at all times, unable to keep their shoulders and toes from moving. And that’s not all that kept the vibe going: we also had dessert for Ruby’s birthday! Mint chocolate ice cream, strawberry sorbet, and Madelaines. A wonderful dessert, a wonderful scenic sunset, wonderful live music…I can confidently say that we ended today on a good note.

Before I end this blog, I have one important thing to note. As you may have noticed, this writing style may seem incongruent to the previous blogs penned by this author. Some of you may be confused, wondering why there is such a drastic change in voice. You are also all probably wondering why it’s so much better than before. Well, let me enlighten you, dear friends: it is I, SkylAr, who is actually writing the blog tonight. Yep, you read that right. Your favorite Skylær is back in business for the night!
However, this SkylAr is in fact a little worried about SkylEr, because we usually fight over who gets to be the ghost writer. Having him hand this to me was like Metro Man forfeiting to Megamind. Like Megamind, I am confounded, not knowing what to do now. SkylEr did not agree with this comparison. Hence we start bantering about it, then Megalodon says she’s never seen Megamind and we switch to the same side again: “you HAVE to watch it.”
And I must admit, although I jest muchly, I do acknowledge that SkylEr can be a good writer too.

The live music is still going. I hope this sense of serotonin stays all night long.

Best Fishes (there are many benefits to being a marine biologist),
~Skylar W (the better Skylær)