Caribbean to Tahiti – Spring 2026

I’m just going to start off by saying I think kindness is one of the most beautiful things.
Today’s featured random act of kindness: the skipper letting me pen the blog tonight.

First thing we do after a delicious breakfast made by Megalodon is walk to a nearby park with a nice beach to play some games. We know we have a long afternoon ahead of us, so we look forward to this morning dedicated to fun. Rachel’s first game for us was called Birdie on a Perch: everyone had a pair, and when Rachel calls “Birdie on a Perch!” one person of the pair must get on top of the other somehow and not have their feet touch the ground. A very fun game from a spectator’s perspective, watching half the group climb the other half like a tree, or get on their backs for a piggyback ride, or be temporarily carried bridal style. Rachel thought she was so clever making the pairing of SkylAr and SkylEr, but little did she know how little SkylEr wanted to do with SkylAr, and so the Skylærs were out in the very first round.
Little did we know that we would make a friend. More specifically, *I* made a friend. A little kid by the name of Lucía. A small kid with a big personality, who rallied many of us into playing her games with her. We played volleyball, did some chicken fighting, and were subjected to the most harrowing eenee meenee minee mo game I’ve ever been a part of. Instead of playing football with the group, I was giving piggyback rides, playing rock, paper, scissors, splashing all around the water, and being a human jungle gym. I barely understood the French she was saying to me. But we still played together. She still got her point across. And we still laughed together.
I think it’s beautiful that play is universal. Across generations, across cultures, across time, all over the world. And even across species. Play is truly the universal language of the world.

Unfortunately, for us Sea|mester students, life is not all fun and games. After some amazing okonomiyaki, we got right to work for BA day. Most of the jobs were down below: cleaning bunks, packing, doing inventory, cleaning the saloon, and cleaning the cabins. It was so strange seeing my duffel bag for the first time since we boarded Argo. It was like seeing an old friend that I barely recognized, but was glad to be in touch with once again. We also had some amazing tunes blasting, which always boosts morale. So even though we transitioned to the work part of the day, we were still able to incorporate a little bit of fun and play into it.
Although most of the deck jobs will happen tomorrow, stuff still happened up top. Namely, taking apart Plaai. Surreal experience packing away the floorboards of the dinghy that has been my shuttle, my tether between sea and land, for the past three months. Aside from packing away all our stuff, putting Plaai to rest is really what cemented for us the realization that our time in this program is coming to an end.
Nopadome’s fun was not quite finished, for Nopes had the very important job of hosting the most harrowing job down today: the topside crew. My gosh, was it chaotic. Charlie, Sarah, and Gavi in Nopes, Avi on Charlie’s paddleboard, and Jonas in a PFDiaper in the water, cleaning the side of Argo. Since I was down below for a good portion of BAfternoon, I know that I probably only witnessed the tip of the iceberg of the chaos that went down. All I know is that I came on deck for a quick moment, and suddenly I heard shouting from below, my vision was to anyone on deck who could help. Since I was the only one close by, I swooped in to assist. The task they needed at the time was running the new bow line as far forward as possible, threading it through the fairleads, and making it wherever convenient. This was not the only task they needed a person on deck to help with, so a few others and I stuck close by. See, most of us rotated around during this BA session. The topside crew was topside the entire time and came out of it looking as if they had just been in the trenches, which they were. We thank you, topside crew, for your service.

Side note: shoutout to Emma’s parents for bringing us all hats from their brand Tell Us! They are a company that sells outdoorsy gear, such as hats, sweaters, ski jackets, and a bunch of other cool stuff! They’re based in Colorado, and they have a full store online. Y’all should check them out! They are also the sponsor for our very own Team Dynamic. Thanks, Tell Us!

Dinner was great, of course, but what I cared about more was that Meg made her peanut butter squares for dessert. A delicious treat as the sun set…it was beautiful.
The squeeze question of the night was “What part of your body are you grateful for?” It came as a shock to the skipper that people were struggling to come up with answers. Luckily, everyone got to thinking, and realized they had parts they took for granted—whether strong calves, a really good working nose, their resilient feet, or their brain—and began to truly appreciate them. This was a genius question, getting people to think about something so commonplace or “normal” that it is usually brushed over. I think everyone has a better appreciation for their body now. I encourage you to think of some part of yourself you are grateful for, whether your strong knees, deft fingers, or maybe your eyelash mites.

You said this was not a ghostwriting situation, Stella, so I won’t pretend to be a ghost writer. Thank you for letting me write the blog, something you know I love to do, and for every other thing you’ve done for me today and this whole trip. <3

Best wishes (there are many benefits to being a marine biologist),
~SkylAr (Stella’s approved Skylær)