Tsun-Amy
Location: Navadra Island, Fiji
From the moment I woke up, I knew I was about to have an eventful day. It was 6:30am and I was woken up to the sounds of my crewmates getting ready for a sunrise advaneced open
water dive and the smell of lightly burnt toast (sorry jack:)). We then worked to get the boat ready for passage by prepping the sails, storing the gear, and charting our course to Nevadra (not Nevada despite my first attempt at saying the word). While awaiting departure, a few of my fellow EMTs and I got the chance to assist our amazing captain/medic Shane in inserting his first IV (yay!!).
Just as the rain began to pour, we hoisted the sails and began our 6 hour passage. Early on, we passed by the island where the one and only competition show Survivor is currently being
Filmed!! We quickly grabbed the binoculars and attempted to snoop on their filming as much as possible. While we unfourntinately didn’t see any contestants or the one and only Jeff
Probst, we were able to see a few pre-merge immunity challenges. Spoiler warning!! We were able to see that despite internet spectulation, the new “open era” seasons will continue the new era trend of having three tribes. Additionally, we saw that these tribes were pink, green, and blue as there was a challenge that had boats of that color.
Special shoutout to Rachel for geeking out about this with me! Following this excitement, we began our first class of Nautical Science in the salon. Sadly, about 7 of us had to sit on
deck for class as the waves were beginning to pick up and stomachs were becoming unsettled. Charlie, our instructor of this class, then came on deck to teach us some of the
common knots we’ll use on this voyage. While most of our crewmates and instructors were dealing with the sails, the rest of us were in the back of the boat using every ounce of
muscle in our bodies to not vomit everywhere. Spoiler alert—it didn’t work. Previously I had mentioned that our captain Shane had a first today. Well that was not the only first he
was lucky enough to experience as he, like several others, were victims of the event I coined the "tsun-amy. It began innocently as our crewmate Amy clearly wasn’t doing well and needed
to throw up. As she leaned over the deck and said the words “I think it’s my time,” the tsun-amy began. Next thing I know, I see vomit spraying everywhere, as the strong wind carried it towards the boat. While people were panicking about the vomit all over them and telling her to move, the second wave of the tsun-amy came crashing stronger than the first. hitting our captain, and completing his second first of the day—getting thrown up on. With that past, those of us who were motion sick stuck to the back of the boat with our faces downstream of the wind, praying to avoid another disaster. Many large waves and several hours later we finallly arrived to our destination, and as if it was some gift from above for surviving the passage, we almost immediately see the most magestic sharks in the water surrounding our ship. Sweaty and gross from a long day, we all jumped in the water and showered with the sharks swimming around us.
Two delicious bowls of tikka masala later, our day ended with all of us screaming out together. While the day was trecherous and I was on the verge of vomiting the entire time, I
have never laughed more on this trip than today, and thus I think this may have to be my favorite day so far. Thank you everyone for keeping the most positive attitude even when
things weren’t going as planned.
PS: to charlie’s parents—he still loves you but does not have service to text you
PPS: I love you mom and dad and I’m having the best time!!