Canned Fruit
Location: Underway to the Caribbean
Today was a huge day for Vela's crew. Firstly, I'd like to wish Dan's dad a happy birthday from everyone on board! Secondly, today was a huge day for sail handling and sailing in general. Members of watch team three, such as Cat, Luke, Eliza, Lil' Mac, Grace N., Max, James, Ben, Smash, and myself, got to un-reef the main sail as our morning wake-ups. Additionally, members of watch team one, such as Eduardo, Brendan, Watson, Grace C., Ruby, Boston, Chloe, Talia, Big Mac, and Mich, got to gybe us downwind to a more southern course due to some slight wind changes. Today has also been a day filled with big swell, which means wet laundry for some and bruised bones for others, such as myself (I fell down the companionway). In other news, today we had leadership, which entailed our Student Led Expedition presentation and votes. Some decided to write speeches and poems, whereas others made movies. After leadership, we had oceanography, where we learned about sustainable and not-so-sustainable fishing. Then we were treated to a little free time where students who were previously on the 8-12 got to take a nap and catch up on sleep. When dinner came around, everyone went silent as we all---except the vegetarians---chowed down on our steak, which Claire, Audrey, and Dan spent all evening making. After we filled our stomachs, smash released the results from our vote earlier in the day regarding student-led passage, and we all held our breath as she released the results. Navigating, we have Dan, Eduardo & Amy, James as skipper, Jesse as our Engineer, and myself as chief mate. We were all thrilled, and everyone congratulated each other as we headed into the squeeze. Overall, today was MASSIVE and amazing! Hi Mom & Dad, I miss you guys a bunch. Hope all is well back home.