Staff vs Tensioner
Location: Underway to Barcelona
Ah, hello dear reader.
The day began at the respectable hour of 0700, when students emerged from their slumber and were greeted by the breakfast of champions: smoothie bowls. Fruit, yogurt, granola, the whole affair. A refreshing start to a day that would very quickly become significantly less refreshing.
With breakfast consumed and caffeine levels deemed acceptable, it was time for class. Leadership was first on the agenda, followed by the much-anticipated PADI dive exams. Nothing quite says “welcome back” like being presented with an exam about breathing underwater. But alas, students persevered, brains were activated, knowledge was recalled from the depths of memory, and somehow we emerged victorious.
And then, dear reader, came the call.
Passage prep.
Vela needed preparing, and preparing she would be. Lines were checked, equipment was secured, everything that could possibly be secured was secured, and a general sense of “are we forgetting something?” floated through the air. Meanwhile, lunch was underway, because naturally, no voyage can begin without feeding the crew.
And what a lunch it was.
Buffalo chicken wraps.
A dish of such magnificence that for a brief moment, passage prep ceased to matter. Wraps were constructed, consumed, and appreciated before we finally returned our attention to the slightly more important matter of actually leaving.
Underway we went!
The engines roared, the sails waited patiently, and the boat began to make her way out. Meanwhile, dear reader, the staff had their own little adventure to contend with: the anchor tensioner.
Now, I would love to tell you that this was a calm, professional, entirely reasonable interaction between competent adults and a perfectly innocent piece of equipment.
It was not.
What followed was a battle of epic proportions. Man versus machine. Staff versus tensioner. Determination versus whatever demonic engineering had been bestowed upon this particular contraption. There were struggles. There were negotiations. There may or may not have been words exchanged that would not be appropriate for the younger members of our audience.
But alas, the battle continued.
And then, as if the ocean itself had decided we hadn’t had enough education for one day, we returned to class in the afternoon. Because apparently studying abroad does, in fact, involve studying. Who knew?
As the sun began to sink lower into the horizon, the day’s activities finally began to wind down. Dinner was served: egg fried rice, warm and comforting after a long day of classes, preparation, and mechanical warfare.
But, dear reader, the ocean had one final surprise in store.
A massive pod of dolphins appeared off the port side.
There they were, slicing effortlessly through the water alongside us, jumping, playing, and generally showing off for the humans who had spent the entire day attempting to understand the ocean while they simply lived in it. A rather humbling experience, if you ask me.
And as the evening settled around us, it was time for our Squeeze question.
Tonight’s question:
What is one small thing you love?
And the answers, dear reader, were wonderfully simple.
The smell of rain.
Early morning coffees.
Being around the people you love.
Tiny things, perhaps, but the kind of things that make ordinary days feel a little less ordinary. And perhaps, after a day like today, that is exactly what we need to remember.
So, as the boat continues onwards into the night, with dolphins hopefully still somewhere nearby and the anchor tensioner hopefully recovering from its emotional trauma, we settle in for another night at sea.
The day is complete.
And, dear reader, if today is anything to go by, we are in for quite the adventure.
Farewell for now, dear reader.
Until tomorrow.
Your ever cordial author of the day 🙂
Kyler