Happy Last Day Ocean Star
Location: English Harbor, Antigua
Good morning, everyone. Waking everyone up this morning to Could You Be Loved and saying, "Happy last day," made me unexpectedly emotional. Watching everyone get out of their bunks and get ready for the day felt different today because, over the last 19 days, we've built an entirely new routine together. Tomorrow, we'll all head back home and return to the lives we left behind. We ate breakfast as normal, and then Gabe informed us that it was time to take our oral exams! aka points of sail. But before we took that, as everyone was in the saloon, BOOM, fire drill to throw us all off for the day. Heading all on deck with our type ones (besides us frunk people *ava, morgan, red vivian and yellow vivian* had to defend ourselves using regular PFDs) we had a successful drill and finally got to our exams. I'm hoping everyone passed!
After our exams, we headed into English Harbor, where we would dock the boat for the final time. After a couple of dock line throws, really muddy anchor chains, and a few attempts, we finally got her tied up at the dock. Afterward, we got free time on shore, which consisted of us grabbing lunch and getting some souvenirs as keepsakes to remember our fabulous time in Antigua. Back on the boat, and it was time for a major BA (Boat Appreciation). That meant scrubbing the deck until it sparkled, deep-cleaning the saloon and galley, and making sure our personal bunk and the heads (sorry, headmasters!) were spotless. We wanted to leave our girl in perfect shape, ready to welcome the next group of students and the adventure that awaits them. After around four hours of cleaning, Ocean Star was finally back to perfect shape! Everyone headed to quick showers and got ready for our final dinner, which included grocery store trips, photo shoots, and some amazing food made by our captain/chef, Gabe. Then, the long-awaited final squeeze (squeeze is when we all circle up, and the skipper of the day asks a question).
Asking the questions "what was your main takeaway/ lesson from the trip" and "if you could relive one day, what would it be"
Here were some of our answers…
- be comfortable with the uncomfortable (ava)
- to always have fun even if you don't think you are (Tessa Gintini crew)
- to continue doing more adventures and meeting new people (Maeva)
- I love trying new things and making an effort to try new things (Megan Gintini Crew)
- just do it #nike (haley)
- If you're scared at first, try again because you might actually end up liking something, and to cherish the important friendships you make(Payton)
- do things that your 80% excited for and 20% scared for (Cammie)
favorite days to relive
- full day in Saba with diving and exploring the land
- the day when Ocean Star put all four sails up, going to Statia
- exploring St. Barths and going to Shell Beach
- Statia hike day!!!
- on shore statia day because we got to hang out with both groups, hitchhiked, and got to hang out at the beach/scuba shop
- first full day in Antigua, going to Shirley Heights and dancing all together with the steel drums
After our final squeeze, we wrapped up dinner with Gabe reading " Don't Worry, Little Crab. The story felt similar to our own. At the beginning of this journey, many of us were nervous about sailing and stepping into the unknown. But over time, we grew comfortable, not only with Ocean Star, but with each other. Now that our trip has come to an end, none of us is truly ready to leave. One story leads to another, and the Ocean Star crew forgot about their half-finished story from our most recent passage around Antigua about Boyapolios and Girlapolis, including characters Poncho (Morgan), Stafalemly (Red Vivian), Mayor of Girlapolis (Cammie), and Poncho's mother (Annika). A story that is filled with many personalities and a very weird ending, in which everyone chased Gabe across the It's!
It’s hard to believe that we have reached our final night on this voyage. I think if you asked anyone on this, we'd all do this trip again in a heartbeat. It's hard to believe how close the Ocean Star crew became in just 20 days. At the beginning, people doubted that we could form such strong friendships so quickly, but looking around, it's amazing to see the journey all 19 of us have shared over the past three weeks. We've gone from strangers to a family, that's something none of us will ever forget. I will never forget my Ocean Star days, and I hope that everyone reading this blog can feel the bond throught these paragraphs! Ocean Star crew forever number 17 *Ava F* signing out!