Location: Marigot Bay, St. Lucia
Today was a day of days. I awoke this morning to find many of the students awake and taking advantage of every moment they could while we remained docked on land. The students and Steph had gotten up early to complete a morning workout routine. They haven’t been able to stretch their legs and run around much, and therefore they all seemed to relish their exhaustion from such rigorous activity. I woke everyone up this morning with smooth jazz and Odesza because I like the early morning mellow vibes. We had a great day of class, followed by earned relaxation ahead of us, so we quickly dove into breakfast and then sped right on through to our seamanship course. Today I taught the students about VHF radio operation, radio navigation, and how radio signals work. The students learned how to call another vessel appropriately and how best to remain professional and concise in their VHF communication. They also learned about RADAR, GPS, and LORAN radio navigation, and we discussed how EPIRBs or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons work. The final portion of the class had us all cram inside the chart house to view how our VHFs operate. I explained how emergency calls are to be made properly and what the Automated Information System is, and how it works between vessels.
Ian Wiggin taught the students about different personality types, according to Meyers and Briggs, and had each of the students try to guess what type their fellow shipmates fell into. The better we can understand each other, the better we will all work together. The afternoon was filled with lounging around at the beautiful resort and some much-needed snack stockpiling. Soon dinner was upon us, and it was quickly devoured. Before we wrapped up, the students had worked all day tirelessly to bake a cake and sign a birthday card for their beloved shipmate Kelsay. She was shocked by the surprise and struggled to maintain her composure because of the kind gesture and loving notes from her fellow crew. The cake was wonderful, and before we knew it, we were out on a night off. It had been a while since the last sign-out night, and it seemed fitting for this one to fall on Kelsay’s Birthday. We headed on over to a small restaurant bar for some drinks and, more importantly, for the pool tables. The ladies and the gentlemen have been having a little competition on board, and it was the ladies’ turn to pick the next challenge. Devi is an exceptional pool player, so they chose to challenge the boys to a game of pool and nominated Devi as their player. It was an easy win as she defeated everyone she played. The night ended at roughly 11 pm, and we boarded the small water taxi to return home to the vessel. It was a great day!