Location: Saint Barthelemy
Watch teams were on around the clock today, as we were already at full motor sail at midnight. We plotted our location on the chart every hour and could see our course towards St. Barts, although it was far from being in our view. It was an upwind sail all day, so the waves often crashed over the bow of Ocean Star. On our way to St. Barts, we passed Saba and St. Martin. Most of the crew had recovered from the previous days seasickness, and folks were ready to eat. We had a fend-for-yourself rolling breakfast where fan favorites included Nutella and peanut butter on rice cakes, cereal, and hot tea. For the majority of the day, we were lucky enough to have not a single bit of land in sight. After beans, rice, and egg bowls for lunch, we gathered on deck for our first sailing lesson from Gabe.
Having our classroom be the cockpit of our beautiful ship was an amazing experience. We received a brief history of sailing in the Pacific Islands and Mediterranean, including how sailboats evolved to sail upwind. We learned about the points of sail (irons, close reach, beam reach, broad reach, and running). We learned about tacking and jibing, and about the physics of sailboat sails and keels. Our lesson concluded with a knot-tying session where everyone learned and practiced to tie a bowline (an essential knot for every sailor). Our destination appeared on the horizon around 6 pm, and we were anchored and sailing down just before the sun set behind us in St. Barts. We had completed our first and longest passage, lasting about 25 hours and traveling about 100 nautical miles. The crew is excited to be on land soon! Surfing sounds like a possibility tomorrow, along with shopping, food, and drink in beautiful St. Barts.