Location: Underway to Saint Helena
We waved goodbye to the prime meridian and quickly forgot about it as we crossed into the British territorial waters surrounding Saint Helena as the sun went down. Us three Brits onboard managed to feel slightly at home as we were warmly welcomed with some mizzle, a form of light rain, throughout the night and into this morning, which is a common occurrence for February in the UK. The night watches were graced by a nearly full moon when clear patches emerged from the cloud cover.
Some of our recent lectures in the marine science classes have been orientated around the students formulating some scientific research questions for their independent projects. As we move deeper into the tropics the numbers of flying fish landing on deck have increased. So the two that landed around the cockpit last night were saved with one group, Darien, Cecily, Olympus and Kara, eager to try to base their project around them – potentially looking at ingested plastics or their demographics.
The wind backed and died on us last night so we turned on the engine to get us the rest of the way to Saint Helena. Some of the crew appreciated the slightly calmer conditions and subsequent helming, which took us into today. Despite it being Dave and Eli’s birthdays, watch teams 1 and 2 were awoken by a fire drill. Each watch team ran through their responsibilities in these scenarios: Watch Team 1 is in charge of deck operations, such as getting the fire hose ready, Watch Team Two getting medical and the engine room ready, and Watch Team Three sail handling. After we all mustered in the cockpit with type 1s, Gumbies, and fire extinguishers and fought an imaginary fire in the dingy, a deck shower with the fire hose was offered. The boys, myself, Calum, Dave, Shane, Benny, Zac, Isaac Eli, and Kackie, lined up for a spray down before we all gathered for lunch – a lovely sweet potato sandwich with homemade bread, sour kraut, and salad. Lunch was closed with a final time change, meaning we are now on GMT +/- 0!
I then taught a marine biology class on intertidal ecology in preparation for a species-area relationship lab we have planned for Saint Helena. This was shortly followed by a leadership class delivered by Cecily, who spoke about leadership personalities. While some of the crew spent the rest of the afternoon catching some ZZZs, Calum delivered a PSCT class to Thalia, Zach, and Kiki. They continued learning about collision regulations, specifically lights displayed at night, in preparation for their first exam.
Calum cooked his mum’s famous pasta dish this evening with Darien and Kackie, as well as a brookie, which was fire, says Meg, for Eli and Dave’s birthday. However, cleaning the pan was not fire. says Meg. With Saint Helena being picked up on the radar now as we head into the night, the crew will sleep in keen anticipation for arriving at the anchorage by first light.
Speak to you in 20 days!
Ben