Location: Les Saintes
Hello, hello family and friends!
It is your fun and cool skipper Elene here. Today marks one week left of our voyage. I’ll try to write something nice for this log, but honestly, I’m not sure I’ve even processed it yet. First off, happy 20th birthday to our very own Nolan! So glad we got to spend the 3-4 watch together this morning. After a long and only mediocrely-refreshing slumber, I got the privilege of waking up the crew at 7 AM. To my shock, a lot of people were already up (by a lot, I mean like 5, but that’s way more than normal). Will and Nat were studying for the Nav Master exam while Katie was getting breakfast ready. After I finally got everyone up on deck, we had a nice morning meal of yogurt and granola with honeydew melon. Elisabeth and I collectively ate 18 slices of melon!! (Me-10, Elisabeth-8). With nice full stomachs, Ellie, Audrey, Will, Max, Nat, and Beau headed into the salon to conquer an exam and become true Nav Masters.
Everyone else got a nice study hall — whether or not any studying actually got done is up to your best guess. Soon after the timer rang and the navigational crew finished up, we headed to shore. Les Saintes is often described as mini France, and it was super cool to see the French influence on the island. It was quite different from the other Caribbean islands we’ve visited so far. Everyone spoke French, and there were creperies and patisseries everywhere. After a long search, Max, Nat, Elisabeth, and I ended up at a nice place for lunch. A torrential downpour hit right as we were exiting a grocery store, so we ended up being pretty soggy in this little restaurant. We got visited by Zoe and then Ellie and Audrey, which was super nice.
Meanwhile, Peter and Brina rented some electric bikes and zoomed around the island. Katie went on some nice walks, MG bought some bread for her St. Helena pickles, and Nolan, Beau, Golden, and Nick were hanging around the shops.
A nice, long day was had by all in mini France. Once back on the boat, we had a bit of free time where some people swam (me), worked on their remaining homework (also me), had a dance party, and taught Elisabeth how to eat passion fruit (me again). Dinner was lovingly crafted by Katie, Beau, and Amanda Cole. The beef and vegetable kebabs we adored by all that ate them. A beautiful and slightly off-key rendition of the Happy Birthday was sung as Mg, and Nick brought up the cakes. Every time we have baked goods, the gluten frees (all 4 of us) have a little party and eat it right out of the pan. The brownie/cake Shuman made for the gulfs was great, and the brownies that MG made for the gluten-eating population were apparently very satisfying as well.
My squeeze question got a lot of great responses, and I got the utmost of compliments from Shuman, saying she’s going to steal it and use it next semester. The question was to say something to someone in the group but anonymously. For example, “You brighten my day every day,” and “Every hard thing I’ve been through has been worth it to be here with you now.” I like to imagine they’re all about me, of course. I’m just kidding, but it was really nice to hear how highly everyone thinks of each other. Now squeeze has ended, and our 4th ID quiz is over. I’m trying to wrap up this log, but words aren’t coming as easy to me as they normally do. In a few days, we will leave Les Saintes for Antigua on our final passage. Soon after that, we will be saying our goodbyes and flying home to you all. I am excited to see home but absolutely devastated to leave this place and the people that I love so dearly. When I read all the promotional quotes on the Seamester website about how life-changing this trip is, I thought it was a bit cliche. But then it happened to me. I will be forever grateful for everything this trip has given me. I cannot express how much this trip has affected me as a person. Part of my heart will always belong to Argo and her ferocious crew. To many more adventures to come for all 26 of us, both together and apart.
You sailors will be returning to you very soon. Give them all a squeeze for me.
Signing off now, but not forever,
xoxoxo,
Elene 🙂
photo 1: Cool street in town
photo 2: Max
photo 3: Street art I liked
photo 4: Zoe with a sign that made me laugh so hard
photo 5: Sunset!
photo 6: Passionate sunset dance party