Location: Tarragona
After a speedy breakfast of pancakes and eggs, everyone donned shoes and masks and, with Leoni leading the advance, marched down the dock to board a coach into Barcelona. Our ever-resourceful program manager had spent yesterday organizing a tour that could simultaneously optimize the time spent in one of Europe’s most infamous cities and staying as corona safe as possible.
This left four of us to look after Vela. Darius opted to stay behind in order to sit his NavMaster exam. Prior commitments are unfortunately ending his program short and, even though he will be in a taxi at sunrise tomorrow, he wanted to finish this final module of the Seamanship course. His cheeky smile and uplifting personality will be greatly missed. Brianne, already well-traveled around Catalonia, cracked on with some maintenance tasks. Thanks to her, we now have fully functioning lights and taps in the forward heads. It was with sadness that Tom spent the day writing farewell cards to the students. His leadership, influence, and knowledge will be sorely missed by all aboard the vessel that he has looked after so well since she started her Seamester life. There will be other, more fitting mediums to express our thanks.
At half five, a wave of good vibes and positivity swamped the deck. The explorers returned with stories of Gaudi’s masterpieces, misspoken Spanish, and a tanker ablaze in the bay. Leoni treated us with ice cream for pudding, and afterward, we reflected on lessons learned from Seamester so far at dinner squeeze. As the sky darkens, small groups migrate to different corners of the boat or dock to catch up with family or talk with each other through the night and put the world’s problems to right…
Photos: Team photo in town; Courtney attacking me during clean up; air travel contingency