Location: Underway
It’s absurd to think that I’m writing this from the middle of the Caribbean Sea, battling the elements, fighting both seasickness and the elements simultaneously. It’s so absurd, in fact, because it’s actually not true. You see, the crew member responsible for writing these blog posts has earned (through random chance) the title of “Skipper” for the day, and my time in this position sadly ended at 23:59 yesterday. In light of the rough seas and a few incapacitated crewmates, I never found a quiet moment to reflect on and share my experience onboard the S/V Vela thus far. In spite of this, I didn’t feel as if I missed out on anything. We began our morning in the Falmouth harbor on the beautiful coast of Antigua. The seas were calm, the crew high-spirited.
My first challenge of the day came when Henry, Tyler, Aidan, and I were tasked with sweating the mainsail halyard. Being placed in charge of calling out our timing, keeping a chorus of “Two! Six!” steady as we pushed, pulled, pushed, and pulled a little more. This seemed to stretch on forever, and as time went on, both my hands and my mind were stripped completely. Even the words coming out of my own mouth were rendered mute, and the only sounds I could hear were my crewmates encouraging us from behind. This support came mostly in the form of “You guys are so close!” which was surprisingly not true for most of the task. Even so, the help was well needed. As we set sail and made for calmer waters behind Guadalupe, things took a turn for the chaotic. A wave of seasickness struck the crew almost immediately, placing about a third of us hunched over the low side of Vela, head stuck completely outside of the lifelines. All seemed lost by supper, as the quinoa and chicken prepared were barely touched by any of us, including me (the few bites I had were quite tasty). With the crew down, those remaining among us picked up the slack, getting the boat cleaned and organized while battling the wet and the cold. Despite this, I found my crewmates, my friends, almost unfazed. Spirits remained high, and I found comfort in this. Having such amazing people around me made even the worst conditions enjoyable and helped me create memories I won’t soon forget. Long story (or long paragraph in my case) short, try everything because it might be almost as cool as Williams-Mystic.