Location: Fiji to Palau
Body squalling in bed
Stomach squalling in the head (toilet)
When it gets dark, turn the lights on red
No, you won’t be dead. Just clip in after you’re fed
This trip is hard, but there’s nothing to dread
– Skipper of the day (Lainey)
Poetry is one of my many talents; another talent and joy of mine is doing wake-ups. During my watch (04:00-08:00) a squal hit on the last hour, winds reached over 40 knots and watch team 2 had to quickly bring down the Main Staysail in the crazy conditions that the sea brought us. As I ran to wake up to watch team 3, I figured I’d scare them into waking up by dramatizing the situation above deck a bit. It worked because everyone was on time 🙂 While some of us got rest until 12:00, others were awake either on watch, hanging out, or doing homework.
Casey and her Sous Chefs, William and Spencer, cheffed up an amazing lunch for the boat. After we all reluctantly did our chores, we headed to Oceanography class. Today, we learned all about Seawater and its salinity based on the water’s location, the location seasons, and the temperatures of the water. We had EFR (Emergency First Responder) training, and we learned about injuries, illnesses, and choking, as well as how to handle each situation safely. Towards the end of EFR training, we had the pleasure of seeing a large, melanistic (all black) Oceanic Mobula Ray, a.k.a Manta Ray!! We all screamed with joy as it swam on the surface and showed off its large fins by waving at us.
We had an amazing dinner, and the most memorable was the dessert… 2 large sheets of homemade cookie cake. For squeeze I asked each person to share their craziest dive stories, apparently many people have been lost, ran out of air, had interesting interactions with sea animals, and even thrown up in their regulator! While cleaning up after dinner, we spotted another boat for the first time in a week! 2 more weeks of silly watch convos, rain, insane sea states, many flying fish, pooping birds, and hectic wind to go. See you soon, Palau 🙂 (I am typing all of this as there is a squall coming in)
Love you, family,
Lainey M.