Location: Blue, Blue, and more Blue (Thanks Mac)
Hello again! Today was another action-packed day out on the Atlantic Ocean. For the 50-dayers (including myself 🙁 ), we are nearing the end of our time aboard Vela. We can all now count the days left with just our two hands. The days have been flying by, and we have been begging for them to slow down. This was my last day as a skipper, so this will, unfortunately, be my final blog post (sorry, Mom!). Despite the bittersweet emotions running through us 50-dayers, we sure enough made a great day out of today! I was woken up around 11:45 pm for my 12:00 am to 4:00 am watch this morning. You can ask anyone aboard; Charley has the best wakeups, hands down. 10/10. In a sleepy daze, I stumbled up the companionway to join the rest of my watch team, consisting of Flo, Joe(y), and Zoe and then me. It was rhyming so well! We were also joined by our wonderful watch team leaders, Emma and Dan. They always make watch a good time! I often have to pinch myself getting up on deck each morning the way all the stars paint the night sky is close to magical. I honestly have a hard time putting it in words. Alright, enough poetic blah-blah-blah. We spent the majority of our watch early this morning laughing and singing the night away. Our favorite artist? Its been decided John Mayer. Around 1:00 am, Emma gathered our watch team for a fun team bonding and educational experience putting up the forward staysail!… twice! I spent our first raising on the halyard. I was able to 2-6 it all the way up by myself! We then all jumbled up our positions and dropped the sail again, where I ultimately found myself on the downhaul. Joey got the staysail back up in no time! For a well-deserved break, we all circled up and sat on the bow, quizzing each other on the points of sail and other sailing terminology. Waves were crashing below us, Atlantic breeze on our faces, all under a moonlit night sky. Life was good! Eventually, we returned to the cockpit to join Dan, where Zoe swiftly relieved him of helming. Zoe then proceeded to show off her elite helming skills, practically parking Vela on our plotted GPS route. She constantly balanced this 160-ton behemoth of a boat on the GPS line, only getting as far as 5 meters off course (Writing this on my watch Zoe is currently trying her best). Great Job Zoe! The rest of our watch was most definitely uneventful. Nobody was in the Laz to play a prank. Nope. Nada. No sir. No more questions. As the clock struck 4:00 am, we all moseyed back to our cozy bunks for a nights sleep. I didnt hear much about the two proceeding watches, but the one thing I did hear Watch Team 1 group yoga! There mightve been some photographic evidence circulating around the boat all of Watch Team 1 was practicing their downward dogs, and other yoga poses on deck. Its okay, though; I told them I wouldnt share their early morning watch activities. Oh well! We, as an entire boat, collectively got up at our usual time of 11:30 for lunch. Today, our head chef Shelby, along with Charley and Joey, cooked up a fantastic Penne Vodka. Lunch was quiet as everyone munched on their pasta and chicken. Great job, galley team! With lunch winding down, I sat patiently as everyone finished up their meals. Then it happened. I have been trying to loon call (Im sure youve heard about our crews loon call antics from other blogs) for the week, but today, July 25th, 2024, I was able to loon call for the first time. When the first bird-sounding call echoed from my folded hands, I erupted in excitement, jumping up and down like I had just won the lottery. I got a few congratulations and a couple of pats on the back I had done it! Im sorry for current readers who are lost I have been helplessly blowing into my hands for what seems like forever in an attempt to produce any sort of audible sound. Today just meant a lot. After the excitement had cooled down, we all cleaned up lunch and worked our way back down to the salon for our VHF (Victor Hotel Foxtrot) Exam. We have spent the past few days studying radio procedures and practicing our radio calls, but today was the day we put it all together. The nerves were high, but we all ended up doing great. Lets go! We all ended our exams around 2:00 pm, meaning Watch Team 3 (my watch team) was back on watch. With Joey still in the galley and our watch team leaders also occupied, it left just Zoe, Flo, and me at the helm. We felt like the kings and queens of the world, navigating Vela all by ourselves. Selfie attached! It turns out we would have a short reign, as Tom shortly thereafter poked his head out the chart house and pulled Velas throttle back to idle. What was going on? Rumors shot across the deck were we out of gas? Did someone clog the toilet again? All speculations fell by the wayside as Mac began uncovering the swim ladder. We were swimming! It was a mad dash to our bunks to grab our swim gear we hadnt swum it for what felt like ages! A quick brief from Mac, and we were ready to jump in! All of us students made our customary procession up to the bowsprit, excited to feel the cool water of the Atlantic Ocean. Front flips, back flips, gainers, lemon drops – the whole lot as we jumped into the big pool below. We were climbing up the swim ladder as fast as we could jump in (I even climbed up the bowsprit again. Hadnt done that since the BVI!). We had some notable firsts as we splashed among the waves today! Anda performed his first-ever backflip in stylish fashion it turns out you can get his confidence up if you just sing Jack Johnson songs to him. He did great! Well, that was until he thought he could hold onto a loose sail tie as support. Splash! He was totally fine; we were all laughing about it when he came up. Shelby and Dan, two of our staff members, also performed their first-ever backflips off Vela. All the crew was roaring and cheering as they both hit the water. To end our Atlantic swim, a few of us arranged a race along the length of the boat. Johnathan counted us down, and off we went in. From an outside perspective, it was hard to tell who won from all the splashing. Some said it was Mac. Others said it was a tie between Mac and Michelle. Who knows! Well have to go back and check the video footage. Further updates to come. Following our race controversy, we all climbed back up on deck to dry off. Mac laid on the Velas horn, one prolonged blast, signifying we were back underway and making way. Gibraltar, here we come! Next up on the schedule for the afternoon, we had Leadership, with a wonderful presentation prepared by Lucie! We started by playing a game of lets just say interesting Uno. Lucie was in charge, making up different rules and cards as we went. Im not sure if it was the fairest game in the world, but we all had a lot of fun. Does somebody want to tell me why when I play a +4, I get eight cards in return? This card confusion transitioned into Lucies greater topic of dealing with change. Is change accepted or rejected? Is change a good thing? It was a very enjoyable conversation on the topic. Great job, Lucie! That was about it for the afternoon. We were left with some free time till dinner. The galley team went wrestling, trying to get the salsa can open, while Watch Team 1 worked on deck practicing their knots, including the carat bend. I spent my time giggling with Anda, looking at the GoPro shots of all our jumps from a few hours prior. Theres always something going on aboard Vela! Dinner time eventually rolled around. Tonights menu? Chicken Enchiladas! Once again, Shelby, Charley, and Joey had done a fantastic job. All our plates were licked clean! As a special treat, Flo, our bread maker for the day, rolled out some delicious peanut butter cookies as dessert. She even made three Vegan cookies for Dan, all in the shape of his name. How thoughtful! Dinner all around was a great success! For squeeze tonight, in honor of my last day as skipper, I wanted to have some fun! I asked everyone to list a superlative. Then, we would all vote on who was the most deserving of said title. When we got superlatives such as most likely to climb the mast or most likely to get stuck in the Laz, I felt a lot of fingers pointed in my direction. Thanks guys! Some other funny ones Most likely to go through a UFO encounter. Most likely to steer Vela in the wrong direction. It was fun watching everyone erupt in laughter at the reading of each prompt and seeing fingers point in every direction. A great end to a great day! After dinner, we decided to put our VHF skills to the test! Throughout the day today, we have seen smaller sailboats flying by in the opposite direction. These are light, carbon-fiber boats designed for open-water racing. Those things can absolutely rip. We had some guesses on where they were racing to but were curious to find out. Flo grabbed a handheld VHF radio and tuned it to channel 72. Ginghoul, Ginghoul, Ginghoul, this is Vela, Vela, Vela. Do you copy? Over. No response. After some waiting, we tried again. Still nothing. In a desperate attempt to contact this mysterious other vessel, we flipped over to channel 16 and repeated our message once again. Some tense seconds went by, but then we heard a small voice squeak from the radio. We all screamed in excitement but quickly quieted down to let Flo continue the conversation. Turns out, this sailor was solo-sailing in an off-shore race from France to the Azores. Hey! We were just there! After some shared laughs, we thanked him for his time and wished him good luck for the rest of his race. Mystery sailor, if you are somehow reading this, we hope you win your race! We are all cheering you on! Ending the conversation, Flo said, Vela, over and out! This was actually the improper signoff to a radio call (We were deliberately told this in our VHF class a few days prior). We all laughed uncontrollably for a few minutes. All is well, though! Welp, thats about it for the day! While writing this, Emma just launched a Teck Deck skateboard into Toms room. It got Tomfiscated. Womp womp! I have some other notes in my notebook from the day, but I couldnt determine a timestamp for each. Ill just leave them below: – We saw a couple of turtles today! They were just chilling on the surface, lounging out in the sun. Super cool to see them in the wild! – We found a couple of squid of all things on deck today. One on the chart house, one in front of Angkarn. I wasnt aware that squid could jump. Weve all developed our theories, but we still have no idea how they got there. – Early on watch this morning, due to poor visibility, I accidentally left a singular pringle in the can before stashing it back in the snack cabinet. There was some evidence collected, but I secretly swapped some pringles around to cover my tracks. Hopefully, nobody notices. Okay, okay. Thats the end. I promise. As mentioned before, today was my last day as a skipper, meaning this will be my last blog. I want to thank all my loyal subscribers for following my blogs, but it is now time for things to come to an end. For any future readers, I just want to say this. SeaMester has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. If you are thinking about enrolling or just curious, I cannot recommend it enough. Aboard Vela this summer, I have discovered so much about myself, people, and life. This has been an experience I will cherish for the rest of my life and a memory I will hold forever. There are so many stories, laughs, and friendships that have been formed and crafted, all in the span of 112 feet. I could barely list them all. These people, places, and journeys have all been so very special, and I have been so blessed to call Vela home for the last 41 days. This has been a dream trip turned reality, and the last thing I want to do is wave goodbye. If I had to briefly summarize what I have learned while being aboard SeaMester this summer, itd be these three: 1. Give something every day. It doesn’t have to be physical. It could be a laugh, a cry, a helping hand, or a cheer of support. Aboard, we have learned that time can absolutely fly by – It seemed like yesterday I was walking down the dock with my overfilled bags. Dont let time slip away. Dont neglect it. Every day is an opportunity to create another friendship or learn another lesson. Be open, listen with your heart. 2. Jump in the bilge. About a week ago, I found myself knees-to-chin deep down in the bilges below the heads, pumping out stinky bilge water. It was voluntary type 2 fun, but it has proved to be one of my fondest memories aboard. Our whole bilge team was crying, laughing, and making the most of our smelly situation. All of that wouldnt have happened if I had walked away. Say Yes to the little things in life. You never know what you could find if you dont look. 3. Share a bowl of Fruit Loops. Ive spent many night watches under a blanket of stars, quietly munching on sugar-overloaded cereal with some of my closest friends. 41 days ago, these people were strangers to me. Now, as we close in on Gibraltar, we have all formed endless memories together. Stories of heartbreak, stories of jubilation. So many people will change your life if you just let them. Have fun, be silly, there is always another story to be written. Alright, alright. Im sorry once again for the finger workout. Thank you for your time! Thats all I got. Remember to live every day, embrace the uphill, and be kind to each other. Strong winds and following seas – Runyon Ruffles Tyler P.S. Hello Anna, Mom, and Dad! Hope all is well back home. Can’t wait to see y’all in a few days! Everything is going great and I’m still having the time of my life! Love y’all so much! P.S.S. Baboo, Annie, and Jim – Still alive and happy! See you soon – Love you!