Location: Underway to Bonaire
My day started with the 8 am to 12 pm watch. Watch is a magical time, often filled with exhaustion and an overriding sense of exhilaration. Such sensations were displayed in our 9 am dance party in the cockpit, in which the general display had a strange resemblance to that of an inflatable figure you might see bouncing around the front of a car dealership. Nonetheless, our spirits were high, and the day continued into lunch as most in the Caribbean do, sizzling. Soon after lunch, we sat down to our marine biology midterm review, which was only to be disrupted by the ecstatic call of “dolphins” from the deck. The speed at which people flew to their bunks to retrieve their PFDs and were up the companionway was unparalleled, and so too was the commotion on deck. Folks gasped in enthrallment as they leaped out of the water with unrivaled elegance. Once our porpoise friends had departed, we clambered back down to class. Following Marine biology was seamanship, in which we began looking at electronic navigation (GPS, RADAR, etc.). Despite our best efforts at focusing, the ruckus began once more at the holler of “WHALES ON DECK.” Sure enough, on deck was a pod of pilot whales. We watched them swim for some time before we were needed back in class. Fortunately for us, they returned just at the end of class, and we all went back on deck to watch them for the proceeding hour. The crowd dispersed, and I ventured to my bunk in an attempt to accomplish a modicum of work. However, following a common theme in this summation, my work was interrupted by yet another call. This, unlike the previous two, was a milestone. The past two days of passage had been rewarded with “land ho’. To me, this brought both relief and dejection. I thoroughly enjoy passage. It’s a time like no other. You never know what to expect; in fact, as I’m writing this very blog, there is what appears to be a Venezuelan helicopter circling Vela while we motor along the coast of Bonaire. Though simultaneously, I do believe I speak for many of us when I say much of the freedoms granted by anchorage are sorely missed during the passage. It’s expected that we will be docked by 12:30 am, at which time we will have moved over 420 miles from St. Vincent to Bonaire. I’m forced to conclude this day’s summary, so I thank you for reading and bid all you back home farewell.
Also. New Zealand. And 26 Toms. Wow. -Smash ((and Tom) so two Toms?)
Photo 1: Pilot whales breaching at the bow.
Photo 2 and 3: People looking at dolphins in deep thought.