Location: Underway to Ahe Atoll
Second full day of our passage from Nuka Hiva to Ahe! Upon relieving watch team 2 (Graham, Maisy, James, Morgan G, Morgan C), my watch team (Caro, Paloma, Brooks, and I) had a great 4-8 watch. The sunrise was beautiful, and we had great conversations, talking about our future goals and getting great advice from Sam. Once our watch was completed, we were relieved by Watch team 1 (Maya L, Maya W, Jay, Harry, and Henry), who completed some boat chores like a deck wash and dinghy appreciation. We then had a great lunch of Pasta Salad and Chicken Nuggets (first time Ive had this combo, but I was pleasantly surprised) made by Caro, Sam, and Jake. Following lunch, we had our VHF exam for seamanship, which encompasses Radio communication. While we were eating lunch, our skippers (Mac and Jake) chose to slow down and put the engine into idle. We were all crossing our fingers and hoping for an ocean swim. Our prayers worked out, and Jake gave us the awesome news that we could swim! Swimming in the open ocean was such a surreal and awesome experience. We were all astounded by the crystal clear visibility and beautiful dark blue color of the water. Everyone broke out into their best backflip, front flip, dive, etc., attempts. I keep trying my best to land a backflip to no avail, just to the great amusement of Mac and anyone else who watches. During our ocean swim, Ben and Claire continued Emergency First Response Training. They did scenarios of swimmers being injured in the water and needing immediate attention, which required the help of our EFR students. Once we all got our last bit of ocean time in, we climbed back onboard and continued motoring along our course. During our 2 to 6 watch, Paloma and I got to sit and do bow watch on the Martingale, which was awesome. To close out the day, we had a great meal, Chipotle bowls with sausage, onions, corn, rice, etc. Ahe tmrw!
Sorry for the long blog, this is the last one I get to write this voyage, which is honestly pretty crazy. Tomorrow we have only 10 days, which is astounding and sad at the same time. Between writing my first and last blog, Ive seen and learnt so much, which I will be forever grateful for. While the trip hasnt reached the end just yet, the culmination of my final day of being a skipper and day 80 being tomorrow made me reflect on how far weve all come on this trip. As corny as I sound, these 80 days have flown by, and I have cherished each one. At this stage of the trip, I am trying to remind myself to enjoy every second, even when I dont feel like doing the mundane aspects, because I will never be where I am right now ever again, with these people ever again. Sorry again for all of the writing if anyone besides my mom made it this far.
Hello to my family and friends, love all of you. I hope we have service in Ahe to chat, if not, talk to you in Morea!
Much love,
Harrison