Location: Underway to Devil's Island
Today started with me yet again sleeping on the salon bench – but only until midnight, don’t worry. Our dear captain Freddie has repaired both Nat’s and my fans, but I still stand by the fact that it is simply too hot in the forward cabins. We’ve been five sails up as of recently, which has been so so fun, but there is too much sea spray to keep any hatches open, which is quite unfortunate, and a huge contributor to the amount of heat down below on this boat. I had the 12-4 watch last night with watch team 2 (Zoe (me), Audrey, Nick, Beau, MG, Elene, and Gabe D). Afterward, I went back to sleep in my own bed (shocking) for the first time in three days, and let me tell you, there truly is nothing better than a working fan. After a lunch of butternut squash soup courtesy of our chef team of Ellie, MG, and David with rolls courtesy of our breadmaker Brina, we had oceanography followed by leadership.
In Oceanography, we finished the last of our literature review presentations. A few highlights: Emma’s presentation of remote sensing, Gabe D ranting about ocean acidification for fifteen minutes, and learning all about Katie’s well-laid-out plan to prevent oil spills. Following that, we had a guest star lecturer in Leadership, the one and only Claire Miller. She taught us all about Devil’s Island, as we are expected to arrive there tomorrow! Claire taught us all about the island’s history as a French prison, as well as some of the most famous prisoners. It all sounds rather eerie – we are going to do our leadership challenge course on this deserted island, so one can only hope there are no ghosts wandering around with us. My squeeze question for today was: What’s a simple joy that you have? My answer: people have to do a spin when they take the helm because they’re tethered in. Tim enjoys the sound of the waves crashing against the bow, while Elder Gabe enjoys dreaming about his childhood dog. After a really pretty sunset cleanup, I sat down for my PSCT class (not important) and the first 10 minutes of Master and Commander (really important). Freddie has been hyping up this movie all semester, and it does not seem like it will disappoint. Movie night on Devil’s Island is a must.
Looking forward to being in French Guiana tomorrow – although no immigration or passport stamps for us (shhh). Haunted deserted island? Sounds like so much fun.
All my love,
Zoe C.
ps. Kiley – I hope you’re still enjoying being an only child 🙂