Location: Underway to Saba
Yesterday was a long day that blended into today. We woke up, had a nice breakfast, and took the final exams for our PADI Open Water certification. Skylar, Owen, and Aidan made us a yummy meal of build-your-own chicken caesar wraps. After lunch, we began our preparations for the passage to Saba–our very first passage, which was very exciting! As the skipper, I had a checklist of items that needed to be completed on Ocean Star before departure. It was nice to see everyone so open and willing to help with the tasks. A lot of teamwork and coordination was required to uncover the sails, lift them up, secure the dinghies, and make sure all items were securely stowed (“40/40”, we call it), among some of the tasks that needed to be done. By dinnertime, we were already doing rotations in our watch teams as Ocean Star made her way towards Saba. It was strange and humbling to experience being the only boat as far as the eye could see in the middle of the vast ocean that extended beyond the horizon. Though there were quite a lot of people who experienced seasickness due to the rough waves, we also saw some really cool things–specifically bioluminescent organisms drifting in the ship’s wake. The sky was filled with stars.