Location: Underway to Richard's Bay
Hi again! Today was our first full day back out on the water, and while everyone is excited to be back on passage, we are definitely missing the full nights of sleep, late wake-ups, and daily ice-creams that happen when we are on land. To put it in perspective, Kasey was so deep in sleep today that she woke up to Jackson, Ruby, and Audrey checking her pulse and discussing whether or not she was still alive. Watch started last night when we left the dock with brand new watch teams! For watch team 3, which is now Margaret, Ava, Jackson, Wes, Daniel, and Me, the hours of 4-8 am consisted of the complementary sounds of 50-Cent and Taylor Swift thanks to Ava, nail painting, moth funerals(RIP lil Orangie), fruit loops, and catapulting flies off of spoons (my bad). My favorite part was when I looked up and suddenly saw a huge island off our starboard side that had apparently been there for hours. All day, we were south of Reunion Island, and we were even close enough to see the towns in the mountains. Also, Daniel is on a mission to set a helming record and even offered to helm for 24 hours. We decided that the bathroom may cause some logistical issues, but there is nothing we can’t overcome in the span of 10 days on the open seas and 4 am delusions, so we’ll keep you updated.
Everyone popped out from down below at 12 for lunch. Wait, no, brunch!!!! The New York cooking squad, Lucia, Lina, and Wes, made French toast, peaches, and handmade whipped cream, which was amazing (obviously). Then, we learned about coral reefs in Marine Bio, and half of the group practiced charting before the sea state got rougher. Nothing is as satisfying as measuring coordinates correctly down to the decimal. Dinner was eggplant parmesan, which was so good and made the galley smell like when my mom cooked back at home. Tonight, I asked the squeeze question: what is a squeeze question that you want to ask but probably shouldn’t? Some answers were out of pocket, to say the least, and three answers had to do with feet. It will take us a few days to get back in the rhythm of things, but we are all still appreciating the moments that only passage can create. For example, I just went up to the cockpit to get my water and walked in on a watch team 2 dance party with astounding vocals gifted by Griffin, then walked back down into the chart house to find the familiar sound of Mario Kart that we all got used to on our last passage thanks to Jake and Toms ongoing, and very intense, competition (I have never seen such focus). With all of the lights turned red, it is time for sleep or late night cramming of oceanography presentations. To everyone back at home, I am sending so, so much love!