Location: Port Elizabeth, Bequia
Hi, I’m back for blog #2 and my second time being skipper. This day we were not underway, so I got to go about the normal skippering duties. We all gathered for a nice breakfast of yogurt and granola in the sunshiny morning. We then had planned to leave around 8:30, but we were having some anchor troubles in the bay. A nearby catamaran had snagged our anchor chain, therefore basically tangling it up and pulling it out of the water. We worked for a bit to get it detangled and back to working smoothly. Teamwork!!!
After we dinghy-ed into town, we took an open-air taxi once, which was a blast. All of us squeezed in and enjoyed the ride. We liked waving to the locals and spotting goats along the way. Soon we arrived at the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary, where we were greeted by a bunch of doggies! We all played with them, and it was wonderful. Then we spotted the most adorable baby goat with floppy ears. You had to be there. Brother King (owner of the sanctuary) then greeted us all with a warm smile. We were led into the area with all the pools that held all the different-aged turtles. We were in awe of the cuteness of the baby ones. Brother King spoke to us for a bit just about the backstory of his life and how he got to where he is, taking care of turtles. It was great getting to hear his story that he was so passionate about. We all then walked around and saw turtles ranging from newborns to just about six years old (six is the age they get released back into the ocean). The sanctuary was right next to the ocean, with pipes leading from the ocean to the pools, so the turtles had their homey ocean water.
Next was some extra time on land in Port Elizabeth. We found some internet cafes to do homework, explore the town, and eat some scrumptious food. I found a beet, banana, ginger smoothie, which was great!! A lot of us got smoothies, and we all tried each others 🙂 We had a few good hours on land, and it was really nice just to walk around and do whatever. Oh, and congratulations to Olivia for getting into college! We are proud of you.
We dinghy-ed back to Ocean Star at around 3:30 in time to meet Willy! Willy is a man who has been visiting Ocean Star for years, and he comes to tell us about the history of Bequia. Bequia is famous for its whaling tradition, and they usually hunt one or two whales per year. Willy buys some of the meat and bones from the whalers to make them into jewelry. He usually brings his jewelry aboard for us to look at by a tiny sailboat, but since the weather has been so rough, he had to catch a ride on a motorboat from a friend. His pieces consisted of whale teeth, little sculptures made of whale bones, shark teeth, coconut rings, coral bracelets, and more! There was so much beautiful jewelry to look at, so we all crowded around for a while. A few of us got some items and some for family and friends back home. Willy was very nice and gave us all hand bumps while saying “respect.” What a guy.
Later we had a delicious dinner and circled around for squeeze. I asked, “If you could listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?” After dinner, we had Oceanography! We learned about all things saltwater (a continuation of yesterday’s lesson that was centered around freshwater). We wrapped up, and now I’m here writing the blog. Tomorrow is a mystery! Every day holds something new and exciting. Stay tuned for more!
-Elle