Location: Faaroa Bay, Raiatea, French Polynesia
Wakeups were a little early this morning at 6:30, just so you can visualize the sun is just about to appear over the distant mountains on the horizon, so it was quite beautiful. Chefs Mina, Eric, and Ellie made insanely good cinnamon rolls, by the way. Most of the passage prep was completed the night before, so sail covers were off halyards, and sheets were attached. As people began to come on deck, the engine fired up, and we weighed anchor to head through the cut in the reef of Huahine. The winds were good and at our back, so the students got four of the six sails up and found a new appreciation for the power of sailing as we made 10 knots towards Raiatea. In the previous passage from Raiatea, we had the wind on our noses with engines on making half the speed we did with our sails today. The crew did great with all the lines and dropped the sails with ease. The rest of the day involved a big effort on behalf of the whole crew to get the bunks and down below are ready to greet the final six arriving the day after tomorrow. As well, bunks were stripped, and new sheets were donned. Maeve and I had a blast tracking down a laundry service despite being told by multiple people that one didn’t exist. Once again, the provisioners set out to buy 37 dozen eggs, a seemingly modest amount for 30 hungry sailors. Still, due to a seasonal shortage of eggs in the local islands, they must be purchased two dozen at a time as individual transactions. It’s these small little dilemmas that make the day go by with a grin. After errands were complete, the boat moved to another epic bay called Baie Faaroa and had enchiladas for dinner. As I type, study groups are in the final stages of quizzing one another before their first Marine Biology test, which will cover coral reefs, sponges, cnidarians (jellyfish for the non-bio majors), and a review of ecological principles. Make sure you ask your son or daughter to tell you all about the different types of phytoplankton if you want to know how their studies are coming along.