Location: St Lucia and Underway to Les Saintes
Howdy blog readers! Today, we had ourselves a DAY. I started the day by going for a morning swim with Grace C, Audrey, Ruby, Mich, and Grace N., and then woke up everyone else by blasting All I Wanted for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey into all the forward cabins to wake up the rest of the super sleepy sleepy persons. Our head chef today was Watson, with sous chefs Grace C and Theo. Let me tell you, when you put Watson in the galley, he gets stuff done. We were treated to an EARLY breakfast of delicious pancakes and eggs with a side of melon. I peeked into the galley at 6 am when I woke up and saw Watson already slaving away with a headlamp strapped to his forehead so he wouldnt wake up Luke what a guy.
After clean-up, it was time to get ready for the mud baths! None of us really knew what to expect or what exactly we were getting ourselves into, but we were all pretty stoked to go see some of St. Lucia on land. Around 9 am, we all hopped into the dinghy (shout out to Smash for the dinghy runs) and made our way over to the beach, where we were moored off. Yal,l this cove that we were moored in is freaking beautiful. Probably one of the best Ive seen. Any who back to the day.
Once we got to the mud baths, we all covered ourselves in the clay mud stuff and then swam in the volcanic hot springs. It was really freaking cool. Mac decided to make a slide out of a waterfall, which we then found out wasnt allowed (oops, oh well). Everyone took turns drawing with the mud on each other before washing it all off in the hot springs. On our way out, Boston and Max grabbed some coconuts to drink, Audrey bought a magnet, and a few others bought some little trinkets and doodads.
When we got home it was time for passage prep because WERE GOIN TO GUADALOUPE! It was student-led passage day, so everyone assumed their roles and began preparation for the passage ahead of us. James (our skipper) began giving orders and deciding his sail plan based on the weather and the conditions that lay ahead of us. Theo (our chief mate) took everyone around the deck to make sure all halyards were attached and sheets were run. Our navigators (Amy, Eduardo, and Dan) prepared our course for the passage. We also began our preparation for our mega Thanksgiving meal that we are having tomorrow night! Since we were mega deep in the passage on Thanksgiving, we decided to postpone our big dinner and wait until we had fresh food, and tomorrow is the day! Claire started preparing her sweet potato casserole, Ben made an apple crumble, James, Dan, and Lil Mac made an apple pie, and Grace C made another apple pie (well see whos better, lol).
Once all the preparation was done, we got underway (and ahead of schedule!!) Great work squad. We motored out of our mooring, and then, once we got a bit offshore, we threw the sails up and began sailing! Pretty awesome because James thought for sure we wouldnt have enough wind to sail, so big wins there. Were currently averaging between 6 and 7 knots with the staysails and the Main up on a close haul Theo just came in and told me theyre raising the Jib now, so were probably about to go even faster!
For dinner tonight, Watson and the sous chefs made some yummy Greek pita pockets. The sun sets mega early here, so by 6 pm, we were all munching on our pita pockets, basically under the stars. For squeeze tonight, I asked the question, If the person to your left was the titan of an industry, what industry would they be the titan of? The best answers included Audrey calling Amy Big Braids, Mich getting called Big Manta, and Elis calling Ruby Big Barista.
And thats all for today, folks! Clean-up jobs are currently wrapping up, and night watches are beginning. I super appreciate you all for tuning in especially if youve been following along for all 83 days! Can you believe that?! Day 83! How is it even possible that we only have one more week left together? This semester has truly been incredible, and getting to know all of your amazing kids has been an absolute pleasure. They all have big bright futures ahead of them, and I freaking loved getting to get to know them all these last 3 months.
My fam back home I love you!!! Cant wait to see you all for Christmas real soon!
All the love to all of you,
EG