Location: Tobago Cays, SVG
And just like that, were in a new country! At this point, we are so accustomed to
sailing thousands of miles spanning 2 weeks at a time between countries. So
sailing for just one night to get from Barbados to SVG felt like the blink of an eye.
Even weirder, we were in sight of land almost the entire passage- or at least during
Watch Team 1s watches. Talia even had the realization that she hadnt yet stood at
the helm of Argo while within sight of land. Not many people can say theyve
driven a boat in the middle of the ocean but have not driven the same boat in
coastal waters. Pretty kooky!
Last night, we got lucky with the wind. We had forecasted little wind and feared
the need to use the motor. But alas, the wind prevailed- perfect for us to use all
three of our new sails! At first, the wind came from ahead, and we set our sails for
a close reach on a port tack. But, throughout the night, the wind backed onto a
broad reach and we eased the sails accordingly to maintain the perfect sail trim we
practiced so diligently between Fernando and Barbados.
On many passage days, everyone gets to sleep in the morning until 12, except
those on the 8-12 watch. But we had a full exciting schedule ahead of us, which
we happily compromised sleep for. First things first, half the students took the
NavMaster exam, while the other half prepared the boat to be anchored under sail!
We dont do this very often, as it requires a lot of coordination, but at this point in the
program, we were confident in our abilities to do this complicated sail handling.
After the boat was anchored, the second group took the NavMaster exam, while
everyone who already sat the test started to put the boat to bed. During this
time, Calum cleared us through customs on Union Island before we raised anchor
again for a quick motor over the Tobago Cays. Once everyone was done with their
exams, we all together enjoyed a well-deserved lunch of smoothie bowls, hummus,
carrots, and cucumbers.
Ive been to Tobago Cays before, but the crystal blue water is equally stunning
every time. Tobago Cays is known for having loads of sea turtles. So, this
afternoon, Ben ran a sea turtle lab. Kiki even saw a sea turtle wrestling (and
ultimately winning, aka eating) an octopus! Meanwhile, I started to grade
NavMaster exams- so far, pretty good for a hard exam! I am very proud of the
effort the students put into learning this difficult material. And if the readers are
wondering what the point is of learning traditional navigation, I have at least one
good answer: Before I started working for Seamester, I did a lot of job interviews.
Some interviewers asked me to prepare and present a topic of my choosing in the
following round of interviews in order to assess my speaking skills. Every time, I taught
a mini NavMaster lesson. And every time, it worked like a charm.
In all seriousness, though, what are we gonna do when they turn all the satellites
off? NavMaster.
How else to celebrate the end of NavMaster other than cold smoothie bowls and
sea turtle snorkeling? Beach BBQ! Arranged by none other than the Tobago Cays
king himself, Captain Neal. While we played beach volleyball, Captain Neal cooked
us up fresh fish, lobster, fried plantains, rice, and potatoes. The glory of eating out
is threefold: 1) no one has to cook, 2) we get to enjoy meals we dont typically
have onboard, and 3) most importantly, no one has to clean!
Now, everyone is practicing backflips, taking ocean showers, strumming guitars,
and preparing for the day tomorrow!