Location: Dominica
Hello, and welcome to my very last blog post aboard Vela!
It’s pretty crazy to think that we’re entering the eleven-day countdown after spending the past seventy-eight days on the boat we’ve all begun to call home. But here we are, after crossing an entire ocean, fast approaching the end of the program!
But before I get too sentimental… this morning began with a gentle surf-rock wakeup courtesy of my favorite playlist. Our ever-exceptional head chef, Emma, cooked a well-enjoyed breakfast of egg sandwiches with some delicious fresh fruit. After breakfast, it was time for us to head to a crazy cool citizen science opportunity: collecting turbidity and salinity data from Dominica’s beautiful estuary, the Indian River!
We split into two groups and hit the river, Secchi disks, and refractometers in hand. My boat consisted of Maddy, Alva, Kip, Charlton, Conor, Stina, Laszlo, and our dutiful mock-coxswain Will. We quickly decided to go above and beyond in our data collection, counting crabs, fish, and these funky little duck-like birds aptly named Water Chickens (101 crabs, 189 fish, and five water chickens for those concerned). Continuing our epic Pirates of the Caribbean-themed tour, whether intentional or not, we got to see the actual location where Calypso’s house was built, and the scene was shot in the third iteration of the hit movie franchise. Understandably, this inspired plans for a boat-wide Pirates movie night soon in our future.
After wrapping up and heading back to Vela, our sunkissed crew was welcomed by my personal favorite meal of the entire trip: smoothie bowls with fresh fruit, granola, and tons of delicious toppings. We were quickly transported to a tropical paradise via the magical bowls, and I am not the only one who lists our lunch as an all-time trip favorite. After lunch was an exciting time for those having not yet taken the much-anticipated Nav Master Exam: the second group went in for an intense test experience while those who took the test yesterday headed on deck for some sunbathing and attempted backflips off of the bowsprit (I believe Emma was our only successful attempt).
We’re preparing for a very exciting upcoming event: our student-led passage! After those taking the Nav Master emerged from their studiousness, it was time to get ready. Shepherded by our beloved staff, those chosen for leadership roles via intense democracy last night learned the ropes for each of the roles they’d been given.
Jazzed by the sunshine and wanting to make the most of the last slice of time on the program, our beloved Kady-boy had the phenomenal idea to play a little game called tag. And not just any tag, oh no, as Seamester students, we were obligated to incorporate the ocean in somehow. We played a rowdy game of land-and-sea with everyone quickly jumping in and out of the water when we saw the approaching player deemed ‘it’. Unfortunately, our game was not deemed kosher and was deterred due to preventative measures against any repeats of the Parkour Cape Town Incident (sorry, Eems).
Unphased, everyone moved into ocean showers and a spot of chill time before an incredible dinner cooked by Emma, which transported us all back to our respective local Chic Fil As. Emma has truly mastered the impossible task of creating the perfect chicken sandwich, made even better by the incredible collab on the Secret Sauce (Chic Fil A, Vela Spring 2024 crew’s coming for your not-so-secret sauce recipe).
Squeeze tonight inspired checks off the bucket list: What is one thing you want to do within the last eleven full days of the program?
To end the evening, I got to enjoy the wonderful sight of Conor, Stina, and Will playing the Cow Game in the chart house. It was widely discussed all day, and it was a marvelous sight to watch the face-off-style mooing in each other’s faces until the first person to laugh lost the game.
In summary, we’re having a blast here aboard Vela, continuing on our incredible Caribbean adventure and soaking up as much time and silly little moments with each other as possible as we approach the end of an era.
And with that, I sign off as your skipper for the last time.
See you in the funny papers!
~Mads