Location: Great Harbor Peter, BVI
Our course to steer = MTE exam at 100 degrees true north! A very rainy morning here in Great Harbor, Peter, caused us to have our breakfast tacos down below in the salon. We all needed to power up our brains for the long day ahead. Our task today was to complete the Navigation Exam for MTE. The exam had three sections, one of them being chart work, so we had to take the test in shifts. Matt and I started with the chart work taking up the two tables down below. The others started on the multiple-choice and tides and currents section of the exam in their bunks. Once the rain stopped and we could go up on deck, it gave us more room to spread out, so more people could do their charting section at the same time. We took a lunch break and had salads to refuel, turned in our Marine Biology Papers, and then dove back into exams. The exam took all day due to the very time-consuming charting, but we all made it through! As people finished up their exams, Deliverance the boat came by just in time! Deliverance, aka, the snack boat, loves to come to visit Ocean Star, they bring us delicious snacks and drinks, take our trash, or bring boat parts if you need them. We got some ice cream bars and played some Christmas music up on deck in an attempt to spread some good cheer to carry us through the rest of our exams. After a snack break, we all moved on to working on our OCE research projects. Lorax has been very kind to us with deadlines, but as it is day 74, our projects are due tomorrow morning no later than 7:30 am! My group took up the port side of the deck with our sand samples while others showered and worked out research methods. As the sun began to set on our first exam day, I couldn’t help but think about all of the knowledge I had acquired on this trip. And even though I was in an exam all day, every time I looked up, I got to see a gorgeous Caribbean landscape! Normally I would be taking a final exam in a crammed lecture hall, but I got to sit outside on a boat with the warm ocean breeze on my face, defiantly the best way to take a test! Kevin and Tor made some delicious lasagna for dinner, and we squeezed and ate like normal. After dinner and clean up, we all continued to work on our group research projects for OCE. Even though our brains are fried, we just have to keep telling ourselves. We are a school ship, and we have our science exams and presentations ahead of us, so we have a couple of days to relax in THE CARIBBEAN! But at least for now, we can go to bed with our Sailing knowledge put to the test! set date:2012-12-02