Location: Propriano, Corsica
Last night, my watch team had a very diligent watch from midnight to 4 am. During this watch, we began to get closer and closer to land. It was hard to see the land itself due to how dark it was outside, but you could see the lights from the city, as well as smell the land! We saw many different navigation lights, and I knew them all as I had learned them in my skipper class. We also saw about 3 lighthouses to help guide us into port. Right before my watch ended, we were told to drop all the sails due to there being very little wind, and we would just motor the rest of the way to our anchorage. We dropped 2 sails at the same time, and it went pretty smoothly. Usually, we drop one sail at a time. My watch ended just 30 minutes before we would have arrived at our anchorage, although I wasn’t there due to deciding to get some rest.
When we all woke up this morning, we were pleasantly greeted by the sight of beautiful land. Although we aren’t allowed to go on land, the city looks beautiful as well as gorgeous mountains are encapsulating the city. I didn’t quite realize how large the Mediterranean was. For those who didn’t know, it’s pretty big!
We ate a breakfast of champions which is cereal, as well as some yummy watermelon and pineapple. During breakfast, we also saw some dolphins! They are a different species compared to the ones we have seen before due to the fin shape being different, which I thought was interesting. After this, we split into our 3 groups to continue learning chart work. My group was last, meaning I had some free time! During this time, I choose to write a bit in my journal, listen to music and swim around the boat. Fitz and I decided to swim together, and at one point, I accidentally touched him with my foot, and he screamed, thinking it was a fish. While I was laughing at Fitz for being scared, I felt something touch me, and I screamed as well, thinking it was a big fish! I found out it was just Fitz, and we both had a major sigh of relief.
During navigation class, we went over how to take into account the tide for your estimated position. Major, thank you to Shona for helping me with this.
Tomorrow we set off for Sardinia, where we will be able to hopefully swim around some caves, which is exciting!
Picture 1- Courtney, Fitz, and Savannah on the bowsprit of Vela
Picture 2- Calum with purple shampoo in his hair
Picture 3- Courtney and Fitz on the bowsprit
Picture 4- Fitz in a hammock over the water
Picture 5- Savanna, Courtney, and Fitz on the bowsprit