Location: Five Islands Bay
Good day to all the sailors, pirates, and land-dwellers,
Day 4 on Vela is coming to a close; it feels like we’ve been aboard for weeks. We are adapting quickly and slowly getting adjusted to life on board. This morning we all woke up after our first night of anchor watch. We each had an hour-and-a-half shift, with shifts starting at 9 pm and ending at 6 am. At first, everyone was quite skeptical about waking up at odd hours, but watch was enjoyable and peaceful, and it was so refreshing to spend some time in the cool night air. It was also our first night sleeping at an anchorage, which was a very different feeling from the flat waters at the dock the previous two nights. Some said the rocking of the boat lulled them to sleep, others said it was like riding a seesaw, and a few felt like their intestines were having a midnight rave.
After emerging from down below, I was met with the most beautiful Caribbean morning sky. On our port side, there is sparkling turquoise water for as long as the eye can see, and towards our starboard, you are met with lush green sloping mountains and a very enticing-looking beach. Just ahead of us, there is the best view of them all; a rock that looks suspiciously similar to a frog. It is called Frog Rock. Once up on deck, we had a filling and delicious breakfast of bread, bacon, eggs, and fruit. We then cleaned up and split into our dive groups. Both Matt and Steph’s groups went off toward shore to go through some skills with the first two groups of uncertified divers- otherwise known as the UNQUALIFIEDS.
The certified divers -the qualifieds- and Smash’s group of divers stayed on board to work on dive charts. The groups had lunch separately due to the different time requirements for the activities. For lunch, we had plates full of cous cous, lettuce, vegetables, chicken, and a creamy yogurt sauce. After clean up, we did a bit of a switch, and Smash’s group went towards the beach to practice our skills while the others worked on charts or explored the beach. We returned and ate! For dinner, we had homemade bread and vegetable stew. Everything has been delicious. Dinner was joined by brief spurts of rain, and after a slight debacle of bringing the bread up and down and up and down again, we decided to eat with the rain. We cleaned up and are now reading, playing poker, braiding hair, or talking.
Position:
17 06.2520 N
061 54.3600 W
Sending love from the Caribbean,
Ula
P.S. Hi Elke! I love and miss you.