Location: Falmouth Harbor, Antigua
In case you’re just now tuning into the blog, you’re just in time as this is my final report on life on Ostar!
First things first, you know it’s going to be a GREAT day when you wake up and find out Fred is head chef. We’re talking fresh banana bread for breakfast, tasty tacos for lunch, and super rockin’ pizza bagels for dinner. What more can you ask for in a day like that? This morning started out wonderfully when I snoozed my 6:00 am alarm to study and instead slept until 6:45…it made a huge difference. Obviously, my first priority was to get the music queue ready, so this morning’s alarm featured “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “Wouldn’t it be Nice.” The chill morning vibes set the rest of the day up perfectly.
Post breakfast, we spent most of the cleanup staring down mega superyachts that love anchoring right up close next to us. Then, Steph hosted another one of her exam review classes which featured a lot of yelling out random ‘synonyms’ rather than actually defining biological terms. For instance, ‘rorqual’ was described as a whale that’s really hard to pronounce where the start of the word sounds like what lions do (rawr), and the end of the word is a smaller alternative to chickens (quals). You could say we’re ready to crush our marine bio exam in two days.
After class, the entire boat was completely quiet – it was a luxury – when the first group of soon-to-be Nav Master’s took their exam. The rest of us studied up and enjoyed the peaceful sway of lovely Ostar. After lunch and cleanup, the second group took their Nav Master exam while others jumped in the water to work on their makeup dives for our rescue certification. Fred and Tate finally took their rescue exam, Lucy and I learned how to make Turks head mats, and everyone finished their Nav Master exams. What a productive day!
The first group of night divers are out experiencing awesomeness, and the second group will head out shortly after their return. Just another day reminding us of the beautiful home Ocean Star has been for us.
While I’m sad to say this is my last blog for the program, it has been so much fun sharing with you just a glimpse of what an incredible experience we have had on this boat. I could not be more thankful for this trip, the crew aboard, and beyond words for the staff – and of course, to all my blog readers.
🙂
The Mountain
Photo 1: Alexis looking into the chart house hatch
Photo 2: Steph doing Steph things
Photo 3: Lucy and Fred
Photo 4: The Mountain attempting to be a Nav Master – yes, that is premium positioning
Photo 5: Quinn + Alexis getting ready for their night dive
Photo 6: Hedrek
Photo 7: The mega yacht neighbor
Picture 8: Hedrek’s cabin full of charts from NavMaster