Location: Fernando de Noronha, Brazil
After yesterday’s long day filled with good food, beautiful beaches, and the wonderful locals of the island, it was no surprise when wake-ups were a little more difficult than usual this morning. With sleepy eyes, we meandered up the companionway to sit and watch the sunrise over the fantastical rock formations and picturesque greenery. It was a much more mundane one this morning compared to the sunrise yesterday, which filled the sky with a misty tangerine haze, but it was beautiful nonetheless. After one last look out at the landscape, we began to file downstairs to get ready for breakfast (courtesy of Katrina) of french toast and some sort of melon that tasted just like honeydew.
Once cleanup had been finished, all of us prepared our things to head to shore and partake in our respective adventures of the day. Those that are already scuba certified did a quick shore trek before diving off the coast with rays, reef sharks, and other wildlife. Some of us frantically ran to catch the bus into town once we were on land, and others still stayed on the boat to catch up on work and have a relaxing day with Argo empty of most students. After successfully boarding the bus, we impatiently awaited the most important destination of the day: the grocery store. As you may or may not have inferred, we are one hungry bunch, and snacks are often the topic of conversation on watch, after watch, before class, during showers- you name it, we’re probably talking about food. Walking through the open doors into a stuffy, hot store has never felt so good. We loaded up our baskets with our personal favorite boat snacks (mine is chips and juice boxes), gathered some key items for those who couldn’t make it all the way into town, and headed back to the bus bound for the town square.
In all the chaos of the past few days, many of us, unfortunately, had “forgotten” to work on our literature review essays that just so happened to be due at midnight tonight (don’t worry mom, I got it done…I won’t tell you what time though). We headed out to look for a cafe with wifi, coffee, and/or ice cream, but no such luck came our way. We did, however, find some neat little shops and some shade to finish up work before lunch. Lunch came, then ice cream, and with full bellies and happy hearts, it was time to take the bus back to the port. We reunited with everybody who had gone their separate ways at the beach and heard all about everybody’s stories from the day while frolicking in the warm emerald waters.
Ocean showers were in order yet again for us once back on Argo, and we joined with the few students who had a boat day to exchange tales yet again. Then we quickly began passage prep and worked until sunset on making sure Argo was safe and ready for French Guiana. Dinner after dark was in order afterward, and everybody had their fill of chicken tacos and running from the rain. Luckily, the soft sprinkle led to no downpour, so we headed back up to the cockpit to celebrate William’s 18th birthday with cookie cake, and rounded out the day with squeeze beneath the lights of the mast and a few faint stars.