Location: Palau
It was a late night last night, so needless to say, we were all exhausted and wake-ups this morning at 7 were tough However, when we heard about Brookes cereal she provisioned yesterday (including Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cookie Crisp), everyone was in the cockpit for breakfast promptly. Having breakfast with everyone together again was a treat in itself.
After breakfast, Garrett, Anda, and Sam did a laundry run while the EFR (Emergency First Response) groups finished our practical skills for our cert. We had some pretty gnarly (made-up) scenarios, including sea crate bites, a 10-person bus accident, and lost children, all of which were responded to perfectly. It was a ton of fun with lots of laughs, but some serious skills were learned. We even learned how to wrap a wound on the head (demonstrated on Celestes head). And do not worry, Jack and Arden are okay; they are just playing dead in the picture.
We finally finished EFR and are fully certified! (with the exception of some hinted surprise scenarios ahead of us). Then we got ready to head to shore! Sam shuttled us into shore the ride in the daylight was beautiful. Once on land, everybody got to go explore. I took a cab into town with Celeste, Noa, and Issac, and our cab driver dropped us off at one of his favorite restaurants for lunch. It was super yummy, and we followed it up with some ice cream, of course. The cold ice cream and ice water were amazinggggggggg. From here, Issac went off to explore some WWII sights while Noa, Celeste, and I walked around the town, popping in and out of shopsthe three of us got matching shirts! Today is the last day of the mini Pacific Games, so there were a bunch of athletes from all over the small Pacific islands around town. Charles was lucky enough to catch some of the 3v3 basketball games.
Celeste and I decided to walk back to the dock, which was a super nice, long walk, especially after averaging around only 800 steps while on passage. The views on the walk were so pretty, I took a picture of Celeste in front of them. We all reunited at the dock to wait for the dinghy at 5:30. We got to hear about everyones adventures for the day like Luna, Jill, Jack, Arden, Issac and Joshs hike and the Georgia girls (Maddy, Ansley, Drew) and Kaylas ice cream and Ty, Josephine, Kat and Ryans million pieces of sashimi and Ians melted Haagen Daaz.
It was a bit of a choppy ride back in the dinghy, but we made it back to the Vela for quick ocean showers before dinner. Garrett made us some delicious boat orange chicken, which was followed by a fun squeeze. With today being the first full day not on passage, I asked everyone what their favorite memory from passage was. It was so fun to hear everyones stories again, like Ian teaching us how to Tut, or Kayla and Ansley making cookies, watch team 3s team huddle after our last watch <3.
With the trip coming to an end, it was a bit bittersweet to hear everyones memories. It is a bit sad to know some of us are leaving in a few days, but I am so appreciative of the time I got to spend with new amazing people and the time I got to spend with my brother, Mac : ) (And my bff Sam too <3)