Location: Terre de Haut, Les Saintes
Last night after dinner, we started our first overnight passage from Antigua to Le Saintes, which everybody was really excited about, as it was our first duty on our Watch Teams. After we raised all the sails, Watch Team 1 with Smash and Dylan took over from 8 PM to 12 PM. Everybody else was trying to get some rest before their watch, but as the waves were so high (4ft), multiple people got seasick, and nearly nobody was able to sleep. Doors, people, PFDs, and foul weather gear were flying around in the salon and cabins all night long. (EDITORS NOTE: this was the student’s first attempt at sleeping underway, they will eventually not be able to tell when the boat is moving vs. not and will laugh at this slightly rolly night) After Watch Team 2 was up on deck from 12 PM to 4 AM, I was woken up to start my watch with Watch Team 3 from 4 AM to 8 AM. The first few hours were pretty calm, and we took down one sail, but around 7 AM, the waves and the wind suddenly increased, and it started to rain, which nobody was really excited about. After my watch was over, I was able to take a nap before waking everybody up at 9 AM for breakfast, which we had after anchoring in Les Saintes. After breakfast and cleanup, the uncertified OWD groups of Matt and Steph got ready to go on their first “real” dive after the bad luck we had in Antigua. Smash’s group, as well as the certified divers, stayed on Vela and either worked on their Species IDs for Marine Biology or took a desperately needed, long nap after last night’s passage. After Matt’s and Steph’s group came back from their dive, we had lunch, and then Smash”s group got ready to go diving, and the “qualified people” (Carla, Ted, Miles, Ben, Charlie, Lake, and me), as Ted likes to call us went snorkeling at the shore and saw some great fish and corals. Carla even claims she saw an octopus, which nobody else did, but I guess we believe her… After we returned to the boat, which was around 5 PM, everybody took an Ocean Shower up on deck and did some jumps from the boat. After that, we had dinner of stir fry and chicken satay and did the daily “Squeeze,” which is always followed by clean up. Tonight, everybody is really looking forward to hopping into their bunk, and we are all hoping for a better goodnight sleep in a less rocky Vela.