Location: Gibraltar
Today was a very bittersweet day. The 50-day students left this morning, and that was an extremely sad moment for everyone. First, let me go before the going away. Breakfast was a solid meal of pastries in an attempt to lift everyone’s spirits. After breakfast, I went down to the saloon to finish writing everyone’s cards. Midway through my writing, it was time to say goodbye to Anda. This was our first departure, and I was really sad to see him go. His cab was a little late, but it gave everyone time to say their goodbyes, so I’m not complaining. After that, Johnathan and I got our laundry, which was great because being able to actually clean laundry was a blessing (not that boat laundry is bad; it just doesn’t hit the same). After that, we went back to a little boat free time, and I kept writing my cards. Just as I finished the last one, it was time for our last lunch with Flo, Runyon, and Charley. We had chicken Caesar wraps and had our last chance to talk to the 3 of them. After lunch, it was time to say goodbye, and we walked them all to the parking lot-cab area. Their cab was on time, so we didn’t have as much time to say our goodbyes, but it was just enough for everyone to have a short goodbye with each of them. There was a nice group hug, and they got into their taxi and drove off. As I’m writing this, Flo just sent a picture of the 3 of them at dinner, saying they were about to do a squeeze. After this we went back to Vela to begin passage prep for our departure tomorrow at 6 am. I was assigning jobs, but we got done with it relatively quickly. During it, Joey dropped two shackles into the water, which was funny for everyone who was in the courthouse. Both times, he came in to tell Tom. After passage prep, we had Oceanography.
Will, Nate, Nora, Lucie, Zoe, Joey, and I went out for some lunch at a place that looked great but was really just subpar. We had fun, though, and had good conversations, and the food meant nothing in comparison to the memories that we made. After lunch, Zoe and Joey went back to the boat to cook, Will and Nate went to the Taco Bell, and Lucie, Nora, and I went to the general store. Nate said that the Taco Bell was overall good, but they didn’t melt the cheese on his quesadilla. I had a good time with Nora and Lucie at the general store, and on our walk back, there were some kids lighting firecrackers. I thought it was funny, and I said I wanted to watch the next one because they were doing one in a bottle. They said OK and proceeded to light the firecracker and throw the bottle. I guess they didn’t fully grasp how glass works, and the bottle shattered on the floor and put out the firecracker, making for a very anticlimactic moment. They did another one so I could see a real one, and after it, a random guy shouted, “HEY,” and I looked around to find no guy, so I had no idea where the guy was. We then ended up at a little park, where I got to practice being a dad by pushing Lucie and Nora on a rope swing seat thing (use your imagination; I know it’s not a great description). We then went back to the boat, and I called my grandma, my mom, and my dad. Then it was dinner time. It was really sad to hear all the missing numbers at countoff, but we had a nice mac and cheese + hamburger helper meal. Overall a good day, but also a sad one. To all the 50-day kids, Runyon, Flo, Charley, and Anda, reading this, I really miss y’all, and this next passage isn’t gonna be the same without you guys. Quick happy birthday shoutout to my Mom. We didnt get to talk for that long, but Happy Birthday, I love you. Thats all I got for today Hugs and kisses to all the families reading this, y’all got some great kids, lemme tell you. Garrett