Location: Ze Pacific Ocean
WOOOOOOOHOOOO, a simple electric day was had by all. Today was our first full day of new watch teams! Our nights were full of sneaky peanut butter cookies, courtesy of Babs, and funny little chats with our other watch team pals who we hadn’t seen in what feels like ages. I started my day with an 8 AM-12 PM watch with watch team 3 (Kee, Peanut, Elexia, Romeo, Sierra, Kara, and Moi), which had absolute vibes (pranks incoming). The ocean was calm, glassy perfection. After a few hot days and some touch-and-go rain, it was so lovely to have a cool breezy day with a shiny ocean and a perfect, artfully cloudy sky. Eagle-eye Smash spotted a few pods of spinner dolphins which sent everyone scurrying up on deck. What ensued was Smash’s Tiny Dancer/dolphin cover, a vocal masterpiece that was an instant chart-topper aboard Vela. Morale was high.
Once lunch hit (a spectacular chicken wrap courtesy of Smash), we were given the best news of. all. time. After ten days of passage, ten days of rocking boat, ten days of indoor showers, and ten days of looking longingly at the surrounding ocean while wiping a bead of sweat with the back of a hand… we got to OCEAN SWIM!!! Oh, the anticipation. First, we had to take an oceanography midterm and then a super cool, super awesome marine biology class about arthropods. As soon as Prof. Peanut released us from class, everyone scrambled to get their bathing suits on and get into the water as fast as humanly possible. Never in my life have I appreciated a swim more. Jumping into the deep blue water and knowing that it was about 2,000 meters deep was mind-boggling! Playtime was much needed. We had some epic backflips off the bow, a few cheeky drowning attempts (jokes), and a healthy dose of otters-in-love back floating. Everyone had ear-to-ear grins and a new appreciation for the little magic things of life. After a deck shower, we were all left feeling cleaner than we have in a little too long! Simply put, a spectacular day.
SPECIAL SHOUTOUT!!! One of Vela’s favorite fans, Grandma Duckie, has a birthday today (on this side of the world, so hopefully she’ll be reading this on time tomorrow in the States) HAPPPPY BIRTHDAY, much love from all <3