Location: Underway tro Tenerife
Hi there, blog readers! Welcome back to the daily Vela blog. We’re happy you’re here with us . Today was one of those days that I think we all will look back on and think, “Wow how lucky are we?” I definitely caught myself many times today taking a moment to appreciate everything that was going on around me because it truly was an incredibly beautiful day.
For me and my watch team (Mac, Chloe, Audrey, Watson, Theo, Ruby, James, Liam, and Eliza), our day started at 3:30 am for our 400-800 watch. We came up on deck to a completely flat ocean some might call it The Great Lake Atlantic. We chatted the morning away, telling each other stories, listening to a bit of music, and talking about our day ahead. Today is THEO’S BIRTHDAY!!! We made sure we sang to him at least 5 times today. We were treated to the most beautiful sunrise to finish up our watch this morning.
Today, Watson was the head chef with his sous chefs, Grace C and Theo (BDAY BOIIII). Following our watch, most of us went back to bed for a couple more hours of z’s, but not Watson. He was straight into that galley preparing quesadillas and bean salad for lunch. With the help of Grace C (and a sweet, perfect gift for Theo of some extra sleep), they cooked up a super yummy lunch for us all to enjoy.
After lunch, if today were just a regular passage day, we would have gone straight into class, BUT today wasn’t like just any other day remember how I said the ocean was flat as a lake? You know what that means. OCEAN SWIM!!!!!! After cleaning up from lunch, everyone ran down below and switched out their PFDs for bathing suits, and the fun began! Speakers blasting music, flip off the bow spirit, lemon drops, dives, ocean showers, some pushup workout by Jesse, Luke, Theo, and Boston basically, we had a mega pool party in the middle of the ocean with 2000m of deep blue under us.
After our ocean swim, it was time for classes. First up was Marine Bio with Ben. Today, the students had a fish ID quiz. Basically, they’re given about 20 different fish species to be able to identify, and then, after a few days of studying, it’s time to see how well they know their fish with a fish ID quiz. They also did a lecture after the quiz! After Marine Bio, it was time for Oceanography with Michelle. Many people did their lit review presentations, including Amy, Max, Lillian, James, Grace N, and Dan.
While some of these presentations were happening, Watson, Grace C, and Theo were back in the galley preparing dinner. There was a big hype around this dinner since Grace and Watson have been hyping up their “southern style biscuits and sausage” meal for weeks now. After many hours of slaving away in the galley working hard, or as Grace said, “with my elbows deep in biscuits,” a delicious dinner was served.
While dinner was being cooked, Mac, the rest of my watch team, and I were on the 1400-1800 watch. The ocean still flat as a pancake was delivering us all kinds of cool sightings, including loggerhead turtles floating by, what was “probably” a pilot whale, and some dolphins!
At 1800, dinner was served! BUT WAIT! A pod of Bottlenose Whales was spotted just about 100m off our starboard side! It was epic! We all watched them in awe for a few minutes before they dove down into the deep blue. The sun set ahead of us as we all devoured our plates, leaving no scrapes behind. Just as we gathered everyone for squeeze, a pod of dolphins decided to go nuts off our port side. Leaping over 2 meters in the air, putting on a show for all of us.
The squeeze question tonight was, “If you could only follow three people on social media, who would they be?” Answers included celebrities and major pop icons such as Taylor Swift, Elon Musk, and Rylee Arnold, but the most common amongst us staff was DJ Tony G (what’s up, Tony).
And that’s all for tonight! My watch team is up next from 1200 to 4000, so it’s time for me to get a little bit of sleep before then.
Mom, Dad, Will, BET! I love you all sooooo much, and I can’t wait to see you all for Christmas!
To everyone else reading, we love you!
– EG