Location: English Harbour, Antigua
The crew woke early to another windy day in Guadeloupe. Everyone gathered on deck to ready Ocean Star for the passage to Antigua, pulling sail covers off and running the jib sheets, among other tasks. Before heading out, however, Marina taught an OCE lecture, tying marine biology into the Oceanography course. As the students have learned over the course of this semester, the different fields of science, especially in the marine realm, are highly interconnected. As the crew put on their PFDs and assembled on deck to pull anchor and head to Antigua, we were delighted to see a pod of dolphins playing in Deshaies Bay close to the bow. They stayed with us until we had secured the anchor and put up sails to head north. We also received a farewell from Pierre Lavagne and his colleagues, who drove by alerting us of a whale that had been, sighted a couple of miles south of where we were; all this to say, we were definitely all keeping our eyes peeled for some oversized visitors. The passage from Guadeloupe to Antigua was met with enthusiasm as we all looked forward to a nice long sail. Spirits were not dampened with the bit of rain we received nor the swell, especially since everyone has been gaining their sea legs over the past couple of months. Upon arrival in Antigua, the students showed how much they had learned with the very smooth and organized movement of putting Ocean Star stern-to on the dock. Sail covers were once again put into place, and the day wound down with a delicious and filling ratatouille and garlic bread for dinner. To finish off the night, the PADI rescue divers-in-training will learn how to properly provide emergency oxygen, getting them one step closer to their certification.