Location: Dominica
Hello Blog People! Welcome back to another episode of What in The World Did The Vela People Do Today?!
Well you see thats a wonderful question. Lets DIVE in (HA!… see what I did there). ANYWHO today started 30 minutes before our normal 7 am wakeup time in order to get everyone up and ready by the designated 8 am dive boat pickup time. Maya W was our head chef today, and she DELIVERED with a delicious breakfast of bread pudding. You see, Id never had bread pudding before, but for those who are also unsure, its basically cut-up French toast all cooked in one tray. It was awesome. Anyways, back to the day. Everybody fulfilled their cleanup jobs, and then it was dinghy rides over to the dive shop!
I personally was not on the dive, but let me tell you, the excitement these guys had when they got back to the boat was freaking epic. I heard trumpet fish, sea turtles big AND small, the biggest pufferfish Ive ever seen!!! Morgan G, smooth trunkfish, SICK CORAL!!! Brooke. From the sounds of it, I think they all had an amazing time.
While they were gone, I got lunch all prepared for everyone, which was Mayas recipe for loaded potatoes. They turned out pretty great if I say so myself. Everyone devoured them, and for the first time since probably day 2, we ate a meal in basically silence (Ive heard thats a massive compliment to the chef??) Anyone, Ill take it.
The afternoon was spent doing Seamanship with Claire and Sam and then leadership with me! Everyone is still getting a bit used to class in the saloon in the Caribbean, but overall, I think everyone had a good time and was able to start learning a bit more about what this next semester is going to look like for them.
After class, Maya L, Paloma, Morgan G, Maya ., and I went on a little snack run. GIRLS TRIPPP! Haha! The girls loaded up on snacks for all their friends for our passage to Bonaire. I jokingly said that they should set up a grocery store in the saloon when they got back and sell their snacks to their friends. Safe to say, everyone was shocked when Cheetos, Twizzlers, potato chips, and sour candies were back on board.
And finally, tonight, we had our very first sign-out night of the semester! We headed over to the local dive shop that we dove with earlier today and all sat down at a big, long table for a yummy dinner. I think the talk of the table was Jay and Brooks lobster deluxe meals. I think everyone was having a bit of regret after seeing their plates.
That was our day today. Tomorrow (Feb 18), we leave for our passage to Bonaire, so we look forward to the next couple of days of underway blogs! Dont worry, theyll still be uploading everyday (shout out Starlink).
Mom, Dad, Will, Mocha !!!, and all my family are traveling through the Galapagos together right now. I LOVE YOU, and thanks for all the recommendations on what we should do when we arrive there in a few weeks. I love and miss you all so much.
Thats all for now! Xoxo,
Emma