Location: Drawaqa
Day nine – waking up people was harder than normal. Today was the day when everyone was sleepy, and no one wanted to get up. Eventually, with the help of Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood,” I got everyone to rise from their slumber. For breakfast, we ate chia seed pudding with fruit and honey, which was surprisingly very filling. After the hearty breakfast, we cleaned up and got ready for passage. We worked as a team, packing away all the sail covers and dive gear and putting the dinghies on deck. We embarked onward to our next destination, which was Drawaqa.
While on passage, we took our oceanography class with Heather. We went over plate tectonics and what that means for our earth and its different layers. We also ate a delicious lunch of pasta salad with chicken. After our meal, we did a deep clean of the ship. We had a chart of a bunch of different chores, and we all worked together to get things done while listening to 80s music. Afterward, we were able to jump into the ocean to clean off. Then we were able to relax and sunbathe before the long-awaited MANTA KING! He arrived majestically on his little boat and climbed aboard; everyone was so excited. We all gathered in the cockpit, and we heard the Manta King tell us about the manta rays in the region for a solid 30 minutes. Then he whipped out his laptop and showed us the videos of past mantas that had swam through the area.
At that time, the sun started to set, and the Manta King’s boat driver disappeared with the boat. So Tom – our captain – drove the Manta King back to where he came from with one of our dinghies. Then we saw one of the top sunsets so far, and we got really cool photos of it. Then for dinner, we had delicious enchiladas, and we all had a great time talking about past memories from the trip. Then we got fresh-baked cookies warm out of the oven to end the evening. Now we’re writing this blog to close out the day before the party starts (and before we make fresh bread). Shoutout to staff member Heather’s grandmother Ducky, Griffen and Billy and Amelia and Elizabeth, and Isabella from Sydney, and Bailey and Jack from Jack, and shoutout to all the moms <3. Have a good night y’all