Location: Bequia
Hi all,
Today was an amazing day for us to finish up our VHF certifications with our VHF exam. I’m sure many are excited that our acronym for remembering MAYDAY calls, MIPDANIO (in an Italian accent), won’t be said every five minutes. After our exam, we had a Marine Bio lecture in which we learned about worms, bryozoans, and mollusks. After that, everyone had some free time as people who were diving a fish ID dive in the afternoon set up their dive gear. Diving has been going great as we are slowly making our way through the advanced certification course, one beautiful dive at a time. Anthony came back from his night dive last night in perhaps the best mood I’ve ever seen, which is saying something while exclaiming, “that was the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life.” It just goes to show how a little time underwater can have a big impact on people. Head chef Sonnet and sous chefs Colm and Shona worked tirelessly today to make us a delicious veggie stirfry for lunch and the best pasta we have had on board yet for dinner (three people said it was their appreciation for the day, a record). Many people took free time this afternoon to work on their Literature Review papers for Oceanography, whose due date is fast approaching, in the saloon and have a few laughs and get some great work done. Study/work breaks in the Caribbean are truly refreshing and a great way to stay focused on our responsibilities. The question tonight was, “if you owned a boat, what would you name it?” Some great answers included Sonnet’s of “Lil’ Toot,” Adelaide’s of “Yachta Yachta Yachta,” and Jordan’s of “Wayward Son,” Another amazing day onboard Vela in what has become one of my favorite routines of my life.
To a great adventure ahead and the memories, we’ve already made!
Best,
Charlie the Skipper
Photos:
1: Katie, Katelyn, Meghan, Valentina, Andrea, and Greg watching the sunset as they wait for dinner
2: Will doing a great job as Gopher bringing the pasta up
3: Head Chef Sonnet showing off her great meal
4: Sonnet, Maddie, Meghan, Andrea, and Smash having a laugh while they work on their papers
5: The morning sky at approx. 5:45 am on my morning watch
6: Photo by Smash from the top of the mast
7: Dive team getting ready to dive in
8: Photo by Smash of our friends from Ocean Star as they continue on the next leg of their journey