Location: Saba
We’re already here on day 30. I cannot believe it. Each and every day of this trip has been so full of fun activities, chaos, laughter, lifelong friendships, learning, and going through ups and downs with the people you’ve been living with, who are always within 2 ft of you. Every night at dinner, we do squeeze, which I’m sure y’all know by now. We sit in a circle, hold hands after we have all finished our meal, and answer the skipper’s question of the day and their favorite memory from today. Before I get into everyone’s answers, let me tell you how our day went. I woke up around 6:30 to get myself ready for the day and make coffee, which Zoe and I made a trade ( Gabe’s skipper question from last night was “what’s something you want that someone else has on this boat”) that I could use her AeroPress, and I gave her 5 of my Red Bull, an entire bag of pretzels, and an orange. Pretty fair trade to me cause I have been dying to make coffee on this boat. If any of Gabe’s bosses are reading this, please put an AeroPress on the packing list. Anyway, I woke everyone up this morning to Back in black by AC/DC. Some people were already awake, but I don’t care; I blasted it in the salon.
Everyone was insistently in a good mood because who wouldn’t be. Chloe woke up dancing in her bed with her bright pink silk PJ set on. I’m not kidding. We ate breakfast, which consisted of bagels and yogurt and BBF (big breakfast fruit), which was watermelon. SO YUM. Then we did passage prep, which was super quick; it always feels fast since we have 18 of us living on this boat. 36 hands aboard is so helpful around here. Going to be so completely real with everyone, this experience has been SO incredibly fun and amazing and everything I expected, but hard. Simply hard: you’re doing things tired, hurt, upset, seasick; it doesn’t matter.
Also, so worth it though. I have been island hopping around the Caribbean, learned to scuba dive (got over my fear of taking my mask off underwater and putting it back on with a reg in my mouth), learned navigation and charting, and learned about the ocean and the life in these waters. I honestly don’t even know what words to use to describe this trip. It’s been the best thing I have ever done in my life. Everyone here is for themselves. Everyone got on this boat not knowing each other or where they came from, and it’s been so beautiful to watch AND be a part of. I love this boat and this life. Waking up, brushing my teeth on deck to a sunrise that always blows my mind, and sometimes you might just see a sea turtle’s head pop up. I can’t get over how we already only have 10 days left. This boat has been our home for a month now. Yes, things break, and stuff happens, but that is boat life, and I love it.
There’s always something to do and be done, which I learned very quickly into this trip. At one point today, underway, Chloe, Erik, Emma, and I were sitting in the salon coming up with songs for our job wheel. We came up with 3. Bosun, gopher, and deckies. It’s an inside joke, so I’m not even going to write the lyrics out. We did boat to bed, where we put sail covers on and just cleaned up around the deck, and a mini BA (boat appreciation). We did our last sheet change. After we all showered and put our PJs on, we had dinner, which was okonomiyaki
(It’s a favorite on this boat) Our last night having it made by Zoe and Gabe. A lot of lasts in these next ten days, but at the same time a lot still to learn and do. Once we finished our favorite meal, we did squeeze.
You can skip this part if you don’t care.
Here’s everyone’s favorite memory from today….
Eilidh- getting a 500-day streak on Duolingo (learning Irish)
Ainsley- going to shore in Saba to check into customs and couldn’t because everything was closed because Dutch go home when they feel like it, but she got a bag of chips
Cheese (Francesca)- being knighted lady cheese of the south saba seas when she was scrubbing the deck
Erik- going to give Lee a note and slammed his head into our focsle (where we sleep)
Noah- borrowing headphones and being able to listen to music in both ears (he lost his one AirPod in Antigua off the boat)
Lee – reading the note she got from Noah and Erik
Zoe- the sail from Statia to Saba
Perry- the sail from Statia to Saba
Hayden- the sail from Statia to Saba
Alyssa- doing the mooring ball with Perry (tying our boat to it)
Aoife- wash your a** in the shower sauce (what I call Worcestershire sauce).
Mo- helping Liz with her blog
Chloe- Alyssa and her were ocean showering and just admiring Saba in all its beauty.
Eva- finally finishing her essay for Perry’s class
Gabe- tiny Dutch coast guard boat
Emma- lying at the bow during passage and eating puppy chow (that Alyssa and I made last night)
Mack- the sunset in Saba
And myself- the sunset and dinner we have every night in the cockpit; it’s always my favorite memory because my dream is to eat dinner on a boat and watch the sun sink into the horizon every night.
Oh, let’s not forget Gabe’s Nav master class after dinner at 8 o’clock when we all have hit a wall…… sorry Gabe, we love you.
Now it’s 9:30, and Mo is helping me with the blog, and everyone is going to sleep happily ever after. (Jk not going to bed there’s about half of us studying for Perry’s test tmr….)
Love and miss you, Mom, Dad, Cody, Asa, and of course my dogs, Hutch and Rocky. Hope y’all are all having a blast back home, traveling wherever you are. See all of you so soon 💗💗💗💗