Location: The ocean I believe
Sometimes, a cup of joe (coffee) is all you need. Whether a Starbucks coffee, your local coffee shop, or the good Ol Kroger’s instant coffee. The amazing benefit of a little bit of energy and a boost does wonders. At any single hour, there is someone drinking coffee on Vela. Shoutout to Andy for the 3 am coffee on the 12-4 watch. That was absurd, but these last 43 days on Vela have taught me to love coffee out of all things. (Skip to the fourth paragraph If you don’t want to hear about my newfound love of coffee) My family is probably wondering why I’m writing about coffee because, before this trip, I had never made my own coffee before, never bought a coffee, and only tasted coffee a couple of times. Now, it started off slow. I had a kind soul, I don’t remember who, showed how to make a cup and naturally started having one every couple of days in the beginning. When the passage started, it started to become one every day. And then I started to think… “What harm can a second cup of joe do?” “What harm can a third cup of joe do?” “What about a fourth?” I’m just joking. I haven’t had more than 3 in a day, but the point stands. My coffee started to become a highlight of the day every day and still is. However, I did not know how to make coffee that well for some parts of the trip. At the start, I was using one filter with some large holes in it. And that would cause a lot of grounds to sneak into my coffee. (They were floating on the surface). One day, I was next to Nate, and he noticed the number of grounds floating in my coffee. He justly made fun of it and showed a better filter to use. I found out that you’re not supposed to drink coffee with a bunch of grounds in it. Who would’ve guessed?
Anyway, some of my favorite memories so far this trip have been from just having some chats while drinking a little bit of coffee, and I believe it’s a habit I’m going to keep after this trip. Im going to start this day’s recap at the start of my watch teams 8-12 watch last night. So my watch team is made up of me, Nate, Nora, Mac and Andy, however, we like to have a very frequent guest to our watch, Runyon. Who really likes to eat snacks, specifically fruit loops, but also Pringles? Now, if you had read his blog a couple of days ago, you would have understood this. One night, he was eating Pringles and claimed not to have finished them. Well, well, well
As skeptical about this as we were, we sent Nate down to investigate and found one pringle remaining in the can (WHAT A CRIME!!!!!). As a result, we conducted a lengthy trial. With much screaming and yelling, lawyers getting involved, and a 2-hour long session, a verdict was reached. Earl Runyon Tyler IV was found guilty! And forced to apologize for his wrongdoing. After the trial, the rest of the watch was spent in deep conversations that were refreshing to have. Today started with my watch team being woken up for our morning 8-12 am watch, which was enjoyed with a coffee, of course.
Nate, Andy, Mac, and I all had coffee together and a little cheer. Nora also set up a mini salon where several people were able to get their toenails painted pink. We had good chats and laughs, and it concluded the double 8-12 watches with a good time. After lunch, we had Crew class, and then we had our last class of leadership since the 50-dayers leave in a. week. I had my presentation with Joey on strategies to change. Our activity was a lot of fun. We set up five leaders with different ideas to form groups with everyone in the class, but only three groups could be formed. Once the leaders were able to gain a following, they made a poster, logo, and slogan for the group. The leaders who were able to create a group and help push their idea for change were a shelter dog awareness group, plastic recovery from the ocean, and safe fishing practices. We also had Johnathan and Garrett present their chapter which was on thriving together and focused on being positive. They created a scavenger hunt for an index card for everyone that had a heartfelt message written on it. At the end of class, Emma told us her story about how she ended up working on the boat, which was super interesting. She introduced cards that everybody would create for everybody else on the boat to remember the people and experiences we had on the boat. I’m still having unbelievable amounts of fun, and the only thing I’m concerned about is just how fast time is starting to pass by. It felt like just a couple of days ago, it was day 16, and now it’s day 43. It’s crazy to me. I love you and your family, and I can’t wait to tell you all the stories when I get back.