Location: Nevis
Another action-packed day on Ostar! This morning, the crew got to sleep in an hour after a late night, getting back on board past 2300 last night, but for good reason BABY TURTLES! We got to visit one of the turtle nesting beaches in Nevis and help collect data on the success rate of hatchlings from a nest of hawksbill sea turtles. Our data collection included excavating a nest that had hatched the previous day, finding four baby turtles, and seeing them make their way out to sea after many attempts getting picked up and pushed back by the waves. (most of their sibling had made it out of the nest earlier). We also got to see a massive female digging a nest.
Back to today, while the student crew was getting a bit of extra sleep, I popped into town to get provisions before we left for our longest passage of the trip! On board, the morning consisted of biology with Meghan (we <3 science here) and then passage prep while head chef Max was in the galley making some loaded nachos for lunch with the help of sous chef Claire and friends. After lunch, leadership with Drew was a big hit while everyone learned a bit more about their own leadership style by taking the “color test” (go, red team!).
Last but not least, after we slipped off of our mooring ball in Nevis, we got the sails up, and with clear blue skies all around, a small shower cooled us off and made a massive rainbow over the green jungle-covered-volcano that is Nevis. What a lovely goodbye. With all the sails up, we had a drill to practice our response to a man overboard emergency and successfully recovered the float we threw in as our “casualty.”
Currently, the seas are calm, and the sky is clear. Spirits are high, and the sun has set for our first night of passage. As we get further from land and the signal is lost, we all have the privilege of being forced to live in the moment and lean on each other as a crew. Spending several days at sea is no small accomplishment, and it’s been wonderful to see everyone’s eagerness to learn the lines and take the helm any chance they get.
Sending love to everyone back home, especially Grandma Duckie and the now Mason ZANI. <3 ..Congratulations!