Location: Gustavia, St. Barths
Ahh, a full night’s sleep is quite refreshing. Yesterday was fun, but today was relieving. Downtime came perfectly. We’ll be in St Barths for a couple of days, but no one minds. The harbors are not the same as an uninhabited island, but it is a nice area. There are lots of shops, restaurants, beaches, and fun, legal hitchhiking to do. All of us are taking full advantage of the shore showers, while at sea, we often forget how much we love fresh water. We did a little exploring today, testing out this new French land. So far, so good. Today wasn’t all play, though. We still had some docking practice tied in with a little anchoring as well. If I do say so myself, we did some awfully nice maneuvering, especially since some of the staff had the day off (we miss you, Eric, and Casey!), but that’s ok; we’re only students, but we do the job well done. After deliciousness (chocolate pancakes) prepared bright and early by wonderful chef Katy P., we learned the ins and outs of GPS and mariners’ weather in MTE class. Most of the day, though, was spent onshore exploring and studying for the marine biology exam.
Some ventured to Shell Beach (go ahead and guess- it’s a beach made up completely of shells), which sounds like a good time. I’m definitely checking that out tomorrow, as well as the other numerous paradise beaches nearby. Some of us heard something about airplanes and hiked to the airport to check out this phenomenon ourselves. Crazy French have to land their planes the daredevil way. They lower down to within meters of a road atop a hill, then dive down into a steep valley, landing before running off into the ocean. It’s quite spectacular, a couple of us found great amusement in it. I think we’ve just been on land for too long already, though; airplane landing should not be such an enjoyment. Thank you once again, chefs, for a scrumptious meal. After dinner, we completed our 3rd OCB exam, and now it’s time for more sleep to prepare for some real exploring and hitchhiking tomorrow. According to Harvey, overall, it was a mighty fine day.