Location: Underway to Sumbaya
Today brings us full circle from my first skipper day in Fiji, where we had our first ever passage prep for our first ever passage, to this morning, where we prepped for one last time for our final little jaunts to Bali. But before we get to that, our divemaster friends (Lainey and Beck) started the day with a bright and early 6:30 discover scuba dive where Anna pretended to be a completely new diver. It apparently involved Anna doing tandem flips with Beck and even completely knocking his regulator out of his mouth before looking at Lainey and simply giving a shrug. Once they were back aboard, we had breakfast and got right into passage prep. Today was not only our last passage prep, but it was also the day the staff said goodbye and left us with our student leadership team. This team consists of skipper Sidney, chief mate Beck, engineer Iain, and navigator Lexy, who was elected by the student crew last night. Student watch team leaders were also elected by their respective watch teams, with watch team 1 led by Olivia (me), watch team two led by Anabelle, and watch team 3 led by Lainey (before your parents get too concerned the staff are still here they are just going as hands-off as possible and only jumping in when there is a serious concern). With our student leadership team in place, Lexy got to plotting our course while Iain got comfy in the engine room, Sidney chatted with Tomer about everything he does in a day (which is a lot), and Beck ran the deck for our final passage prep. Compared to our first passage prep, where the staff walked us through everything, and it took most of the day, we managed to knock this out in record time so we could begin picking up anchor just after 10:00. Dinghies were being hoisted on deck, dive gear was stowed, and Lainey and I teamed up for one final time to put the halyards on (truly full circle from the first prep). As passage prep finished, we picked up anchor (involving Kiley, Addy, Spencer, and I, led by Beck and carefully watched by Gabe) while Sidney so masterfully helmed (closely observed by Tomer) as Iain observed the anchor with his symbol of engineering (papa wrench) attracted to his pfd.
Post anchor pickup, Spencer and Addy slaved away in the anchor locker in order to get the massive catch line that we used to tie to a tree many days ago back into the deep, dark depths of the anchor locker. As they finished their jiggery-pokery on that, Lexy and Beck headed the raising of the main staysail. This was then quickly followed by Sidney leading the raising of the foreword staysail. It is quite crazy to think that many of us had little to no sailing experience before this, and now, 73 days into the trip, we are able to safely raise and lower sails without the aid of the staff. While sails were going up, Anabelle and Elanore (who so graciously volunteered to sous chef while Gabe and Sidney were busy) cheffed up a delicious lunch of Pic Pac, which consisted of spaghetti with a delicious tomato sauce, chicken, and veggies. During lunch, Steph broke the news that we would no longer be able to do a waterfall hike and hopefully see whale sharks due to the distance between the two, so we took it to a vote and, by majority, decided to keep going past the hike tomorrow in hopes of seeing whale sharks the following morning. This has sent Lexy back to the plotter (which she had been working on the entire time I have been writing this blog) in order to alter our destination from the hike to the anchorage near the large sea creatures we hope to see. Post cleanup, the 80-dayers sat down to Marine Bio with Anna, where we played a wonderful Jeopardy review for our final exam that we take tomorrow. This was then followed by a Navmaster class with Gabe, where we put in the final preparations for our Navmaster exam that we took on day 76. After a couple of notes from Gabe, some people sat down to take the timed practice test while some of the rest of us (who had already done the practice test or preferred to study in other ways) went up to watch or work on their final fish for Annas fish ID logbook that is due tonight (as classes are nearing their end we have a test or a project due every day until day 76).
Throughout Marine Bio and Navmaster, Annabelle continued to work in the galley, producing a scrumdiddlyumptious dinner of mac & cheese, turkey dogs, and chili. Her dinner was followed up by a squeeze, where, in addition to their appreciation, I asked the group to share one low moment theyd had, followed by a high moment where it felt like they were at exactly the pace they should be. This brought a variety of answers, including many moments on the 21-day passage where we were either sweating out all of the water in our bodies, getting drenched from above and many a sea-sick night. The PSCT candidates stress out over their exams only to feel accomplished when they pass the next morning. Sidney had a rough night on a passage that involved her throwing up multiple times In the head while attempting to shower and feeling weightless and free while drift diving or seeing countless fish swimming in the abyss in Palau and cleaning the spills from molasses in the galley, or the inch of hand soap free floating in the bin under the bunk that made me question my entire existence, bean gate, tomato gate, Addy and Will spending hours in the Las searching for a mislabeled tarp, Helming through the most gorgeous sunrises and sunsets and so much more.
To any prospective students who are reading this and thinking those sound like some rough moments, those feelings only last for a short blip. Before you know it, you are laughing and smiling about all of type 2 fun and cracking endless jokes that never seem to get old. All of the hard moments will be overshadowed by the days that leave people with grins from ear to ear and appreciation of the entire day because there were just too many good things to pick from. From scuba diving to sailing and hikes, this crazy experience will leave you with so many jaw-dropping moments that many of us do not have words to describe. Ocean showers with friends will become your preferred way of getting clean, a PFD will become a permanent accessory, and the sounds and rocking of the waves will become a peaceful lullaby. The bonds between people on this boat have grown from strangers in the airport shyly asking if we were going to the same place to a tight-knit family that jokes all day long and relies on each other in more ways than one. If there are any whispers in your mind that are telling you to sign up for a trip, my advice is to do it. This summer has been one of the craziest and most fun experiences of my entire life, and I think many on this boat would agree that this voyage has its ups and downs, but the highs are memories that will last a lifetime and couldnt be traded for the world.