Location: Oranje Baai, Statia
Everyone started the day with a little extra energy thanks to our 8 am wakeup and an extra hour of sleep. We got our laundry back (at long last) and then had an appropriately-French assortment of pastries for our final breakfast in St. Barths. After which, we moved right into passage preparations for our move to Statia. The passage was downwind with a good breeze, rolling waves, and minimal seasickness, Underway, the rescue divers reviewed their textbook homework, and all enjoyed a lunch of veggie stir fry. Flying the jib for the first time on the trip, we passed a variety of large ships as we made our way into a bay at the end of the roughly four-hour voyage. Once we had anchored, it was Tom’s turn to teach as we learned how to calculate Dead Reckoning, Expected Position, and Course-to-Steer. We could tell that we were exceptional students when Tom’s answer to the question, ‘What is something that is under-appreciated in the world?’ during squeeze was ‘Teachers…’
After class, we studied (crammed) for Alex’s Oceanography midterm that was to come at night. Dinner was an excellent Mexican chicken bake courtesy of Sage and her sous chefs, accompanied by a beautiful, orange sunset. The conversation was lively during dinner, and although the many amenities offered by dock life will be missed, taking our ocean showers and being away from the noise of the island are both certainly appreciated.