Location: Road Town, Tortola
The shipmates were startled awake at 6:30 am by the sounds of the fire alarm. They quickly reported on deck with life vests on hand, successfully passing the fire drill in less than 2 minutes. Groggy sleepiness quickly faded as anticipation filled the air with the shipmates’ excitement over some well-deserved shore time in Road Town, the bustling capital city of Tortola. Shipmates spent their time shopping, eating lunch out (real hamburgers and fries!), laundry time, picking up sundries, and, of course, satisfying their sweet tooth with some gelato. Meanwhile, staff spent time provisioning, fueling, and getting Ocean Star ready in preparation for our first long passage to Nevis. Shipmates had a passage prep meeting last night that helped the first-time sailors understand what life would be like for the next 24 hours underway, learning everything from how to use their new PFDs to being assigned watch teams. They even had the pleasure of sampling the lifeboat rations, which were described as stale Girl Scout cookies (consensus: not too bad, though we hope to never have to use the emergency food storage!).
After much preparation, Ocean Star left port around 17:00 and headed to the deep blue sea for the next 24 hours. The night air was brisk, the waves were calm, the stars were shining, and the moon was bright. We couldn’t ask for better conditions! Be sure to read tomorrow’s blog to see what adventures we found on the high seas!