Location: somewhere near the equator
Day 4 of passage to Devil’s Island! I had watch from 8-12 this morning with my new watch team. I am now watch team 1 with Talia, Benny, Eli, Silver, and Kackie as our watch team leader. We met at midships, where Talia gave us the briefing for the day. For the first time in a while, the sun wasn’t burning hot, and we weren’t dripping with sweat. The morning was a bit cloudy with some light rain, which was a nice change. Silver helmed first and ended up just continuing to helm for most of watch. The wind was rather unpredictable, so from 8-12, we definitely got in our practice letting out the main staysail and center lining the main staysail. Every time there was an increase in wind we rushed up to let out the sail to make the most of the wind. Then, ten minutes later, when the wind would die out again, we would rush back to the re-center line. It was fun and gave us some time to practice working together as a new watch group. Sun came out as the next watch group came to relieve us, and once again, the sun was hot. In the kitchen today, we had Zac, Benny, and Shane making some chicken Caesar salad wraps for lunch. The chefs did a good job, and the food was great. After lunch and cleanup we mustered in the salon for Seamanship class as well as oceanography. In oceanography class, we had our lit review presentations where we taught the class about the topic we selected to write an essay about. Everyone who presented today did an excellent job and explained their topics well. Kara researched oil spills, Eli did the whaling industry, and Talia shared about coral bleaching. After a few more presentations we finished up class with a quiz. Shortly after class, it was time to watch again. The 6-8 pm watch is normally pretty relaxed and goes by quickly. We headed up to the cockpit for the watch and got the handoff from watch team three. It was a bit cloudy at the handoff, and Talia took the helm first. About five minutes later, we get some light rain, and the clouds behind us appear a bit dark. Eli takes the helm next, and the rain picks up a bit. It wasn’t long before it was fully raining, and the wind picked up. It was fun just singing and dancing in the rain with a warm breeze and the view of the blue sky in the distance. I remember Kackie looking behind us at the dark clouds and saying, “Oh my god, imagine if we were going the other way into that fog.” It wasn’t even 6:30 yet when we found ourselves standing in heavy, nonstop rain, around 24 knots of howling wind, and little to no visibility in every direction. Bennet Gardner was inside in the Galley. Talia, Silver, and I were on sail handling as the squall only got more intense. Dripping wet in our t-shirts and shorts, we looked like we had just jumped into the ocean. It only got colder as the clouds darkened, and the rain continued to come down hard. Eli stayed at the helm up until the last thirty minutes. Watch group 1 huddled together to try and keep warm (minus Bennet, who was still in the galley). We went around in a circle, each saying what we think about when we think of our happy place. All of us mainly talked about warm things to distract from the feeling of our hands freezing. This was the longest the 6-8 watch had ever feltdefinitely a bonding experience. When we were finally relieved, we rushed into the chart-house to dry off and warm up, which was such a great feeling. Lastly, we had dinner and were done for the day.