Location: Underway to Nuka Hiva
Hi everyone,
Today started off with a classic, Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnsona nice and relaxing wake-up for a busy day. The start of a passage is always a little daunting, at least for me, so I thought everyone would appreciate a calm start to the day. Jake made pancakes (sheet cake), which were very delicious, and we had frozen fruit as a side, which I know I loved. Thank you, Jake, for putting in the time to make the pancakes again after you used corn starch instead of flour in the first batch. After breakfast, we had a couple of moments to make our final calls home for the next 20-something days. Then we started the final steps to making sure Vela was all set for passage. We cleaned up and made Vela look very pretty for the immigration and customs people who joined us a couple of hours after breakfast. We all took what we thought was going to be our last swim until Nuka Hiva, taking every spare moment to cool off. The equator heat is no joke! After we were cleared out of Galapagos, we started prepping for raising the anchor. The anchor team today was Harrison, Maisy, Claire, and me. We all took a moment to appreciate the Galapagos Islands and their beauty.
We then started our passage to Nuka Hiva, Marquesas, our first destination in French Polynesia. Then we had lunch, chicken wraps, and a chance to thank our chef of the day, thank you Maya L, Jay, and Brooks. The water got really calm and we really want to stop the engine and jump in. But first, we had to do a fire drill and a man-overboard drill. The fire was saved and Jimmy, our man overboard (small fender and line of rope) was also saved and brought on board save and sound. Then we SWAM!!! Everyone was very excited to jump in. Finally we were allowed, and the next 45 minutes were full of flips, free diving, and lemon drops!
After swimming and ocean showers, we had free time if we were off watch, and watch if we were watch team 3. During our free time we got the call that there were whales swimming around the boat! A pod of pilot whales hung out with Vela for a while, swimming very close to her. There were babies in the pod!! Dinner came very shortly. We had crispy baked beef tacos! They were a hit, especially the corn chips. We all did our clean-up jobs, and watch team 2 is taking over in a couple of minutes for the rest of the day.
P.S. Mama, Papa, and Owen, I miss you and love you! Clancy and Lovey, I just want to cuddle you so much!
See all you readers in 21 days!! Maya