Location: Grenada
Waking up to Argo’s gentle rocking and coming up on deck to see the turquoise waters of Tobago Cays set the perfect mood for a relaxing day. Strawberry and Blueberry muffins gave the crew some energy for a morning of free time to explore the five islands of the cays. The notorious Rum Island from the Pirates of the Caribbean movie was a destination that many of the crew were excited to take a water taxi over to and explore for the morning. We had Sydney and his water taxi/floating boutique, the Surprise Too, come up to the side of the boat to sell t-shirts and offer rides over to Rum Island. Our bartering came up short, however, and we didn’t manage to get the price of the t-shirts low enough to make a deal. We were successful in negotiating a round island tour price, though, which would take us by the five uninhabited islands that make up Tobago Cays. The group going on this island tour was told to wait for ten minutes for a man by the name of Manly Man to come to pick them up for the water taxi tour. Ten minutes went by. Thirty minutes went by one hour until they realized that Manly Man wasn’t coming at all. Laurie, being as crafty as always, showed us how to hand knit a rope and also how to make Turk’s head bracelets. Everyone was in a peaceful mood today with the view, and the snorkeling with the turtles yesterday made for a great morning of rest and relaxation. At around 11:30, it was all hands on deck for a passage prep to the motor from the Tobago Cays to Union Island. The whole crew is learning so fast and working together so well that these passage preps could almost be done in our sleep. Union Island was a beautiful place to stand off and wait for customs clearing. After a lunch of one too many delicious grilled cheese sandwiches, we got our thinking caps on for an afternoon of classes. In oceanography today, Laurie taught the class about heat transfer and the speed of sound in water. She always makes the lectures interesting by linking the lectures to things that we are doing on the ship and at the islands we visit.
Marine biology was next, with Matty trying his best to make a lecture on scientific writing fun and enjoyable. Basic Seamanship today was exhilarating, with sail-raising races between the watch teams. Watch team 3 was the fastest at raising the forward staysail because of their teamwork and focus. Tonight, Sam surprised us by leaving for Grenada earlier than our expected departure time of 11 pm. Things were running ship-shaped, so we left at around 3:30 pm during our marine biology class. During watch, a few of the crew saw a breaching tuna with the sunset behind it in the water, which was pretty special. We are due to arrive in Grenada at around 8:30 pm tonight, which will give the whole crew a chance for a full night’s sleep to be well-rested for a day of fun and adventure in Grenada tomorrow.