Location: Slipway, Antigua
7 am, and only one sleeping student remained. A few were awoken by the sun around 5:30, which was already bright and heating up the deck. The next two victims to the early wake-up were the sous chefs whose presence was required at six in order to have the French toast out by 7:30. At 6:22, a thick smell of bacon wafted through the cabin, and if they weren’t woken up by the smell of bacon, the smell of smoke a few minutes later definitely did the trick. The rest of the morning was spent reviewing Seamester policies and going over safety procedures. We got to unroll the fire hose the length of the deck and aim it out at the sea. “Aim” being used loosely because the water always seemed to spray back onto the boat. Already drenched from the wrath of the firehose, we took a quick swim break before a lunch of burgers at 12.
Students broke out their notebooks and pens for the first time since May for our Marine Biology course after lunch. Next to work on were scuba certifications with a break in between for a swim, of course. The rest of the afternoon was spent soaking in the amenities of our last night on the dock. Students played spikeball, worked on meal plans for the remainder of the voyage and took advantage of the last freshwater showers and non-boat bathrooms for a while. The day finished off with a hearty meal of shepherd’s pie and salad. Now everyone has retreated to their cozy bunks for a night of sound sleep before we wake up and do it all again tomorrow.
Picture 1: sunset
Picture 2-6: using the fire hose for the first and hopefully only time on this trip
Picture 7: Intro on how to use the PFDs
Picture 8: First breakfast aboard