Location: Antigua Slipway, Antigua
Today was a busy day as we were preparing the Ocean Star for her first voyage with this group! The morning started out with Rhianna, Jaxson, and Max completing their underwater navigation dive and eating some breakfast of Eggs, Sausage, Baked Beans, and Roasted Potatoes. After that, we moved to the dock to fuel and began preparing the ship to make the passage to Union Island where we will be helping the population which was devastated by Hurricane Beryl. The preparations for passage are extensive with us needing to adapt the ship to the open water as it has been resting in English Harbor for the past week. Oceanography class served as a nice break from the readying for the coming passage, and we learned about Earth’s influence on the ocean regarding tectonic plates and some atmospheric science. The passage will last for 2.5 days, with the whole crew needed to make it happen. We are going to be split into three watch teams and rotate, having 3 hours on and 6 hours off watch for the duration of the passage. While on watch, we will steer the boat, hoist and drop sails, perform hourly boat checks, and keep watch for potential hazards or other boats around us. We are currently getting our personal spaces organized, and chefs are pre-preparing dinner so they don’t risk seasickness underway. People are taking their last showers on shore for a little while, and then we are leaving for passage, with cheeseburgers for dinner to give us energy for our first night sail.
NOTE – We are headed off and will be underway for the next 2-3 days before reaching Union Island. We should have spotty service while underway to hopefully be able to post blogs, but it is not guaranteed. Once in Union, there was no service due to the hurricane’s impact. From Union, we will head up to Dominica, where we will be back to normal connectivity! We will be posting as frequently as we are able.