Location: Civitavecchia
Today marked the end of our passage from Sardinia and our final time motoring into a new port. While weaving our way through a heavily trafficked cruise terminal, I think many of us were reminiscing on the incredible voyage we had had these past three months. We clocked in over 5,000 nautical miles at sea, which is still hard to wrap my mind around.
Our passage from Sardinia to Civitavecchia was entirely led by the shipmates: Joey, our skipper; Lucie, our chief mate; Will, our engineer; Johnathan, our navigator; Nate, our watch team 1 lead; Nora, our watch team 2 lead; and Zoe, our watch team 3 lead. It is incredible to see just how far the shipmates have come in their seamanship and sailing skills. I trusted them completely in getting us safely to our next destination.
Once we finished docking and putting Vela to bed in Civitavecchia, the shipmates spent the rest of their morning and afternoon writing their final oceanography papers and preparing their group presentations for their research projects. Right before dinner, Michelle and I listened to presentations and learned about the incredible research projects each team completed. It was a great way to end the oceanography course for the summer.
After dinner, we sped through clean-up so that we could all enjoy some much-needed free time in the city. I made a beeline straight for the closest gelato place I could find alongside Mac and Dan and enjoyed a couple of nice scoops of gelato and a cappuccino. Is there any better way to end a night?
The anticipation for tomorrow is high as we are spending the entire day exploring Rome. Everyone is excited to see the Colosseum, the Vatican, and the Trevi fountain, but most importantly, everyone is excited to eat some delicious Italian food. It’s getting late, and since we all have to be up early to catch our train to Rome, I’m going to head to bed.
We all miss you guys and can’t wait to see everyone in a few short days. But until then, we are going to enjoy every last moment of this incredible summer voyage. Talk to you all soon!