Location: Palau
Today we woke up at 7:30 for our 8 am breakfast, meaning we got to sleep in for a whole half hour. Breakfast was yogurt parfait. Once we finished, everyone got assigned their roles for the day, and we cleaned up for the first time as a crew.
After partially unpacking bags, we had a policy meeting on the deck. Next, we kept unpacking in a brief break before lunch, which was pasta and salad. While everyone was cleaning up again, Gabe, “the mate/ dive instructor,” and I went around taking everyone’s temperatures. A surprising amount of people all had the same temperature – 36.3C. Gabe and I considered if we should do some statistics and analyze the distribution of everyone’s temperatures. Still, we decided to opt for following our hunch that 36.3 is probably the average human temperature. We did not check Google to verify this information. Additionally, while listening to a Drake song courtesy of Preston, we all reflected on how we love our beds and moms.
After some more partial unpacking, we split up into groups for the boat tour. The galley was air-conditioned and cool, the accommodations were hot, and the deck was somewhere in the middle.
Finally, we were able to jump in the water for our swim test! We swam some then treaded water for ten minutes. We chilled on the deck and bowsprit/ martingale, taking turns showering in the heads. We also gave all our snorkel/ scuba gear to Amanda “Human/ Hue” to put below deck in the Lazarette and got to unpack more.
Before dinner, we took down the tarp above the cockpit/ chart house and got to handle the lines for the first time. For dinner, we had burritos/ burrito bowls.
Today’s daily squeeze question was: What kitchen appliance/tool would you be and why, and what would you make with it?” My answer was a zester because I like to make life zesty, and I would use it to zest limes for key lime pies. Some popular answers were a whisk and fried chicken. Some of the more unique answers were milk frother (Emma), mortar and pestle (Gabe, who, to be fair, had all day to think of his answer), and stovetop popcorn maker (Carolyn). Towards the end, a small squall passed through, raining for the second time since our arrival. Vivian from SoCal is especially excited about the rain.
While everyone was doing their designated clean-up duties, I started writing the blog, narrowing the photos I took today down to a sparse eleven. Currently, the students taking the open water certification class are watching introductory videos, and everyone else is free to chill on the deck or hunt down wifi at Sam’s Tours. Some of us are going to try and sleep in hammocks tonight to escape the heat of the bunks.
It’s been a great day getting to know all of the crew and staff, and I can’t wait to do it all again tomorrow (I get to be sous chef to Gabe, and we’re gonna make pita!)
Pictured (with the names I remember):
1. View from the boat, docked by Sam’s Tours on Palau
2. Looking to the stern of Argo while standing on the martingale
3. The dishwashing crew (Amanda “Program Manager” is in blue, then Matt, Bo, Sid, Emma, Lucia, Amelia)
4. The Gophers, minus Preston (Vivian, Margo, Whitney)
5. Lunch featuring the cucumbers from the salad (D, Amelia, Vivian, Emma)
6. Me during lunch (Me)
7. Dog under the van next to Argo (name unknown, possibly Maya?)
8. My group during the boat tour (Gordon, D, Grace, I think, Bo, Rykleigh, Jack, Vivian)
9. Station one’s lesson: Weevils are snazzy. There is a Weevil song (thank you, Gabe, for the rendition)
10. Station two’s lesson: doors must be treated with respect, or they will hurt you (Vivian)
11. Station three’s lesson: although we Set Our Own Course with Seamester, we still need to follow the pre-set course while at the helm.
12. Chilling on the bowsprit after the swim test (Kayli, Matt, Amelia, Margo, Emma, Preston)