Location: St. Barths
I woke up this morning to see the chefs walking towards Ocean Star with a bag of baguettes and chocolate croissants in their hands to celebrate being on the French island of St. Barths. After enjoying our meal, we had Oceanography class, where we learned about tides and waves, which we would later be surfing on. It was a beach bum day, and I was totally ready for it. Captain Ben rented a van that we loaded with surfboards and headed to the beach. Many of the crewmates brought their recently purchased hammocks to hang on palm trees and lounge around, in addition to a Frisbee and a soccer ball. I, however, was ready to catch some waves. Luckily, I was not the only one with minimal surfing experience, so I was not alone in my clumsy efforts to maneuver the board. I did manage to reach my goal of actually standing up on the surfboard, even though it took some Sargassum in my hair and a few urchin spines in my feet to get there; for that one moment, I was on top of the world. I took a break by playing some beach volleyball and enjoying my jambon fromage while sitting on the sand. By the time we arrived back at the boat, I was exhausted from all the surf, sun, and sand. We even got to enjoy a freshwater shower onshore at the dockside marina. You learn to appreciate these after showering in the ocean for 64 days. After dinner, we studied the navigational side of tides in our seamanship class with Captain Ben and headed to bed.