Location: Port Elizabeth, Bequia
We woke up to a yummy breakfast of Cocoa Puffs and (for the gluten-free crowd) Honey-Bunches of Oats. After a filling breakfast, we prepared to motor from Mayreau to Bequia. Unfortunately, there was not enough wind to sail, but we couldn’t control the wind. We mustered in the cockpit to make sure everyone was on the boat and wearing their PFDs. Steph, at that time, told us we could help with scheduling classes, and I was ecstatic. The calm passage gave the crew a perfect time to study for classes. The Open Water divers, Matty, Duncan, Will, Kelsay, Elle, and I looked over dive charts, which tell you the depth and time you can spend at certain depths without having too much nitrogen, and reread safety procedures for scuba diving to study for our exam that afternoon. The entire crew also were busy studying for our first quiz in Oceanography (tomorrow!) about the geology of the ocean. We’ve learned about plate tectonics, faults, the mid-ocean ridge, and more. At first, all seemed calm when we arrived in Bequia, and the many boats scattered about the anchorage sat happily in the bay. However, as we came into anchor among everyone, a groundswell from a faraway storm began to build up. All of a sudden, the waves were high and began to break out in the middle of the anchorage causing all the other boats to rock, heel, and tip violently. Ocean Star wisely stayed outside the break, but we had front row seats and saw other boats heeling almost all the way over with their masts briefly slapping the water. It was wild watching some people in their boats stubbornly sticking it out rather than moving outside the break. After lunch, Matty, Duncan, Will, Kelsay, and Elle, with Steph and Steve, geared up to go diving. They put on their tanks and jumped off Ocean Star into the water, signaled ok, and made it all the way up to the anchor chain to start their descent. They did not make it too far because low visibility made them decide to postpone the dive until a later date. When they dried off and got back out, it was time for an exam. The Open Water dive exam consisted of 50 questions and an additional ten questions about dive charts. All 6 of us passed! Once Olivia and Wiggy had prepared dinner of pesto pasta, we decided to move our boat to a different part of the bay because the waves continued to build and were now threatening to break even where we were anchored far at the back of the anchorage. We pulled up the anchor as the sun was setting and readjusted our positioning in the bay. We made it to another place in the water, quite nearby, and dropped anchor in about 6m of water. This place was not ideal because other boats were a bit too close, so we pulled up the anchor again and readjusted to a perfect place where we weren’t dragging anchor. It was dark as we dropped anchor last. The staff really are awesome at what they do, it was really dark, but they still dropped anchor with ease. We did squeeze and talked about the five love languages, touch, quality time, acts of devotion, thoughtful gifts, and words of affirmation. Most people show their affection for one another, like all our good friendships on this boat, in one or two of these ways. I liked learning about how my friends show their love for each other. Again, we ended with some side hugs that, again, Steve managed to duck out of. At 8 pm, when Ocean Star was finally settled, we had a class with Ian M. We went over tacking when you turn the bow of your boat through the wind to change the direction of movement and jibing when you turn the stern of your boat through the wind to change the direction of movement. We also went through collision regulations (colregs) to know which boat is supposed to move when boats are heading towards each other. As a sailboat, we are the stand-on vessel over powerboats, but you should always, always, always avoid a collision! By the end of Ian M.’s class, we were all exhausted. He talked for more than an hour, most of our classes are less than an hour, but Ian M. is a talker. Then it was bedtime 🙂
xo Lucy