Location: Ile Fourchue, St Barths
Twas the night before Ile Fourchue when all through the boat
not a crewmate was stirring, not even a fan;
the watches were done on deck with care,
to make sure the boat would surely stay there;
the crew have nestled all snug in their bunks;
while visions of rescue divers swirled in their heads;
and the staff in the chart house, and I in my bunk
had just settled down for a long, restful nap,
when out on the deck, there arose such a clatter
I “sprang” from my bunk to see what was the matter
Up to the bow, I sorta flew like a flash,
took off my socks and climbed up the hatch.
The sun was so bright on the marina water,
gave a great setting for a morning departure,
when what to our eyes did appear,
but a sizable rock and waves crashing here
with a lovely bay so windy and sunny
we knew in a moment it must be our stop.
More efficient than day 20, the anchor was prepared for a drop
the anchor team leader hollered and shouted and ran through the steps:
“Now, Burt, on flukes! now sweat the halyard! now ease! someone ready on the break!
and the helm says their ready, so take off the cat line and drop the anchor! drop! drop all the way!”
As the crew was still sleepy with marine bio delayed,
they rested their heads for what they thought was 10 minutes,
only to be woken much later than that by Steph with a quiz;
So out of their bunks, they went to the saloon,
with heads full of fish and coral too-
and then, in a little, we heard from Steph,
the super cool things about marine mammals in class.
As we took down our notes and looked at the slides,
in came the knowledge with a pound.
It was a lovely class, from beginning to end,
and the second to last lecture before the final exam;
A wonderful semester of learning in our heads,
and one last test of our knowledge before we head back.
The lunch – how yummy! the chicken, how good!
The chefs were so great, just how they stood!
Classes continued with professor Drew up next,
and the charts on the table with the questions all set;
the dividers and erasers stayed close at all times,
and the questions, they challenged the mind;
We had a few laughs and many a smiles
that made the time go all that faster.
The day was still young; time for one more class,
and we thought it would be in the saloon down below, like all before;
but up on deck was where it was set.
The sun was bright, but the wind was present,
and knowledge reviews had never been more pleasant.
Question by question, we got one step
to being rescue divers.
And the day was not finished, with some lab work ahead.
We split into our groups and got to work,
with data collection occurring everywhere we turned.
Dinner was splendid; with all the crew gathered
and favorite cartoons discussed,
there was one final squeeze before going back to our bunks.
And with a full day done and another tomorrow,
there was one final announcement,
“Let’s clean up.”
Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season.
Happy Anniversary to my parents, hope it was a good one 🙂
See you all soon, I guess.
Bye
Photo 1: Pre-wake-ups in the saloon bunks
Photo 2-6: The crew hard at work during clean up
Photo 7-8: Chart time
Photo 9-10: Data collection!