Location: Les Saintes, Guadeloupe
Woahh, what another wicked fire day! We started with our favorite cold breakfast – yogurt and granola. Always a crowd-pleaser. Then we swiftly jumped into class – a combo Marine Bio and Oceanography lab! And when I say jumped in, I mean actually jumped inthe Ocean. Today we learned all about transects and quadrats (standard tools used in marine research to help standardize data collection) and how to use them. This was particularly fun for me, as I’m the Oceanography Instructor and one of the ones running the lab. Everyone did some trial runs on the beach “assessing urchin abundance” (read, counting rocks along the shore) and then jumped in the water to test out their new skills. Though they were now looking to measure fish abundance, most groups saw none. Have no fear, though. As we learned, the absence of something is still data!! And of course, as soon as everyone had stopped collecting their fish data, Kelly saw a whole school of fish. Then we started our journey back to Ostar. We thought it would be a quick little dinghy, but alas, no. Turns out I am too strong and snapped the pull cord on Exy – go muscles – rendering her un-startable. Ash was happy to come to our rescue in our beloved Irv (the other dinghy), but while we waited, we thought we might head him off. We pooled our resources (one paddle and all of our legs) and started propelling ourselves towards Ocean Star using only our muscles – told you we were strong. Picture this, all of us propped on the dinghy tubes with our feet in the water kicking very rapidly while Sarah stands at the bow rowing us along with one paddle. I personally got very Lewis and Clark vibes.
Once we arrived back on Ostar safe and sound, we had another cold food favorite – sandwiches!! I personally put some chips in mine to add a little crunch. Would suggest.
After lunch, there was a super fun lecture on marine microorganisms – never underestimate the little guys. Then, we moved on to passage prep – aka, prepping for our passage to Dominica tomorrow!! In the midst of all this, we got some great news – we could use propane again! Brett and chef team jumped in the galley and promptly whipped us up a delicious Shepherd’s Pie. After dinner, some valiant crew members continued putting the mainsail back on, and we are looking ready to go to Dominica! Let’s goooooooooo.
K, thanks for stopping by.
Photo 1: Brett brushing his teeth on the bow, of course
Photo 2: Team quadrat!!
Photo 3: Transects
Photo 4: Class! Microorganisms!!!
Photo 5: We love cold lunch!!!!
Photo 6: Team baby quadrat
Photo 7: Transect x2!!