Location: Underway
Today was a day full of food, friendship, and falling all over the place. We started the day with some incredible blueberry muffins made by 2/3 of the folksail (that’s definitely not how you spell it…) folks — Mackenzie and Kelsey <3. We then got the boat up and going (with some great anchor hooking from yours truly, if I do say so myself) and moved to Deep Bay which is, confusingly, quite shallow. Deep Bay was very picturesque and dotted by some pretty incredible resorts (but we were on a boat, so you know who was really winning). Once we had dropped the anchors, everyone went snorkeling the nearby wreck. The wreck was incredible — full of coral, bright-colored fish, fireworms, moon jellies, etc. It was super fun to work on our freediving skills while taking it all in. Afterward, we ‘showered,’ ate lunch, and then did the first part of our course for our Emergency First Responder Certification. The information was vital, but, as one of the photos will attest to, I fell asleep for most of it (so hopefully, there will be no emergencies in my vicinity).
Then we sailed to Barbuda!! Kasey and I killed it on bow watch and, eventually, Allistaire and Nathan came to join us (because we had sour cream and onion Lay’s, not for the company). Bow watch was super fun — picture the Viking longboat that rocks back and forth at amusement parks but real life, and the stakes are higher. We all had a good time chatting until dinner while the boat continued riding the waves rollercoaster-style. After Mackenzie and Kelsey finished dinner, they clipped in above deck and tried to settle their poor stomachs while everyone took turns eating. Let’s just say that the ocean was enjoying everything we consumed yesterday. Shoutout to Allistaire for bringing me a mint Cliff-bar so that I didn’t have to slip again on the deck getting to the food. Then it got dark, and it was ‘clip-in-o-clock.’ Kasey and I entertained ourselves by singing every pop song ever as loudly as possible as we continued manning the bow. This was, as you can imagine, very fun and the view of the sails against the stars above us was pretty incredible.
Our passage was supposed to be overnight, but we ended up making a really good time. By around 10 pm, we had already reached our anchoring spot, and we ended up lowering the sails and dropping our anchors in the dark. Big thanks to the hearty souls who braved the cold, spray, dark, and slippery deck to get us all ready to stay the night. Extra big thanks to Mackenzie, who, despite being nauseous, sweated the lines until her hands bled. And, you may ask, what were you doing while everyone was busting their butts? I was sitting down because I had slammed my elbow into the side of the foresail (don’t worry, everything is all good this morning!), so I was absolutely no helpall in all, a great day <3.