Location: Vela
Wassup friends and families, Ben here!
Twenty-nine hours into our second passage and things are looking pretty good. It’s been sunny and clear all day, and Vela is eating up the miles to Raja Ampat.
I started my day with the 8-12 watch and the amazing Watch Team 3 (Jack, Nora, Ethan, Kara, Dray, Sierra, and Kee). The wind had been dropping overnight, so we center-lined the sails, dropped the main, and whacked the engine on. We then got to try out the new fishing kit (courtesy of Justin); no bites yet, but we are forever hopeful.
At 12, Heather, Tom, and Elexia served up an extremely tasty lunch of salad and chickpeas, which was made all the better with some awesome boat-made bread from Kirstyn. Watch Team 1 (Smash, Larkin, Romeo, Barbara, Heloise, and Emma) kept us on course while we chowed down. After a rapid clean-up, we got stuck in a marine bio class. Today was the 2nd to last lecture before the 3rd exam, and it was on corals. We’ve already covered corals a fair bit in the taxonomy section of the course, so this class was more about their functional role in the ecosystem as well as the threats they’re currently facing. Granted, this class always seems a bit ‘doomed and gloomy,’ but the plan is to finish strong and hopeful in the final modules, which are focused on conservation.
After marine bio, Drew broke out the charts and got another NavMaster class going. We aren’t currently lost, so I’m assuming the lessons are going well. The afternoon people did their own thing, excluding Watch Team 2 (Drew, Heather, Lilli, Margret, Elexia, Perry, Kirstyn, and Sydney), who had what seemed like a very relaxed and sunny watch to keep them busy. They all came off watch just as a dinner of roasted veggies came up on deck… it was amazing!
That pretty much sums up today,
Thanks to everyone at home who reads these, you are all missed, and everyone is stoked to make contact once in Indonesia (when there will be a good internet/phone signal to do so is unclear, though).
Also, shout out to my little sister Emma who graduated the other day! BIG ENERGY!!!