Location: Underway to Bonaire
Day two of passage to Bonaire started with 8 pm-12 am watch for watch team 3 and some much-needed sleep for watch teams 1 and 2. This was our first full day of passage, so the students were still getting used to the watch team rhythm. Breakfast included making your own oatmeal and fruit (or for some more adventurous eaters, make your own ramen). For lunch, we all gathered together again for some yummy stir fry and peanut sauce courtesy of the chefs Greg, Katie, and Sonnet. Right after lunch, we gathered together in the salon for classes. Everyone did great in their oceanography presentations, and we learned a lot of cool new information about the ocean, including topics like coastal erosion, jellyfish blooms, ocean acidification, oil pollution, and marine tourism. It was really interesting to see how our experiences on the ship connected to the topics we were learning. In our leadership class, we also had a great conversation about team dynamics on the ship and how we can make the most out of this experience as a team through understanding individual perspectives. During the time before dinner, people from all watch teams spent some time sharing riddles and clues and trying to figure them out. Frustration was high for those who couldn’t figure them out initially, but for those who did, it was fun to see how excited they became when the puzzle finally clicked and made sense. Congrats to everyone who figured out the elephant riddle, which was, “if there are two elephants on the bow, three pink elephants on the mast, and five red elephants in the dingy, how many are there?” (hint the answer is 4). We all met again for a delicious sunset dinner of homemade bread, pasta, and cream cheese cookies. We also answered the squeeze question, “what has been your favorite moment or day from the trip thus far?” Mine and many others’ favorite moment was the swim in the bioluminescence after our night dives in Bequia and St. Vincent. It was like swimming in the stars. Overall, the day was a big success, and we are looking forward to our next day of passage and watches. We will hopefully make it to Bonaire sometime early Saturday morning for an exciting week of diving.
Until next time,
-Andrea
Photo 1: Me, Valentina, and Maddie on deck waiting for dinner
Photo 2: Adelaide and Katelyn
Photo 3: Shona, Mackenzie, and Dre hard at work in the dishy pit