Location: Chatham Bay, Union Island
Bright and early this morning at 6:00 am, we were woken up to the sound of the fire alarm and the smell of bacon. After our unexpected early wake-up, a few of us went back to sleep until waking up for the day at 7:00 and actually starting our day off with a delicious breakfast made by Sara and Katie of bacon, eggs, and cheese. After breakfast, we had marine biology, where we took our second fish ID quiz and then had a review session for our first exam coming up in a few days. Since we haven’t had seamanship in the saloon in a while for lots of different reasons – Nick is a very busy guy – we finally had it today, where we continued learning about the IYT Competent Crew certification. During class, we got to see what happens when our PFD touches the water. For lunch, we had delicious pizza roll things, and then we all got ready for our special afternoon activity and science experiment with the local Unionites. We tested the pH and salinity of the water for seven different locals’ water supplies, the pond, and the well at the resort with the help of Unionites from Union Island Secondary School. Union Island has no source of running water, and the locals collect their own rainwater in jugs or pump water in wells. Before getting back on board, we took four more samples from different places along the beach that we took back to the boat and are going to test tomorrow for the dissolved oxygen level, phosphates, and nitrates to hopefully help the people of Union to get a more comprehensive understanding of the island’s water supply. Once everyone was back on board, Sara, Katie, and Nick were in the galley cooking up dinner, which was chicken parm, and Lulu was making us fresh focaccia bread. The rest of us were up on deck taking ocean showers and having fun doing different jumps and flips off the bow sprit before watching a beautiful sunset off the stern when Julia saw the green flash for the first time. We finished the day off with a squeezer and clean-up, and now it is time for me to go to bed.
Mom, Dad, Nene, and Bailey, I miss and love you guys so so much!!!!