Location: Chatham Bay, Union Island
Day 23!!! You know what they say…. twenty-three yipeeeee, amiright?? Today started off with a surprising and quite alarming welcome by a fake body in the galley. If you’re reading this from home, yes, you read that right. One of the crew, KT Palmer, has made the claim for the past few days since anchoring in Chatham Bay that the area is haunted. On watch, she claims she sees figures dancing around the boat and calling her name?? Wherever this idea is coming from (my guess?? delusion or maybe a lack of sleep), it doesn’t matter because what I saw this morning was the true art form of what many call ‘pranking.’ At exactly 1:45 in the morning, during crew member Carli’s watch, she, KT, and Drew decided to craft a fake body out of wood and jackets and proceed to hang it from the Gopher hole in the galley. It was quite a sight for me at 6:30 when I walked into the galley to make a coffee, and it apparently gave crew member Charlie a “good spook” during his 5-6 am watch. What proceeded was a wonderful breakfast of chocolate chip muffins by head chef Carli, and some (perfectly) cut papaya by sous chef Alexis. We then had an optional ‘premanship’ workshop with nautical science instructor Drew and then his seamanship class, where we learned how to find our positioning using EPs (if you want to learn too, Drew will be releasing his rendition of Mr. Brightside with a ‘nautical’ twist on December 9th at 12 am PST). Then followed Marine Bio class with Steph, where we reviewed for our first exam ((: Then Carli made another amazing lunch of pasta and roasted pumpkin/onions, which left us all incredibly full and happy. Clean-up ensued, where we blasted Kanye in the saloon and The Beatles on deck simultaneously. If you want to get good at listening to two songs at once (and enjoying it), just hop on board Ocean Star, and you will get there in no time (; We then got ready to go scuba diving and snorkeling which was absolutely amazing. I chose the snorkeling route and got to see two octopuses (one even changed color), a puffer fish, an eel, a lobster, a squid, and much more– it was a perfect end to the day. The crew then hunkered down for another 2 hours of study time as Carli and her sous chef team made a delicious dinner. I really enjoyed hearing the commentary from the galley as I studied on deck! Conversations I heard as Christmas music (in October!!) played in the background:
– “How do you know when the rice is done?” — “When it’s done.”
– “This is an avocado, this an avocado, this an avocado, this an avocado, this an avocado!! They’re all avocados!!!”
– “Oh lord, get the onions. I’m cryin’!”
– “Alright, let’s get ready to wreck this kitchen.”
– “I’m in the trenches here, alright.”
– “You used salt instead of sugar??”
On to another day! We head to Tobago Cays tomorrow (Steph’s favorite in St. Vincent, she wants everyone to know), and as sad as we are to leave Chatham Bay, we’re ready to set sail again!! Oh, and during this blog, I just witnessed Steph and Drew wrestle in the chart house. Pictures attached !!
photo 1– chefs cooking with onions!!
photo 2– Syd and Sean after premanship
photo 3– me studying for marine bio exam on deck
photo 4– Syd and Carli saying hey from the gopher hole
photo 5– ocean star from a ~cheeky~ distance
photo 6– beautiful sunset feat. all of our (slowly drying) clothes!
photo 7– Charlie skipping rocks on Union Island
photo 8– a fun restaurant on in Chatham Bay Harbor
photo 9– a goat and her baby on Union Island
photo 10– Charlie’s swim shorts match the boat
photo 11– ocean star during shower time
photo 12– sean chilling on a swing on Union Island
photo 13– Kate, KT, Carli, and Mia on deck as we motored into the anchorage
photo 14– a rainbow on our way to Union Island!!
photo 15-/16/17– a painful progression of the wrestling match between Drew and Steph feat a drill and a chair