Location: Pigeon Island, Guadeloupe
Well, here we are again, my eager readers, and I write to you from a wonderful location called Pigeon Island just off the coast of Guadeloupe. The first thing I can tell you about this island is that it contains no pigeons whatsoever, nor does it look like a pigeon. However, I can describe it in great detail for you. Imagine for a second any small rocky island you can, well there you go. Luckily for the shipmates, the real magic of the island lays underwater as it’s surrounded by some of the most beautiful coral reef ecosystems. Jacques Cousteau dived the site himself in 1959.
The morning was started with the mandatory wake ups where the few shipmates still slumbering were treated to my angelic face as the first thing they saw, my old boss always told me I had a face for radio, but my mum always said I was handsome, so I’ll stick with angelic, anyway, we were treated to apple turnovers for breakfast. After breakfast, the shipmates retreated to the Salon to take a Leadership class, where they undertook their 1-minute presentations. Many of the subjects given were related to the individuals. For instance, one of the presentations was on how to ask a girl out on a date. Due to Seamester’s confidentiality, I can’t say which shipmate this was but let’s say it rhymes with “Pile.” A dive over to Pigeon Island was done after class (I can confirm now no pigeons were seen underwater either) probably in their best interest, I suppose, after surfacing from the dive myself I was shocked to see my best friend, the onion to my bhaji, the boogie to my woogie, the rubber to my duck and the whoopie to my cushion Alex being hauled into the dinghy seemingly void of any life, fortunately, it was just a rescue scenario for the rescue course, so all was well.
After lunch, the group was treated to more diving and shenanigans before enjoying Marine Biology class. After seeing my good buddy Jacques in his stone form, (one can only assume he had a bad encounter with Medusa) felt empowered to teach the subject of the Open Ocean. After my class, the shipmates headed off to do a mix of study and passage prepping for our overnight passage to St. Barths. This was followed by that wonderful time we’ve all come to know as Dinner time, where we discuss the real questions of the world…..such as…..People say life is short even though it is the longest thing we will ever experience….your stomach thinks all potatoes are mashed……A fine is a tax for doing wrong, but tax is a fine for doing well….nothing is on fire. Fire is on things.
Anyway, after these incredible deep discussions, everyone went into their respective cleanup jobs, finished off the last of passage prep before heading into Seamanship to learn about Navigation, it may come as a surprise to you readers, but we have let the shipmates take control of our navigation on passages, this probably explains why this message is actually being sent from the shores of the Bahamas, no I jest but the view from the middle of the Atlantic is remarkable, anyway I’m off to get some slumber now so I bid you farewell till next time.
Oh, of course, captions for the pictures
Picture 1 – Matt Trying out a new wetsuit (I don’t think it will work)
Picture 2 – Some kind of ominous cult worship towards shiny metal things
Picture 3 – Underwater Sponge Sticks
Picture 4 – Jacques being pestered
Picture 5 – Sponges (Did you know sponges can filter up to 50,000x their own volume in a day) if you don’t think that’s impressive, I encourage you to give it a go
Picture 6 – A helping hand being extended or Skye letting go of someone in need