When island hopping in the Caribbean, reliable internet access can sometimes hamper daily Ship's Logs being uploaded to the world wide web. Alas, this week's Ocean Classroom update features student writing and photos from over a week ago, and yet remain just as stunning as ever. Enjoy!
Ang ‘22 | January 29th, 2021
Three to Four Knots
I woke up to the smell of bacon. Finally after two days of watch I got to sleep a little later and get up at 0715. I started my day off with a warm bowl of oatmeal garnished in coconut and mango, a banana muffin and the bacon of course. After breakfast we did our morning chores and then headed over to the east side of Green Cay on the small boat to do a little snorkeling. We saw a bunch of different fish, sea stars, a barracuda, and a stingray. It was such a great way to wake up and start the day. After snorkeling for around an hour and a half we had a history class on sea shanties and sang a ton as a group. Once we finished class we had lunch and got underway to head back to the Gallow's Bay Dock. A very thorough deck wash and a lot of sun filled up all of my time before our sunset sail. We prepped the sails got our reds on and greeted our guests for the evening. We had a fun sail but were only going 3-4 knots on pretty calm waters so nothing too exciting happened but it was so nice to be on the water. Every time we go out on a sunset sail it always seems so surreal and just breathtaking. Being on this boat has already taught me so much and I can't wait to continue this amazing journey. I topped the night off with ukulele and many laughs with the crew. It's my favorite part of the day. Being with everyone and spending time as a family. Until next time.
Fair Winds & Following Seas,
Ang ‘22
Cam ‘21 | January 30th, 2021
A Day At The Park
I woke up to the sound of rainfall on the butterfly doors of the fish-hold. We started off the morning with marine bio and some cereal. I finally had a good night of sleep after 2 days on watch. We learned about red tides, different acidities as well as how to test for ph in freshwater, saltwater, and brackish water. After class we were allowed to hang/sleep for a little but. Jack, Sam, and I ended up fishing for a little. We caught two crevalle jacks and hiked into a huge barracuda which we lost. We headed over to the park at 1400 and got dropped off from the small boat. Once we got to port we walked over to the park a few blocks away. Everyone got their energy out playing frisbee, throwing a football or playing basketball. Once everyone had sufficient time at the park we walked back to port and got ready to load the small boats. Since losing a motor at St. John we were down to one small boat so we ended up waiting around for a bit. Once we were all aboard Roseway we had some time to get ready for a new and improved Saturday's best on Sunday. We cleaned off before getting ready for dinner. Susanna made us a birthday feast for Cafferty's birthday which was hot dogs, fries and cake. We ate on deck and sang Cafferty happy birthday. After dinner we got together in the salon for Captain Ron, a movie no one had heard of but it turned out to be a hit. After movie night everyone settled into their bunks.
Fair Winds,
Cam ‘21
Casten ‘21 | January 31st, 2021
Chill Day Sunday
Today was a sleep-in day, we all woke up around 1015 to start the day late. We had another cold breakfast of yummy cinnamon toast crunch and toast. Today was a chill day, with not much to do in the morning. Louisa, Kara, Sam and I took some time to work on homework by having a reading circle and took time reading about ocean acidification and more. After this we swam and tanned on the cabin tops. We also had to reef the sails, which is taking some of the sail and tying it down. We needed to prepare for the public sunset sail, so we did a deck wash and tidied up. We got all the passengers onboard and set sail. On the way back we saw a couple of dolphins swimming and jumping under the bow. It was so cool. Highlight of the day. We settled in, ate dinner, and went to bed. Good day!
Good luck Charlie,
Casten ‘21
Jack ‘21 | February 1st, 2021
Another Beautiful Day
Today we awoke to another great breakfast prepared by our chef Adam and, as always, people were eager to get seconds. We got right to chores, people scrubbing the galley, salon, fish-hold, as well as the various other tasks around the boat. After chores were finished, we were told we could get a bit of phone time to call home and talk to our friends. We were all super excited to hear this. Once everything was set on the boat, we headed into the office to have our marine biology class. It felt so great to spend some time in the air conditioning. We covered and discussed the reading from Oceans of Life, and started our intro to plastics. A heavy topic for the next few days. We hopped back on the small boat and helped Adam shuttle provisions to the boat. Along his way he grabbed us some Crucian food for lunch. After cleaning up we moved to the dock and started preparation for our sunset sail. Today there wasn't a ton of wind. So, the ocean was super calm and on deck wasn't hectic. Another beautiful day and sunset in St. Croix.
Fair Winds,
Jack ‘21
Louisa ‘21 | February 2nd, 2021
A Perfect Sail
We woke up this morning to breakfast sandwiches!! An absolute win! We finished up our delicious breakfast to hop right into chores. We quickly got everything done, and started a lesson with Mahalia on microplastics. We learned the harmful effects of plastic on our oceans and watched a really cool documentary on plastics called Smog on the Sea, featuring Jack Johnson. I recommend giving it a watch for sure! It was beyond sobering to see how plastics are killing our beautiful oceans. We also talked about ways to eliminate more plastic waste, which we practice on the boat. Reuse, Reduce, Recycle! We swam later on, and practiced our can openers! Sam got the biggest splash for sure! Adam made us a great lunch, and then we started deck wash and preparing for sail. We greeted our guests and set sail for our sunset sail. It was a perfect sail, with lots of wind for us to go FAST! After the sail we came together for an amazing pasta dinner. After dinner we went for a night swim and later went fishing for tarpon. We caught no fish, but had a great time. We hung up our hammocks and relaxed as a group and shared stories and laughs. Overall, a great day in Christiansted.
Bye for now,
Louisa ‘21
Sam ‘21 | February 3rd, 2021
With Alacrity
Good Morning ship's log! Today we set the main, fore, and headsails at 0800! We took off from Christiansted to Frederiksted with chores underway. We scrubbed, sponged, swept, and Simple-Greened the boat with alacrity. Excited for the day ahead, we finished chores in 20 minutes flat. With winds in our sails, we were moving at 6 knots on the dot. We split into our watch groups to cover the deck as the other group got well deserved rest. I speak for everyone when I say the mood is all time high when underway. Kara, Louisa, Teige and I rotated from lookout, to helm, to boat check and finally being idle. Each station has its key aspects to keep the boat shipshape. After eating Adam's delicious lunch, we went on a tour with George Jr. around Frederiksted. We were expecting Frandelle but, with no doubt, he brought the energy. The tour was beautiful and we had a great guide to show us around. It's day 6 of 100 push-ups-a-day as Kara and I are on a roll. I can't see us slowing down anytime soon! We finished our 100 on the new mural surrounding the pier. We returned to the ship to a delicious dinner prepared with love. As we reflected on the tour over dinner, we were sad to hear we were leaving tomorrow afternoon. However, we were informed we would snorkel (Rudy just splashed me with water) at the coolest spot in St. Croix!
See you soon people!
Sam ‘21
Kara '21 | February 4th, 2021
