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Location: The Bight, Norman Island
Today marked the one week anniversary of gerntag, so we celebrated in an appropriate fashion. Instead of going on land, we had the opportunity to spend the whole day relaxing onboard Two Ghosts. After a wonderful breakfast of french toast, prepared for us generously by Elliot, we tackled the challenging task of pulling up our anchor. Our automatic way of doing it stopped working, for some reason, so at the cost of sweat and a few blisters on our hands, Bradley, Gabe, Parker, Johnny and I were able to pull it up with our hands. It was one of the most exhausting tasks I’ve completed throughout these three weeks. Once our anchor was up, we moored near Shazam to enjoy a day of water-related festivities. Elliot took shipmates from both boats on exhilarating dinghy-rides, Alisa prepared delicious quesadillas (and a bowl of ramen for Nathalie and myself), and Hannah took a small group of us on a snorkeling outing where we caught a glimpse of a nurse shark! Of course, the day wouldn’t have been complete without a little bit of a thrill, so a giant barracuda kept us company and hovered around Two Ghosts for the entire day. At some point, it came up for food as it saw a loose piece of quesadilla at the surface, and it was terrifying. The rest of the morning/afternoon time was spent laying on the hard top of both boats and spending some quality time with each other while soaking up the last rays of the sun. Unfortunately, that came to a close when we sailed back to Norman Island, where the service part of our trip began. Nathalie and I volunteered to help trailblaze and clear a path up the island that had disappeared because of Irma. Nobody else wanted to come, so with Elliot, BZ, and Gwen at our sides, we sneakily crept up the island and stared discretely chopping down thistles and bushes. Drenched in sweat, with our feet burning, coming back to seawater showers on Two Ghosts felt heavenly. Our chefs made us a wonderful meal of cheddar broccoli pasta, and we listened to some incredible music, courtesy of Santa Cruz, the boat’s resident DJ. As I type, we’re preparing for our nightly wrap up activity, where hopefully we’ll be able to write goodbye letters to the rest of our shipmates. This day has gone by in a flash, and it lived up to the legacy gerntag left behind in our hearts.
Shoutout to Tara!! for being incredible and keeping me laughing throughout the day!