News
Which Way? Bequia!
Jessica Brewer, University of New England
Ship’s Log
Present Location
013 degrees 00.36’ N x 061 degrees 14.71’ W
Ship’s Heading, Speed and Sail Plan
Anchored in Bequia!!!
Weather
As usual, winds from the East. Calm harbor waters
Today we finally arrived in Bequia! It may have only been two days since we left Grenada, but as MJ mentioned in her blog 24 hours can seem like a lifetime on the ship. While anchored in Grenada, we had to become used to a new schedule after already being accustomed to our at-sea schedule the previous two weeks. We got split into our anchor watches, which is with different people than our typical watch groups. The tasks that need to be completed are different, but we’re also given more downtime to enjoy the island and work on our projects. Now that we’re in Bequia, we’ve been split into different anchor watches yet again. This time it’s sorted by who is in our island group projects and gives us some time to prepare for that presentation.
Speaking of whales, visiting Voyager Sophie Davis shows B Watch how to deploy the hydrophone and record acoustic observations
Another thing about studying abroad that we’ve had to adjust to is an unlikely suspect, the sun. On our last day in Grenada, despite wearing SPF 70 I still managed to get a wicked bad sunburn. On top of that, I had an allergic reaction to the sun. To all the parents and families reading this who are now concerned, don’t worry your child is fine. To my own mother, yupp of course it was only me (because who else would be allergic to the sun?).
Hauling on lines so we can go Sailing!
Tomorrow we have a field trip to a museum here in Bequia to learn about their tradition of whaling. Despite having to hide from the sun the whole time (Caribbean Twilight? Somebody call Stephanie Meyers), I’m excited for this visit. My on-shore project was focused on the International Whaling Commission and whaling in Bequia. My at-sea research project is about maritime archaeology. So for me, this hits two birds with one stone. Speaking of whales, on our way into Bequia this morning we saw something big jump out of the water multiple times from a distance. We can’t say for certain what it was, a dolphin, a monster-sized fish, but in my heart I believe it was a whale saying “Welcome to Bequia!”
Sailing
Jessica Brewer, University of New England
PS: Hi Luke and Nova! I miss you both so much and will be home in 21 days (probably less depending on when this gets posted)! To my mom and grandparents (show them how to find this blog if you haven’t already), don’t worry I’m wearing sunscreen and will be buying long sleeve shirts the second I get onto land. I love you guys so much and want to thank you for everything you did to get me here.