TEAM SA LOGBOOK - 5th June 2009 - Leg 5 Trinidad to Bermuda

5th of June 2009 - Chrissy =)

Our position details as announced at colors this morning...
Latitude.. 12º 37.3' N
Longitude..062º 17.6' W
Speed..7.0 knots
Temperature.. 29 ºC
Nearest Coast.. Caribbean Islands

Today was a great day that was different from other days aboard the Concordia as we got a new routine schedule. The other Class Afloat students have exams coming up and therefore we have other class times for exam review and oral exams. Now, instead of having our usual schedule for a whole 5 day cycle, we have a different one each day, which is hung up on the notice board (mostly a day in advance).This means that we have different class times than before and different nav. and day watches with different people than we usually do.

In the morning we all had 2 hours of class which started right after cleaning stations and were followed by day or nav watch right after, for some students.

After lunch we had an abandon ship drill which went really well! Everything worked out as fast and efficient as it should in a real emergency so we can all feel safe that if the ship were to sink, we would at least all know how to get on our life-rafts quickly.

The afternoon was relaxed but you could feel that today was the day before Miss Concordia. You could see excitement and anticipation in some guys faces but also pure dread in others! Many people started preparing for the great night tomorrow and did something which some of the guys never thought they would do - they shaved their legs. Many South African students were planning to participate but not all of them were quite so sure about what they were doing. Monde, Asekho, Gustav, Brandon and Bryan spent the evening getting ready. This meant getting your outfit planned, thinking about a talent to show off, mentally preparing for an interview and the most dreadful task of all for the boys, which was shaving their legs. It took a bit of convincing for most but in the end they all had the guts to shave the leg hair they had been growing for about 17 years (except for Asekho, whose leg hair was nowhere near visible anyway). Bryan was a very brave guy to let Andrea and me shave his legs and get rid of the fur. After bringing that sacrifice, the next steps were to varnish his nails - bright red and pluck his mono brow. We planned the outfit he would wear for the evening wear and swimsuit wear and brainstormed ideas for his talent. By now the boys were ready to get some beauty sleep before their great night and their managers and make-up artists needed a break from the stress, so we all went to bed, ready for what the next day would bring!