Location: The equator
Hello everyone, this is Isaac reporting from Vela on day 31 of passage. What a day it was today. I would like to start by wishing everyone at home in the U.S. a happy Independence Day. I hope you all have a wonderful and meaningful July Fourth, just as we did here on the boat. We also crossed the equator today, but more on that later. The day began with some showers in the early hours of the morning, but the weather cleared up soon after, giving us a beautiful day for the Fourth of July. Not too much went on this morning, with notable exceptions being watch team three doing a deck and floor scrub, some people finishing the review for their Navigation Exam in the afternoon, and Ryan walking up on deck sporting awesome American flag one-piece overalls. I was up on deck most of the morning, taking in the nice weather and excitement of the upcoming equator crossing. Around 12ish, we had a delicious lunch cooked by Brooke, which, of course, was none other than hot dogs (or chicken sizzlers to be precise) and chips. What more could you want on July Fourth?
After lunch, a good chunk of people took their navigation exams, which ran on into the midafternoon. Everyone else was doing their own thing and on watch. I was on watch beginning at two and had a nice knife-sharpening session with Mac. Finally, around 3:30 pm, was the moment everyone had been looking forward to: the equator crossing. However, one cannot just cross the great and mighty equator willy-nilly. As we all learned a few days ago, a sacrifice is required if you have not crossed the equator before by boat. This meant that everyone had to come up with a sacrifice to the sea god Poseidon/Neptune and hope the council of shellbacks (those who have crossed the equator before) finds it satisfactory. If they do not, then a sacrifice of their choice awaits anyone who fails (inevitably something having to do with the nasty dishy pit water since Mac mandated that it not be thrown overboard after lunch). Thus, the past few days have seen a lot of rehearsing. I did a cool drawing. Anyway, as 3:30 came along, Mac began slowing the boat, and the council began preparing for the upcoming ceremony. Everyone else was sent below to get ready and get into clothes that they didnt mind getting wet. A little while later, as we were bobbing just outside the equator, we were all called up to begin the ceremony. What we saw was quite incredible. The council members (all the staff but Daniel) were all in crazy outfits, and the dishy pit buckets full of contents were positioned in the cockpit. The ceremony was ready to begin. One by one, after this (or in groups for those doing multi-person gigs), they presented their sacrifice to the council.
Here is a run-down of how it went it started with Ryan, Anda, Jack, Arden, Luna, and Josh doing some super cool Bula performance involving chants and sacrificing a stuffed gorilla, I believe. After them came a song sung by Celeste, Noa, and Kat. The council was not a fan of the phone usage, however, and they were all asked to dip their whole arms into the dishy pit water. Following the singers was Tougy, who did a video interviewing 40 dayers. She also did not meet the councils high standards and was thus asked to speak only in dolphin sounds until we crossed the equator. Next came Jill, who did an awesome drawing of Vela fixed into a compass. The council was very pleased with this. She passed. After her came an excellent shanty (I think this is what they called it) singing/dancing performance from Garret and Ceci in matching LaBarge Homes shirts. They excelled as well, and the council had very high marks for them. After them came a rap show by the three Georgia girls (Ainsley, Drew, and Maddie) and Kayla. It was very well put together, and the council thought highly of it as well. They passed. Following them came Charles with a long, interesting story about a Mermaid and a man named Jacob. The council thought it was pretty good, but given that Charles tells stories all the time, they did not think it sufficed. He was asked to dip a glove in the dishy pit water, then put it on, and then finally have it stuffed with beans. This was to stay until we had crossed the equator as well. After him came a dance involving Ty and Josie. They did really good, but the council did not think as generously. These two were asked to each hold an onion and sausage that were dipped in the dishy pit water. Following them was Ian, who drew Mac as a sloth on a tree. He loved it, and the council approved. Then I came after with my drawing of Poseidon, the sea god, extracting all of the sacrifices out of Vela and making sure those on board paid their fair share. They liked it, thankfully, and I was spared any further sacrifice. After me came Dan with an excellent song on the guitar. The council thought very favorably of it, but since he was staff, he was still asked to put beans in his pockets (not horrible for a British man, especially if he had some toast). And thus ended the ceremony. Kat and Jason, who both wanted to shave their heads, were asked to wait until a little later to have their sacrifice fulfilled.
Following the ceremony, we started up the engines again and motored right up in front of the equator. Then we got the immense honor of jumping in the water to swim over the equator. So that is what we did, or at least tried to do. The current was pushing really strongly, and once we all jumped in, we all started immediately getting pushed back. This was not going to work, so we all hopped out and then we motored just over the equator and then jumped back in for 10 minutes or so. If anyone asks, you can still tell them we swam over the equator. The water was super nice and refreshing. I think I can speak for everyone by saying it was spectacular. Everyone had big smiles as we exited the water. Crazy enough, due to the current, we had been pushed back to just before the equator again, and everyone huddled behind Mac as he drove the boat that final distance one more time. I got a great picture of the latitude being all zeroes. I think Poseidon was pleased.
After this, we all got dry and then witnessed Kat getting her head shaved (or rather cut) by Ben. Then we had dinner, which was stir-fry. It was quite a bit late today due to all of our earlier festivities. Following dinner, as it was getting dark, we did a Squeeze. My question had two parts today. They were (1) what is a favorite Fourth of July memory of yours, and (2) is or is not a hot dog a sandwich. The first question had a lot of great answers, and the second one had some fun answers as well. Finally, following a Squeeze, we all sang the national anthem as loudly as we could, specifically to try to drown out the two British men singing their anthem. I think we were more successful. Then, I believe, Jason got his head shaved with an arrow in it, but I did not see it. That was our day. And what a magnificent day it was.
Happy Fourth of July again to everyone at home, and I cant wait to see my family in a week and a half or so from now. Until then, Isaac out. I need to get some sleep.
Written with joy,
Isaac H. (number 15)