Location: Mo'orea
Hey yall
Each Argonauts experience today was as varied as pastries at a Girl Scout bake sale. The students had the day to choose their own adventure here on Moorea. Gavi got a haircut, and hes looking clean, mean, lean, and is ready to fight a machine or whatever. Emma Sydney and Helena went to a Tahitian cooking class from which Im told many delicious dishes emerged. A few students went surfing with reported success. Nacho went surfing with reported sorrow as the reef decided to do a number on his fin box, and now his board is in need of some glass fibers and epoxy 🙁 These adventures and more, I havent heard about yet, filled the hearts of all on board with joy and whimsy.
Now those among you who read titles might be wondering: What is Team Dynamic? Those who are in the middle of a ven diagram combining people who read titles and people who have been following these blogs closely may also still be wondering, Who is Susan? Well, Im happy to keep you in suspense.
Annnyyyyways, back to Team Dynamic. As you no doubt heard from Emmas blog yesterday, our very own dynamic deckhands, Aidan and Charlie, are participating in the Worlds Toughest Row 2028, a race on specialized row boats crewed by people who might not be what you would call completely sane. These not-quite-so-sane people commit years in advance to row thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean. W.T.R. teams use their insanity for a good cause, however, and teams leverage the publicity of their row to raise money for a charity of their choosing. With a philanthropic mission at the core of the race, crews not only need to get into the absolute peak of physique (not a problem for Team Dynamic), they also need to choose a cause to support and get out there and get that bread, so to speak.
Now, what makes me brim with pride for my crewmates on these last few auspicious days is their decision to go after a partnership with the Coral Gardeners. Yesterday, your favorite Argonauts were frankly floored by the mission and passion shown by the Coral Gardeners. Quick tangent: there is a feeling I get which I can scarcely describe. I get this feeling every time I spend time with people who are putting their energy into something they truly believe in; Something that unequivocally makes their little slice of the world a better place. I was overwhelmed with that feeling while out with the Coral Gardeners. Their mission is based on giving back to a reef that gives so much to the people on this island. The difference their efforts are making on the reef is stark, and I have not seen such a concentration of healthy coral since the start of my long love story with the Ocean. Charlie and Aidan clearly agree as they immediately asked about a partnership, the timing of the confirmation of their participation in W.T.R. 2028 seeming divine, having just happened.
Yall should look at what these folks are doing. Check them out here https://coralgardeners.org/. Save your donation budget for Team Dynamic, though.
Charlie and Aidans adventure today included a meeting with the head of philanthropy, among others, of the Coral Gardeners team. Basically, these coral gardeners social media team needs a raise cause theyve got hella followers and a very well put together combination of media across various platforms. What this partnership could do for Team Dynamic is to put their story in front of millions of people. Its a pretty big deal.
Now, how will Team Dynamics race help the Gardeners keep the proverbial lights on? Well, Im glad you asked. My understanding is that the basic structure of getting into the race includes purchasing a rowboat, usually from a previous team. These boats supposedly hold a value of about $75,000. Other than the boat itself, there would clearly be some costs incurred when trying to row across an Ocean. Im no expert on the race itself, but food and maintaining the vessel come to mind. Im sure theres also some sort of fee to enter. When you finish the race, you sell your boat to the next generation of crazy people. At that point, the value of the sold vessel plus all the funds not spent on freeze-dried scrambled eggs goes to your charity. Many teams raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity. Not too shabby.
We here on Argo are thrilled to see where Team Dynamics story goes. I, for one, will be waiting in Antigua for Charlie and Aidan. Once they come into that bay, you better believe Los Cabrones is gonna run out of Beer-garitas.
Aidan and Charlizz are still in the early stages of planning, but should have a donation page up lickity split. Im sure itll make it into a blog in the next couple of days.
Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for your support of Team Dynamic and the Coral Gardeners.
-Shane