Location: Fiji
Day 1 of our passage was quite the unexpected start for all of us. To quote Sadie, “There was not this much chaos in the entire Atlantic crossing last year”. We had a slower morning to begin with, giving us time to get breakfast and much-needed coffee ashore (iced for most people).
Then it was time to “lock in,” a phrase that has been thrown around a lot onboard recently. Packing provisions, hoisting dinghies and preparing lines were part of the flurry of activity. Leaving around 1 o’clock in the toasty sun, about an hour later than planned due to customs working on “Fiji Time,” we were all eager to get going, spirits high with the anticipation of settling into our new watch teams for the following 20 days.
Fiji Time is a phenomenon we have become quite accustomed to these last few weeks, learning that you can’t expect things to happen quickly, or on time; they will happen… eventually.
Following final phone calls home, snapping the last couple of photos of land, and the exhilarating Gumby suit race (see photos for the entertaining outcome), little did we know the swell that was about to greet us, which some stomached better than others The deck was littered with people in various fetal positions in an attempt to get fresh air and acclimatize. For the first time ever we had lots of leftovers; the food was delicious as always, but unfortunately the motion of the ocean was getting the better of some. The other half of the crew, not deck-bound, were, in the words of Rihanna, “water-boarded” whilst hoisting the sails, which led to a lot of questions, the most common being “Is it always like this?” We hastened to point out it was not always this “exciting”. This was particularly amusing given a previous conversation about this passage being called the ‘Coconut Run’ because it is often so smooth. That was definitely not the case today. As night drew in, we had our first watch as a new team, and given the wind & sea state, we had the opportunity to teach the students about weather helm. Whilst we may not have access to a gym on board, I think everyone felt like they got an arm workout at the wheel last night.
According to one student, our 3 watch teams fit into Survivor Island Tribes of: Brains, Brawns & Beauty; we’ll leave it up to your imagination for now on which is which. Leading up watch team 3, myself and Jack opened a can of worms by introducing our team members to several games to keep the energy going, like’ The Triangle Game’, ‘Wavelength’, and the new crew favourite’ The Land of Nod’. Who knew a simple word game could get a whole group of people so animated, some with smug grins at having figured out the rules, others looking pretty grumpy at being out of the loop.
Despite everything being now covered in a coarse layer of salt, things flying across cabins (that we have now ensured are adequately sea-worthy), nearly losing a boat hook and people getting a thorough clean-out from the crashing waves, the vibes have prevailed. We’re all in desperate need of some more sleep, but encouragingly (mostly) everyone is still smiling.
To all my wonderful family back home, I am sending you so much love (and you’ll be pleased to hear my sea legs are holding true).