Location: Underway to Palau
For the start to this passage to Palau, we couldn’t have hoped for better conditions. A following wind between 20 and 28 knots is allowing us to race westward away from the Fijian Archipelago and towards the Coral Sea. I am forever grateful that we were gifted with wind in the first two weeks of this program that allowed for some serious sail training while in the protected waters from Fiji. Now, coming out into the Pacific, we are faced with the real deal. As you might have heard from yesterday’s blog, we came out of the pass into what you might call sporty conditions. This crew has been handling it like absolute champs, though. As the deck heaved and the wind gusted, our budding sailors clapped hands to lines and hauled up a fine spread of canvas. Through the night I was woken up as the wind shifted, veering (shifting clockwise) and backing (shifting counterclockwise) with every passing cloud bank. As the sun rose, we jibed and hoisted more sail.
On finishing the morning’s deck operations, I decided that 0800 was a good time to make coffee. Mistake. The watch had just been handed over, and the galley was crowded with crew making coffee, tea, or their first passage breakfast; many realizing for the first time that the bowl of oats you put on the counter has a mind of its own and will fly like a bird if you leave it for just a second. I found a corner to monopolize and made a nice strong pour-over brew. Something about the ritual of making coffee always calms me down. After the morning jibe, we stayed on the same tack for most of the day. For the first time since the start of the program, I felt like I could sit down and chill for a while; Lunchtime came quickly, and we enjoyed a lovely chicken salad wrap (chickpeas for the veggies). The afternoon on passage means class time for the students. We introduced the Emergency First Responder course, which took much of the afternoon and teaches critically useful lifesaving techniques (it pairs nicely with the skills learned in the PADI rescue course). Following EFR, Nacho held a brief marine bio lecture before dinner. He nerded out about the microbiome of the ocean. Before dinner, we jibed again and are now settling down for the second night of passage.
Running a Seamester program has a way of keeping you in the moment. So much gets packed into every day. I have been looking forward to this particular program since I joined Argo in Cape Town, something like 25,000 nautical miles ago. So far, it has not disappointed. The program we are on was once described to me as follows: “So you’re gonna get to Fiji, and it’s gonna be the best diving that you’ve ever done. Then you’re gonna get to Palau, and that’s gonna be the best diving you’ve ever done, THEN you’re gonna get to Indonesia, and it’s gonna be the best diving you’ve ever done,” so yeah As a lifelong lover of the ocean, consider me stoked to be here. I’m grateful to have such an amazing crew on board. Everybody brings such a unique perspective and skill set to the table. Everybody has their own reason for being here and while on board, what starts as a crew quickly turns into what feels very much like a family.
Ok. I’m delusionally tired and need some sleep. I hope you guys have been enjoying the blogs! Best wishes from your favorite Argonauts 🙂
-Captain Shane