Location: Tobago Cays
Today, there was one thing that separated it from all other days: boom swing. After waking up to another day of perfect weather in paradise, we had a strenuous marine bio identification quiz on the fish we had been seeing throughout our trip. With the quiz out of the way, the crew was ready to let off some steam, Argo-style. We created a rope swing out of the mainsail boom that we could use to swing out over the water. To do this, we lifted the boom to a 45-degree angle, ran a line up to the bow to keep the boom perpendicular to the boat, and then dangled a line from the end of the boom. After a few test pilots, everyone was soon taking a leap of faith off the pin rail and hurling themselves into endless fun. Soon, people’s eyes of apprehension on the launch pad turned to wonderment, and with that came backflips. After a few failed attempts, Captain Steve stepped up to show us how it was done. With the grace of a ballerina, Captain Steve launched into a textbook backflip, earning the best ovation of the day from the on-looking crew. Now that we had seen a pro, Argo began to look more like a trapeze section of the circus than a sailboat. This continued for hours, and the only bad part was having to wait in line after you jumped. All good things must come to an end, though, and we had to return Argo to her shipshape condition for our short passage tomorrow. There is an overwhelming consensus among the crew that this was one of the best days yet and one that will surely be remembered for a long time.