Clayson and the Argonauts
Location: Underway to Mauritius
Readers, I must begin with an apology. My last day as Skipper saw me horribly seasick, and I fear I’ve left a bad impression. Sailing is fun. Crossing the ocean is great. Ear canals? It is very settled now, thank you. Underway to Mauritius, my fellow Argonauts and I find ourselves in frequent squalls, moderate seas… conditions far worse than the outskirts of Bali, and I’ve never felt better! Huzzah, as I want to say. Today marks the fifth day of passage, and we are settling nicely into our new watch teams. My indoctrination into Watch Team 1—headed by Gabe and Meg, alongside Philip, Amanda, and Ava—began with Storytime. What is Storytime, you ask?… or maybe you’ve heard about it in a previous blog...? Storytime is indulgence. Storytime is introspection. Storytime is life. I debuted as four dads, all competing for the hand of Ava Russell, CEO of Big Corn, Alabama. In them, I met the four facets of myself: pining Hospital Dad, wise Psych Dad, starlet Dad on TV, and tragic Dad at Home. I just asked Travis what Watch Team 3 got up to last night, and he said, “Uh, I don’t know.” I consulted Allie, who informed me that they also ate popcorn while listening to Travis’ stories. Thrilling times! Watch Team 2 enjoyed the morning watch with overnight oats made by Drazka and Ainsley. WT2 also did a lot of heavy lifting in raising both the jib and the flying jib, pumping out the engine locker and anchor locker, and starting what may just be the Argonauts’ most monumental task to date: finding Clayson. Readers, I am sure you are all very familiar with Clayson by now. He is the rat we picked up in Bali and has been nursing for forty days and nights. He has carried entire glue traps to and fro, eaten most of our bananas, and chewed our HDMI cables… the monitors in the salon are barely working nowadays! The class has been brutal lately! (Side note: we had our second Oceanography quiz and Seamanship lines test, where we had to know the name and purpose of every line on deck. Flying colors, Mum.) This all started back in my Watch Team 3 days when Bodhi and I had to clean up two bilges worth of rotten milk; I remember so vividly those chewed-up cartons. How naïve I was then. Some days ago, the staff decided enough was enough, and Clayson ate rat poison. He was given a week to live. It’s been about a week now, hasn’t it? And what did I wake up to this morning but the faint smell of death wafting around the salon? It could’ve been the rotten eggs from yesterday. It could’ve been moldy potatoes. It could’ve been Clayson. Only time will tell. Personally, I must admire Clayson for his resourcefulness; well-named, I can only assume he’s been blessed by Pallas Athene and tasked with sailing the ocean blue; we can only hope that (if) when he dies, it’s not in the wall. Kiley’s ripping her boat check, and I’m getting distracted while chatting. I should’ve put the coordinates in my blog, she says, and now I’m stealing her idea: hello from 15*31.136’ S, 86*30.013’ E. Conditions are slight and sunny with minimal clouds and some windchill. Off she goes to the engine room, then down below. What else? Head Chef Amanda made a really tasty dinner. I didn’t lose it over the starboard rail! Big win. This happened during our 2-6 watch, and Ava was helping out as a sous. Meanwhile, Gabe was changing the oil and then fixing the heads, leaving Meg, Philip, and I on a three-person watch. It was really nice. They both said it was their appreciation of the day, and I felt a bit vain for saying the lines test. Alas, now that I am told to ready the fish sheet, I know exactly where I’m heading. Today’s squeeze question was, how’d you get your name, and what does it mean? Some standouts include Bodhi, named after the tree the Buddha was enlightened under; Ben, who really liked Beanie Babies; Amanda, whose parents were expecting Robert Richard; Alienor, named after a queen of England and France; Ainsley and her uncle’s ex-girlfriend; Kackie, not Kaki; Will, “it’s just a family name”; Philip, an unexpected light; Kiley Grace for Grace Kiley; and so on… We ended the squeeze with a classic HUZZAH. Readers, if you’d like to follow along at home, squeeze, cry out, huzzah! then throw something for good luck. Nothing will assuage the mid-cruise blues like a good huzzah. Mauritius by tomorrow? I can’t say for sure, but the Nav is estimating two weeks or so. In the unlikely event that we don’t make it there before November 10th, happy birthday, big brother! I’m thinking about you and the Bunny a lot. Not as much as I’m thinking about Sheba, though. Brrrrpt! Last night, I was snuggling my remarkably Sheba-shaped airplane pillow in bed and felt a sudden surge of love. My heart felt so warm, and I could only think of my friends who were family back home and who must’ve been sending it. It was received! I send it back in droves! x Juju