Bali to South Africa – Fall 2024

I don't know where to start. Argo, you have become a home for all of us over the past 88 days, which were some of the best days of my life. You carried us across a WHOLE ocean, yes, to the Vela lads out there; we crossed a WHOLE ocean, take that! There's so much to be thankful for; this trip has brought me so many skills, such as sailing, diving, first aid training, and four university courses worth of knowledge! It's crazy. I feel like I've learned as much as I would in a year or even two! Even with all these skills, the things that I will truly carry with me forever are intangible—the friendships, the memories, and, well, a dead rat.

A couple of days ago, it was our last day of passage and being in watch teams. This was extremely bittersweet but ultimately one of the highlights of my trip. I decided on the second last day of passage that l wanted to get my helm sona for fun, so l helmed for 4 hours straight from 4 to 8 am, which was amazing. I really love helming, l just felt so at peace and at home staring out into the horizon, which was my view for the last few months, besides the fact that there was a lot of pain in my feet and back throughout the 4-hour helm, it was worth it. So l became John Helmer Rutledge from Outer Banks, of course. This was honestly pretty easy, the sea state was pretty smooth and l felt like l could do much harder so after l completed my 4 hour helm that morning l knew that l wanted to try a 12 hour helm. Something l never thought l would do. I didn't even think l was gonna do 4 hours! At the beginning of this trip l found it mind blowing for people to be helming for 4 hours straight, l learnt that time is truly irrelevant. So since l knew we only had one more full day left of passage it had to be in that same day, so at 5 pm that same night l started my 12 hour helming journey. I wanted to make the most out of these last days of passage and what's better than helming for 12 hours, sleep perhaps, NO, NOTHING!

The first hour was really chill. I had some good laughs with my watch team while we were waiting for dinner. Then dinner rolled around, and Hannah spoon-fed me dinner as l continued helming. Then the sunset came, and it was STUNNING! The best last sunset for sure, it was breathtaking and helming at sunset was such a pleasure. I almost teared up. Then, l helmed for Watch Team 2 (Kackie, Ben, Hannah, Charlie, Draska, and Amanda), which was so much fun, and we had a great time! I was so happy to go back to my roots as l was a part of Watch Team 2 season 1 with Ben and Kackie. They made hot chocolate and popcorn for everyone and we sang our hearts out to all the songs people are annoyed with because l've listened to them on repeat lol, there was a lot of the Lumineers, Taylor Swift and of course the song Red Wine Supernova. Hannah, Ben, and l have become huge fans of the Lumineers. It has become a sentimental thing for us over a couple of days now that the trip is coming to an end. A lot of the songs are so relatable, and I connect so many of my favorite memories with them. For instance, Dead Sea l will forever remember Hannah and l dancing together on the chart house or down below in the salon. Especially whenever we had oceanography class, and Will was teaching us about density, salinity, and temperature and mentioned the Dead Sea in any one of his lectures, we couldn't help ourselves but start singing the song. Also, karaoke night on Hannah's birthday after we had a sign-out night is a night that I'll never forget. Everyone singing this song together in the saloon felt like home. It's funny because, at the beginning of this trip, people enjoyed listening to this song with us, then became, I'm assuming, based on best judgment, annoyed that we didn't stop listening to it, but things have come around. I'd like to say everyone is a fan of the song, whether they admit it to me or not. The song has to tug on their heartstrings, come on admit it.

Carrying on, it was now midnight, which meant my watch team was now on watch! Watch team 3 (Big old Alli, Will, young pretty Ali, Ainsley, and Philip) do some sail handling and see bioluminescent dolphins!!! I also had my one break from helming to use the bathroom, then got right back to it. At this point, l was reaching the last stretch of my helming journey. l truly felt like l was one with the boat; l was concerned that my hands wouldn't go back to normal and stay in the position of grasping a steering wheel! The 9th to 11th hour was definitely the most challenging for me because l was so cold, and when you are cold, you start thinking of why you're putting yourself into that position. Why don't I stop helming, grab socks, make myself tea, and curl up into a ball? I know l would feel instant relief. It's so easy to give into the pleasures of this world. But l made a promise to myself and l knew that l needed to stay true and follow through with it, if l can do this, everything l decide on doing in the future will seem like no big deal. So l pushed away these thoughts and feelings and focused on the beauty of the ocean, l can't describe how much l'm gonna miss it. Ali made cookie dough to celebrate in the last few hours of my sailing journey, and it was delicious! I spilled so much cookie dough on the floor that l couldn't see it since it was before the first light.

Now approaching the last hour, 4 to 5 am, it was time for Watch Team 1 (Gabe, Meg, Juliette, Kiley, Travis, and Bodhi) to have watch. Hannah also woke up to support me during the last hour, which was really nice and super fun to spend my last hour with! My watch team decided they wanted to stay and support me in the last hour of my helming journey, which l can't appreciate enough. For the parents out there, know that after watch people normally immediately hit the hay, it's hard enough to stay awake during the early hours of the morning, so them staying awake for me is something l'll always remember. The last 30 minutes of my helming journey was SO FUN. We blasted absolute bangers, and all two watch teams were singing and dancing as the sunrise was happening. Then it was time, time for what? For the last song… The Dead Sea by the Lumineers. We screamed and sang our hearts out to it. I'm surprised we didn't wake up the people sleeping in the chart house! Singing this song was truly one of my favorite all-time memories in my life. The sunrise was beautiful, everyone was there happy for me to be completing my 12 hour helm and singing that song felt like a full circle moment.

From the first day of passage until the very end, that song was always there. Philip was even singing it to his heart's content, which made me so happy to see it! So l became John Helmer Rutledge, Founder of the Gold!!! My job was done; l could finally collapse! To anyone thinking of doing the 12-hour helm, l gotta say that it wasn't that bad; don't overthink it! It's so much fun to talk to everyone as people come in and out of the cockpit. It's great for socializing. Perhaps you want an excuse to be on deck, or maybe you just want to eat the other watch team snacks, or maybe you do it to prove that you are capable of hard things. Whatever it is, choose one reason and let that guide you.

Something l always try to do is make the most of my time, and throughout this trip, l felt like I've done this. For future Argonauts, don't be afraid to try something new and make friends with strangers who are, surprisingly, all under the age of 10. Some of my favorite memories from my time on Argo were running through the streets of Bali in the rain and singing Iris with this guitarist on the street! Everyone ended up dancing and singing altogether in the streets throughout the night. It started raining, but no one cared. We were just dancing and enjoying each other's company. Also, l have a new found love of diving, it is absolutely amazing! I am so happy that l had the chance to do all the dives we did, my favorite being the drift dive and, of course, the very first time diving with Ben, Hannah, and Bodhi, fist pumping through the mud.

Something I'll always remember is when the propeller fell off, that damn rat! Also, being in Cocos Keeling was truly incredible! The whole duration of our stay was amazing! One of my favorite days was our dawn dive in the morning, which was incredible, seeing the sunrise as we ascended to the top. Then as we waited for breakfast l spotted dolphins which I immediately jumped in and swam with! Dolphins have become one of my favourite animals, they are so smart and incredibly friendly they are the best!!! Then, later that day, Kackie, Ben, Hannah, and l took the dingy over to the beach just before dinner to play volleyball, and we happened to bump into some other sailors there, including a kid whose name became very familiar with Argo, Riley. Don't worry, Christina. l didn't forget about your son, Clayson, the true king.

Alright, people, here's what we did today.
It was my last day waking up everyone, have l mentioned l love waking people up, it's not creepy l swear. I had many songs to pick from, although l decided to make the safer move and play the song unwritten to wake people out of their slumber instead of the Berries and Cream remix by Super Thick, which l would've probably gotten punched by someone. We all had a quick breakfast and then hurried over to the taxis, where they were waiting to take us all over the coast of Cape Town today!!! We stopped first at this penguin sanctuary which was very cool, penguins are cooler than you think people. We then grabbed coffee at this literal hole-in-the-wall restaurant that we crawled through to order! Next we stopped at this beautiful lookout from Cape Hope, we saw many ostriches which were so cute and fugly! Then we stopped at this route, where we walked up to the top of Cape Hope and got an amazing view of the Cape and shore. Seeing the ocean from a land perspective was really weird. Our last stop was the vineyards, where we stopped for lunch and a wine tasting! Everyone tried three wines, which l honestly thought were all pretty terrible, but I know that the charcuterie board and pear salad were outstanding! It was nice to sit down with everyone while over looking the amazing views, the place was quite peaceful. Then, it was time to head back and get some downtime before going to the night market! When we arrived at the night market, everything was so overwhelming. There was music, food, vendors full of cool stuff, and cool people wearing hats, but the lights were really what got me; l felt like l was a fly attracted to the lights. They were so cool!!! Everyone got a chance to try different foods and browse the shops there.

My favourite thing l tried was a cup of strawberries with chocolate sauce over them, so good. We then headed back to Argo for some good old trivia! There were two teams that tied on the last question, so of course, the only way to settle who the winner was was to have a diva off. They danced to Red Wine SuperNova, classic. This was definitely the best diva off yet; the energy was incredible, and it was funny that I was getting sentimental about it being the last diva off as they were swinging around the pole! Anyways, Juliette, Bodhi, and Ainsley claimed victory! Everyone is now writing their cards for each other because they are due tomorrow morning!!!

Writing this was honestly so hard. I am realizing that tomorrow is everyone's last day on Argo, which breaks my heart. Argo l had the time of my life, thank you for teaching me so much, l wouldn't be the same person without you. I really did feel like l changed or according to Philip grew into someone l always wanted to become.

Signing out (and over),

Ava Russell/John Helmer Rutledge, founder of the gold/biscoff smuggler ;)

P.S - Whoever has number 10, next semester you need to represent your number, number 10 is the best number, climbing up to your bunk is gonna be interesting especially when it's waving, but embrace it! Honestly, I think it's the best bed on the whole boat. You got the window at your feet so you can crawl and get to see the waves when you wake up, it's awesome!!! You are gonna love this place, you are going to meet so many incredible people, and ultimately have the best time!

P.P.S - Whoever finds my hat, please follow the instructions as written :))

P.P.P.S - See you soon, fam! Love you guys!