Location: Underway to Borneo
Our 45-day (50% through the program!) celebration began when the whole crew congregated at lunchtime for pizza bagels. The ocean was so still and glassy that I can only describe it as sailing through a fruit roll-up. Our afternoon consisted of learning about sharks, rays, and various other ocean creatures that could potentially harm us. Following OCB class, our PSCT students took their first exam on collision regulations, and everyone passed! After hours of baking in the equatorial sunshine, we walked our sweat-slicked selves to the bow for shower time. Underway showers used to be quite the form of entertainment consisting of 13 soap-covered students sliding around a rolling deck, grabbing at rigging, and waiting for a turn under the hose; it was the sort of material Charlie Chaplin could have used. We’ve now developed a system of holding each other’s hands while waiting in line so that no one gets soap in their eyes or falls overboard in the process. We slightly resemble a kindergarten class crossing the street, but it gets the job done. We are three days out of Jakarta (a pit stop for customs and immigration), which means three days closer to Borneo and holding hands with orangutans instead of soaped-up students. We are officially halfway through our voyage, which, of course, meant brownies for dessert, given our habit of celebrating small milestones with lots of butter and sugar. It was delicious. You stay classy, Argo.