Location: Malolo Island, Fiji
We had a big day today of getting the chance to head off the dock and to a new island which was super exciting. Our morning started with the most delicious pop tarts, as pictured below, made my Frankie, Tim, Riley, and many of the students on board who helped last night. We then jumped right into cleanup as usual and did some work to get the boat ready in hopes of getting off the dock as soon as possible. Niko and Gabe, among many others, worked to clean the hull by removing rust stains and algae to make Argo look pretty again after our long passage. We were also able to leave behind our old mainsail to give to Geoff (one of our new friends in Fiji), who knows people who could repurpose it, which was super cool. Not long after working hard on cleaning up the boat, it was already time for lunch where Frankie and her sous chefs served us falafel bowls and salad, which everyone loved. Our day after lunch looked pretty similar to our morning as we kept working on making Argo look nice until we heard the news that we got our cruising permit and were now only waiting on the official paperwork. In the meantime, people were in the saloon reading, studying for their NavMaster exams, or working on writing their end-of-program index card letters to everyone else on board. Later on in the afternoon, we finally got our paperwork and our flag to show that our vessel is Covid free and has checked in with the country. Everyone on deck was super excited about the fact that we were finally heading off the dock and would get the chance to swim and be in the water more. With that being done, we all went up on deck to help get us off the dock. There was a team of about six of us working with the fenders and making sure the boat left the dock safely. All of us then worked on deflating our fenders and getting them stowed away in the anchor locker. Once we were off, Izzy and I headed up to the bow for bow watch and kept a lookout while Nick was on the helm. By the time we finally got to our anchorage, it was close to being dark, and we were able to drop anchor and start eating dinner, which was alfredo pasta, chicken, salad, and lemon bars for dessert. For our squeeze question, I asked everyone what their favorite childhood memory was, which sparked a lot of conversation, whether it was Renee’s snow days, Marina spending a lot of time outside playing in the woods, or the movies that Mac and his siblings used to make when they were younger. Overall, it was a very productive day, and we all had a lot of fun getting ready to move off the dock and are all looking forward to everything we’re going to get to do at the new island (spotting manta rays being one of them!). Anyways, this is officially my last blog post (assuming we don’t end up getting stuck in Fiji for another 27 days – just kidding), so now is when I say goodbye to you all. I hope you have enjoyed getting to read all the blog posts of the trip so far and seeing all the pictures of what we’ve been up to. See you soon, mom and dad!!!!
-Bella
Pictured: Pop-tarts for breakfast made by Frankie, Riley, and Tim;
Me, Marina, Una, Thea, Elie, and Izzy deflating the fenders after heading off the dock.
Louis and Giselle as we headed towards Malolo Island.
Tim, Niko. Una, and Izzy are working on getting the mainsail ready to be given to Geoff.
Riley and Frankie in the galley making lemon bars for dessert!!