Location: Port Essington, Australia
Watch Team 3 (Claire, Annie S., Zev, D.J., Grayson, Will, James, Tor, and I) take to the helm and bow watch at 4 am, playing games and sharing stories to pass the time. After a beautiful sunrise, the boys put the fishing lines in, hoping to catch some salmon to smoke for lox for breakfast (no one informed me that salmon is not native to Australia, especially out at sea). Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful, but that sadness was short-lived when we finally laid eyes on something other than the horizon: land! After seeing nothing but ocean for four days, this was an exciting event. Around 9:30 am, we put the anchor down and spent the rest of the morning cleaning up Argo. Although it was very hot out (Carolyn measured 109 degrees in the direct sun), we laughed and joked on deck to get through the work. After lunch, we had an MTE class, learning about all the different lights, sounds, and shapes to help us with our next passage. The rest of the afternoon was relaxing: some napped, some read, some did last-minute edits on their first OCB paper, and we all enjoyed deck showers. Tonight, we dined on burritos a la Denmark, thanks to Hans and his sous-chefs. After cleanup, we have another MTE class and maybe an early night to bed (we suffer from a 30-minute time zone change and serious jetlag). We are all excited to have finally finished our first long passage with only two people getting sick and to get to go onshore to the Ranger Station tomorrow!