Location: 36,01.379' N 50,05.929' W
Hello again from the Big Blue! We have had another fantastic day in the middle of nowhere. Today was an eventful day, so sit down, grab a bag of popcorn, and enjoy the journey!
Today was the last day of our first watch teams. My watch team (Watch Team 1: Mac, Michelle, Will, Nora, Ara, Garrett, and Myself), or as we like to call “The Village,” had a hilarious and action-packed night as we celebrated our final watch together. We were up bright and early at 12:00 am for our four-hour shift, covered by the blanket of stars filling up the night sky. It is incredible to see a night sky with almost little to no light pollution – I find it crazy that I’ve started to normalize seeing the Milky Way out here. A sight like that would be a bigfoot-level of impossible back where I’m from. Sorry for going on a tangent – back to the story.
We spent the majority of our final watch talking about our “Big Ideas.” From colonizing other planets to establishing our own sitting club, we probably caused the ocean to rise a solid 1 to 2 inches just by the sheer amount of tears we shed, crying and laughing. Always a good time with Mac the Village Elder!! Additionally, the picky-eaters on our watch team (including myself and maybe just myself) were arguing that one could go an entire passage just by eating fruit loops. (Mom, I’m just kidding. I’ve been trying so many delicious meals). As the sun began to light up the sky, our Village was brainstorming ways to end our reign on a high note. We decided to go out with a literal bang.
In an impulsive decision, and with the rest of the team’s support, I scurried into the starboard lazarette (storage bay located near the stern) with a rubber mallet, planning to strike a good scare for the incoming watch team. I was sitting among scuba tanks and sail covers patiently for roughly 20 minutes while Watch Team 2 took over the watch just inches above my head in the cockpit. At a pre-determined time of 4:10 am, I started going bonkers with the mallet, striking the steel scaffolding at random intervals. I started off with gentle bangs but grew louder and louder as I heard the commotion unfolding above. Eventually, I heard the metal clank of the hatch lever, and all fell silent. Dan, one of the staff on Watch Team 2, poked his head in, catching me red/mallet-handed. Gotcha! I climbed out of the lazarette ashamed of my discovery, and retreated back to my bunk for some Z’s. (Dan has been over my shoulder while writing this – he argues a different story where he “knew all along,” but I prefer my account.)
Even though I was horizontal and asleep now, the story of the day is just starting! (Watch Team 2’s watch is arguably more eventful). While Johnathan was conducting his watch team’s second boat check of the night, he found a flying fish near the starboard dinghy. In excitement, Shelby, one of our awesome Marine Biologists on board, quickly grabbed a knife to conduct an unscheduled biology lesson. Lesson for the day? Fish dissection! They started with the head, then the fins, then – yeah, sorry to those reading, I can’t write this anymore. I’m turning green. While this fish activity was unfolding, Dan was seeking revenge for my below-deck antics earlier in the AM. Dan scurried to his computer to draft an “extremely official” report of the upcoming watch team rosters. He placed all the staff in one team, all the boys in another, and all the girls in the third. (Fast forward to the morning – there was quite a hubbub when we all discovered this ominous piece of paper, but we were all in laughter when we found out who the true culprit was).
As the sun began to light up the sky, Watch Team 2 continued on with their dramatic morning. The team spotted a pod of 3 Long Fin Pilot Whales around 6:30 am, roughly 200 yards from the boat. Michelle would later exclaim that despite the name, these mammals were technically considered dolphins from a group known as Black Fish. Who knew? (I was later shown pictures of the sighting – they’re pretty sick!) Maybe it was this animal encounter or some shooting star, but this seemingly gave Watch Team 2 inspiration for an act of kindness. Emerging from their bunks, groggy Watch Team 3 was greeted with a full breakfast cereal bar served up by Anda and Johnathan. From Fruity Pebbles to Lucky Charms, this had to be one of the best breakfast establishments ever to roam the high seas. They even wore Polos and donned French accents to add to the luxurious atmosphere. What-a-treat! (Picture attached)
I woke up to what sounded like car alarms around 11:00 am. I thought I was hallucinating. Is there such a thing as rush-hour traffic out in the middle of the Atlantic? In a daze and overfilled with curiosity, I stumbled my way up to the cockpit, only to find Emma and Joey yelling a series of beeps at each other. As it turns out, this was their brand-new and innovative study technique as they had been preparing for their upcoming PSCT exam. I was informed that these seemingly random beeps and boops have meaning, mimicking horn-based communication between different vessels. These blasts can mean different intentions, directions, and other messages. Pretty interesting stuff! I’ll have to try this next time I merge onto I-95 when I get back home.
After this interesting wake-up technique, it was soon time for lunch! Shelby, Charley, and Lucie had been in the galley all morning cooking up a fantastic meal. I caught a few glances as I was hobbling around the galley. Had to be one of the best chef teams I’d seen yet. Their cooking was poetry in motion, working together efficiently and effectively to cook a variety of bowls of fried rice. It was a great meal, and by the sheer speed everyone finished their bowl, you could only classify it as a five-star meal! It was now time for the most important event of the day. New watch teams!
As mentioned earlier, today was the day for watch team reassignment. The old is now new. As we wrapped up lunch, Captain Tom sent me to fetch the new watch team assignments. Peaking my head back out of the chart house, I could feel the anticipation in the air. My fellow crewmates were sitting on the edge of their cockpit seats. It was time. As I read each team, there were roars and gasps bouncing across the boat. I was placed in watch team 3, separated from the rest of The Village, marking the end of an era.
While our rice inventory was low, our morale was certainly high as we climbed down the companionway for the class. Throughout the morning, everyone was exclaiming their excitement to start fresh on a brand-new day. Todays going to be a great day. What a day to have a day. (Im not sure what had everyone on the up & up this morning. Maybe the whales? Maybe the vibrant Carolina blue sky this morning? (go heels, btw)). We brought this excitement to our NavMaster class, our first class of the day.
Today, we learned about Running Fixes, a way of approximating ones location off a single landmark. Knowing our distance and bearings between two measurements, we can utilize basic geometry to find our position on the water. We also covered Leeway, a concept that accounts for the wind pushing a vessel off course. Mac showed us his insane crabbing skills as he gave an in-person demonstration of the topic.
Following NavMaster, we jumped right into Leadership, where we were given a wonderful presentation on Ethical Leadership by Zoe and Flo. They covered how we can provide impactful leadership while still upholding our ethical values. Great job guys! After Zoe and Flos presentation, Emma and Dan opened these themes of ethics to a bigger group discussion. We explored a variety of different scenarios, trying to understand if the ends always justify the means. By having this deeper discussion on ethics, we as a crew can further comprehend the WHALE!!!! Go! Go! Go!
Our ethical discussion was thrown right overboard as we all scurried up the companionway to see the large mammal off our port side. We all thought Tom had played another classic prank on us, but unable to get visual contact with the creature. As we all hung our heads and started moping back to the salon WOOSH!! A funnel of water came shooting out of the dark blue water, just like Old Faithful at Yellowstone. It was right around a mile away, but it felt like we were right there. We watched the horizon as the whale shot off a few more towers of water before swimming off into the distance. Super cool! A moment I will remember for quite a while. Tom, Michelle, Emma, and a few other marine enthusiasts quickly grabbed a marine mammal identification book to identify the whale. Turns out, by the distinct forward direction of the spray from the whales blowhole, the whale was identified to be a Sperm Whale. Furthermore, we were sailing right by a sea mount, which resembles underwater mountains, commonly hosting a variety of different sea life. Could be another reason for our whale-tastic spotting!
As our excitement began to cool, it was safe to say the class was officially dismissed for the day. We now had some free time before dinner. Being on the chef team for tomorrow, I met up with future head chef Emma to get started on our groundbreaking meal for lunch tomorrow. Whats on the menu you may ask? Homemade Bagels! This menu item is an uncharted area for all of us, so we are definitely in for an adventure. We spent the rest of the afternoon rolling and shaping bagels from dough. Pretty fun past-time, I must say. We even had some leftover dough. I attempted to craft a Pretzel from the scraps, and currently Id like to think its a work in progress. I have faith! We put all our dough creations in the freezer for the night well see how theyll turn out tomorrow!
As the afternoon came to a close, the wind died down to a minimal amount, meaning some of the sails would come down, and the engine would soon roar to life. We had all hands on deck, bringing down the flying jib, jib, and main sail. I joined Flo and Joey on the bowsprit, helping flake both jibs as the waves crashed beneath us. We were all laughing and taking pictures as the sun gradually painted the sky a gorgeous orange and pink hue.
Simultaneously, Lucie, Charley, and Shelby were back in the galley hard at work on dinner. With their final product of chicken and potatoes, lets just say they were back-to-back champions. Another home run! With dinner winding down, I presented the daily squeeze question, What is your phone wallpaper/background, and why is it significant to you? I really appreciated the responses. Some heartfelt ones of dogs and some silly ones of bears, it was a great question to end the evening.
Welp, thats about it. Hope you enjoyed my story! If you want a moral/theme to this tale, just know that we are all having the times of our lives. Every day is an adventure, and this journey is something we will all probably tell our grandkids about someday. We couldnt be happier. We are all safe and sound and cant wait to be in touch again soon!
If you made it this far, tell your fingers Im sorry! I bet scrolling/swiping all this way was quite a workout for them.
P.S. Mom, Dad, Anna & Georgie!!!! Hope you all are so well! Anna, I hope youre winning every event up in Michigan. I know youre going to do great! Give Georgie a couple of throws of the tennis ball for me.
Mom & Dad, all is well! Im so happy. That’s pretty cool; yesterday, we crossed 34,41 N, which is dead east from Atlantic Beach/Cape Lookout. Felt so close to home, even though we were 1150 miles away. I can see the house from here!
If you couldnt tell from this essay, Im having the time of my life! I’m so blessed to have such an opportunity. Thank you so very much for all your support and love. This experience is truly life-changing. I cant wait to tell you all about it in Gibraltar or in NC. Miss you guys!
Hope all is well in NC and Michigan. Sending you all my love! <3 Runyon
P.S.S. Baboo, Annie, & Jim Hope all of you are well! Im alive and happy. Cant wait to share stories! Love you so much! Runyon
P.S.S.S. Friends, hope yall are having a fantastic summer. Cant wait to see yall when I get back!
P.S.S.S.S. Eric & Team. Hope all is well in Cary. Looking forward to the Fall!