Location: Underway to Richards Bay
WERE BACKKKKKKKKK!!!!! Last night, we returned to lovely Argo and began preparing her for passage. We deckied for 1 hour? 2 hours? 30 minutes? I’m not sure, but I was shocked when Ainsley told me it was 8:30 pm. We all caught up/ said bye to our families before going to bed. This morning, Kackie woke us up at 5:00 am, and then I double-checked that everyone was up at 5:15. I played Africa by Toto (obviously maybe a cliche choice on our way to Richard’s Bay) and danced in the cabins. We started passage prep right away.. taking off sail covers, putting away dive gear, getting halyards ready, etc. A few hours later, we had breakfast cooked by Ben, who continues to disprove the stereotype that British people can’t cook. It’s nice to be back eating in the cockpit with everyone, and it feels really good to be back in Argo. Wanna Studios treated us well, but it feels like we’re off of holiday, and now we’re back home. We have new watch teams now. I’m still on watch team 2 with Ben and Kackie, but the new members are Drazka, Amanda, and Charlie. We had a bit of free time after our new watch teams were announced, so I started the new book I bought in Mauritius before we had to put up the main sail. After sail handling, we had lunch and marine bio with Meg, and then I was on watch from 2-6. It feels good to be back in the routine of passage, and it’s crazy how natural it has become to us. Whether it be waking up at 4 am, cooking in the galley, or showering in the red lights, all the things that were foreign to us 60 days ago have become almost 2nd nature. I do not want to get sappy, but with only 30 days left, I can’t help but get a little sentimental. Anyway, as we left Mauritius today, I got everyone’s favorite memories from our time at the shore. Here’s what everyone said: Ainsley: dinghy sailing and going to cafes every morning Amanda: playing soccer with the French men on beach Pretty Ali: escaping Jordan (sail instructor who wouldn’t leave us alone) on the hobby cat Ben: dinghy sailing when they nose dived and capsized and realised travis had gone through the jib Kackie: provisioning with Juliette, Ainsley, and Travis Ava: water aerobics, walking around in tie dye shirts with Hannah, and walking around with the taxi driver trying to convince him to allow us to by his dinner since we were out of cash Philip: “I just love Mauritius” Meg: the mantis shrimp Travis: “the one time I went through the jib” Big Allie: watching Kackie get punched in the stomach Juliette: getting to talk with the same woman at the store everyday who recognised her Drazka: dinghy sailing with honourable mention of synchronised swimming Kiley: being able to dinghy sail with the knowledge from Argo and understand everything Gabe: finding out he was still logged into a restaurant’s wifi since last being here 2 years ago Bodhi: Travis going through jib Tomer: anchoring on sail Charlie: Port Louis natural history museum, dinghy sailing, cafes in the morning and playing super smash bros in the hotel ] Will: beach Lastly, for my favourite memory it’s hard to pick one, so I’ll list a few.
Buying tie-dye shirts with Ava and creating new identities was fun. Begging our taxi driver to let him buy us dinner since we didn’t have any cash and walking through the streets of Mauritius with him is something I’ll never forget. Dinghy sailing was hysterical, and sitting on the Wanna Studio roof eating Nutella and pretzels was immaculate. Mauritius was a good break after 17 days at sea, and I think it rejuvenated us for this next passage. See you all in another 18 days! Shout out to my family at home and Christa for turning 20 on the 20th 🙂 P.S. Ava says hi to everyone at home, especially Meeza, Marshmallow, and Buggs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.P.S It is Ben’s bday tomorrow, so Ava and I have lots of games and surprises planned hehehehhehehehehehhehehehehehe