Location: Sorong, Indonesia
What. A. Day. It feels like we have accomplished so much today, and I think we really have. Watch team 1 had the 4-8 am watch this morning, and they brought us into the city of Sorong, the place we cleared in to go explore the rest of Raja Ampat. Once the anchor dropped, the day’s shenanigans began. Within minutes, Indonesian customs and immigration were on board to help us clear in. At the same time, the sky decided to DUMP massive amounts of water, and Argo got such a nice fresh water rinse. So far, Indonesia has been wet. But the good kind of wet where you feel like you just went swimming. After a morning of Immigration officials coming on and off the boat and taking a number of photos with us, we moved into boat appreciation mode.
Arriving in Sorong also meant time for a vegetable top-up. So, after lunch, Gabe and I hopped over to shore to visit the grocery mart. BUT, before we left, Sidney was chatting about how much she truely hates umbrellas. It may have started last night after the squeeze question of what would you write a self-help book about, and her answer was how to not use an umbrella. It turns out she hates them dearly in all senses, “I just believe in the proper gear for the outdoors.” So fair.
OK, fast forward. We’re headed to the store. I always love the feeling of stepping onto the dock after a few days of being at sea, especially when it’s a new country, and everything looks different than the place you left. We walked about 5 minutes to the store and stocked up on fruits and veggies for the next two weeks, and before I left, as I looked to my left, I saw every color umbrella you could imagine. I thought, wow, this was meant for Sidney. It was like she was there with us. While I was raving over the umbrellas, Gabe appeared with his new body wash, the one and only “Goats Milk Body Wash.” We also found a drink flavored Bird’s Nest, which we brought back to the boat for a tasting. Some reviews from the drink:
“Tastes like milky cereal”
“8/10 the bird’s nest extract is selling me in a way that other extracts are just not as good.”
“It tastes like medicine.”
“5/10 I might be into it if I was more into sweet things. I wish it were bubbly. Confused why it’s clear and not opaque. It tastes very opaque.”
“Why is it neon yellow?”
It smelled rather gluten-y, so I avoided trying it. But I am sad about it. I’d love to experience the flavor sensation.
Once back to the boat, BA was in swing. Annabelle, Elanore, and William helped unwrap all the veggies and get them into their sweet lil homes in the salon, while Olivia, Lexy, and Sidney were busy with topsides. Kackie, Lainey, Beck, and Spencer were all giving the deck a nice washdown, and Reagan, Addy, and Kelsey were busy in the galley, cheffing up dinner.
The evening has come, but the day is not over! Now that we’re all cleared in, we can head to our next anchorage. When 12 a.m. rolls around, we’ll be picking up anchor and heading to Friwin to do some more diving. It has been a full and wonderful day.