Location: Underway to the Caribbean
During my time on Argo, there have been a lot of moments that I have deemed undescribable as anything other than “boat life.” Today began bright and early with one of them. At midnight, watch team 1 began their 12-4 am watch, meaning my day as skipper started early. I walked into the salon, having been woken wonderfully by Chloe just 5 minutes earlier, and quickly found out that our watch team leader, Shane, wasn’t so lucky. The first thing he said when he saw us this morning was, “There was a flying fish in my bed.” This may seem like an impossible occurrence, and it definitely would be at home, but living on a sailboat really teaches you to expect the unexpected. While there were no witnesses (except watch team 3), Shane says that this fish flew in through his open hatch, hit his feet, was kicked off the bed, and flopped on the floor for a good minute before he was able to pick it up and chuck it back into the ocean from the companionway. Alas, his bed may smell like flying fish for the next couple of weeks, but watch went on. We had a blast taking out a reef from the main sail and then relaxing on our newly invented tether swingset. About six bowls of ramen were made, including Luca’s final chicken ramen, which he put blood, sweat, and tears into before it ended up all over the floor of the cockpit. Watch team 2 followed from 4-8 am, and watch team 3 braved the 8 am-12 pm period before lunch.
Given that the seas were a little more relaxed today, a number of us did laundry, hoping and praying all of our favorite t-shirts and our limited numbers of underwear don’t fly off the lifelines into the Atlantic. We all learned to tie things extra tightly after Emily’s sweatshirt loss. Others spent some time in the sun exercising and maxing out on burpees, as well as grinding out Fish ID books and watching movies. In the meantime, Fish, Ben, and Shane whipped up a fabulous sloppy joe bowl for all of us to enjoy. No one knew exactly what to expect, but they came out victorious. After eating, everyone cleaned up, and I took the helm for a little while. You’d think that after 60-some days living here, I’d have the hang of it, but today proved otherwise. All seemed to be going well until my backseat drivers chimed in, but who knows if I would have crash-jibbed without them
Class went on as usual we practiced our Navmaster skills and learned about reptiles and seabirds while sweating profusely in the salon. The Navmaster test is coming up soon and we’re all feeling a little “nervoucited.” I genuinely think it will be a bonding experience, hoping that we all pass. Class ended quite early, so watch team 2 headed on up to the deck and had a jam session while all others took precious 2-6 pm naps, snacked on the three apples we have left, and spent time reading in the hatch of the emergency companionway. Chefs continued cheffing, and lucky breadmaker Samantha worked on some FIRE English muffins. When our oven broke a little over a month ago (the day I was head chef), I expected we would never make homemade bread again. Yet, the stovetop garlic naan, cake pancakes, cornbread, and now English muffins have proven me delightfully wrong. I might even make some when I get back home.
Dinner ended up being quite earlysomething that is unheard of on Argoso I got to wake everyone from their naps with “Good morning sunshine!” It really was a highlight of my day. On the menu was “breakfast for dinner,” and it was once again extremely successful. As the sun began to set, we did squeeze and I asked, “Who is someone you admire and which of their qualities do you try to implement into your life?” There was a mix of answers ranging from teachers and mentors to best friends and siblings, and I truly loved listening to everyone talk about those whom they love. We broke the squeeze with a squeeze triple clap, and as cleanup started, we welcomed an awesome visitor. A beautiful brown bird circled our boat for what felt like an hour, landing temporarily on the boom before continuing on with its day. It seemed like it was having so much fun flying up and down and in circles and playing with the wind. I will never get over the fact that we keep seeing birds so far away from land. I really don’t think boat life will ever cease to amaze me.
Now, as I finish this blog, watch team 3 is jibing, and we just turned on the engine. Shane is giving a dance lesson to about half the boat soon, so we can all get in on the fun when we change time next and dance to “King of Time.” ETA in Dominica is currently looking like November 29th, but we will see! Rest assured, however, that we are all having a fabulous time on passage and taking in as many ocean views as possible. We miss all of you back at home so much and cannot wait to talk to you once we anchor in the Caribbean. We couldn’t do it without you guys!
Mam, Pap y Sebastin, los extrao a morir y siempre pienso muchsimo en ustedes. Y, abuelo, feliz cumpleaos adelantado! Hablamos muy pronto; los adoro a los cuatro. Besos!
This is my second and final time as skipper, so bye, blog readers! Thank you for chiming in on all of our shenanigans.