Location: Tenerife, Canary's
At 4 am, Watch Team 3 tried to relieve us after our four hours, and all of Watch Team 2 sat there in our sandwich (think penguin huddle for warmth), unable to say goodbye. Well, Joe tried to leave and go to bed, but the rest of us restrained him cuz the sandwich is nothing without his incredible heating capabilities. Normally, a watch team being relieved is followed by everyone hurrying away to be briefed at mid-ships and then SLEEP. However, this was our final watch as the original and perfect and sandwich-filled Watch Team 2, and saying goodbye was not easy. Eventually, Amanda told us we really should go to midships, and so we pathetically filed out of the cockpit. Down in the salon, we took off our PFDs and said goodbye forever. It might seem a tad ridiculous to an outsider to be saying farewell like that when we live on a boat together, but an outsider could never understand.
We woke to the sound of an anchor dropping, and for once, it wasnt Watch Team 2 bringing us in – good for Watch Team 1 for letting us sleep in! Our port in the Canaries is pretty far out, and we get to walk past countless boats (some of which really rock!) on our way into town. Before shore time, though, we had to put the boat to bed; special shoutout to Erik and Stich for finagling the million-ton polar bear line into the anchor locker. I tried my best to help, but they MVPed for sure. Then it was lunchtime, sausage wraps, courtesy of our fabulous head chef, Chelsea.
Next on the docket: making everyone scrub the floors, clean their bunks, and submit their menus. Being skipper gives you a lot of empathy for the instructors because getting things done on this boat that people dont really want to do is like herding cats. I made a list and prowled the halls for people who needed to submit their menus for the crossing, but a few people escaped me and went ashore for laundry and snacks instead. Rude. This gave Calli Miles and me a great chance to add frozen berries and cream to a few menus because the only thing stopping us from eating that every day is ourselves, and shouldnt we eat that every day?
Floors were violently scrubbed, with much enthusiasm brought by Greta and Gabby. If a floor is being scrubbed, Gabby and Greta are probably doing it. Its a beautiful thing that they share with the ground.
Eventually, everyone was off ashore, exploring funny old Santa Cruz de Tenerife. 2 boba shops were incredible, a Christmas shops-adorable, and there was a serious lack of giant supermarkets. We were blessed beyond our understanding in Madeira and Gibraltar. Most people battled to do laundry, which is always a lot of drama. There have never ever been enough washing machines or dryers. Personally, I just got boba and wandered around with Calli and Miles, who valiantly stayed by my side while everyone else ran into the laundry battle. We got some extra for Calum and Amanda, who didnt get shore time but deserve all the bubble tea in the world. Calum tried Taro for the first time! A life-changing experience for sure.
Everyone got back just in time for dinner, and Chelsea made a real fan favorite: tomato soup and grilled cheese! Personally, I think she made the best tomato soup weve had yet. Her sous chefs, Will and Joe, definitely deserve shoutouts as well. Calum announced we had acquired water and a trash can (the latter may have been borrowed from a boat that left, so why would they need it?), saving Eriks life because being Trashmaster is rough, even with a trash can next to the boat. For squeeze, I asked everyone what their favorite quality about themselves is.
After cleanup, the people were off again, this time for showers, McDonalds, and more laundry. People did some studying because we have two rather big exams in the next few days, both of which are 90% memorization-based. Brutal. Studying calls for snacks, and while out earlier, I bought 750g of butter, which is always the limiting factor in whether I can make cookie dough or not. Chelsea continued her chef day into the night by helping me out, and we both appreciated the excuse to pretend to be electric mixers instead of studying.
Calli has become the study guide on board, looking through the slides and quizzing us on everything, and Xavi, Joe, Sean, Daisy, and Gordon bullied her into studying with them instead of going to sleep. Poor Calli. She gave them exactly twenty minutes and then vanished into her nest.