Location: Cape Verde
Setting foot on land in the Cape Verde city of Mindelo was delayed by a day due to the lack of customs agents on Sunday. It wasn’t a waste by any means. Refer to Matty’s blog to get the details of those Argo projects. So today, we get the dinghy to the docks. The final preps for our two-week Atlantic crossing will occur here. Everyone has come to learn that laying out his or her priorities early on makes shore time an easier adventure. Balancing exploration with running online errands and picking up snack supplies is always an act to accomplish when working in between dinghy ride times. Today’s destination is a remote island far removed from the west coast of Africa. It’s in stark contrast with the metropolitan island city.
We just left eight days ago, but I have to go…we have to clean up some water in the galley bilges… So, cleaning up the water in the bilges turned out to be a huge project. It turns out that a raw water bleed valve had been leaking overnight. This resulted in some water taking out of the bilge. Together, we used buckets, cups, bilge pumps, drill pumps (shocking, I know), sponges, and chamois to get the seawater out and our bilges clean and dry. Not a single crew member, staff and student alike, griped about getting to shore even though we had already waited a full day. Everyone was focused on the task at hand as one cohesive unit. We had to unload all gear stowed in the bilge, pump out all seawater, sponge with fresh water, and chamois it dry. The 2-hour event went relatively smoothly, and we all made it to shore for final Atlantic passage preps. It really is a rare and rewarding thing when an emergency brings the community together.