Location: Falmouth, Antigua
It has been over two weeks since S/Y Ocean Star has been floating at anchor amongst the safe, serene scapes of Antigua. Signs of such isolation are unfortunately starting to show on the remaining crew. This morning I awoke to the sound of our toilet, giving a mechanical flushing sound, which concerned me given the manual nature of the hand pumping required of them. I was horrified to see the sight of Alex spinning in a circle while making a whooshing sound over and over again. However, he seemed happy at the moment, so I decided to leave and inform the Chief Medical Officer, Lauren. I overheard her talking on deck. Once I got on deck I was shocked at the sight of Lauren standing at the helm yelling for sails to be raised and trimmed, sadly no one else was on deck, and we’re at anchor, when I approached her to ask whom she was giving orders to raise sails to she just pointed forward with a blank expression on her face. I fear the varnish fumes may have got her. I headed to the Galley to inform Amanda of what I had seen, she seemed greatly concerned, not with what I had told her but that the cake she was preparing wouldn’t turn out well. She was standing with the whisk, mixing an empty bowl. She asked if I would like to taste the mixture of what was essentially metal and air, so I decided to back off slowly so as not to arouse any suspicion of her odd behavior. I have now sought the safety and shelter of my cabin. I fear the cracks are starting to show in people’s mental resolve. I am, however, keeping strong in fact as I write this. I am being informed by possibly the last voice I can trust Matt G. that everything is going to be okay and that I can rely on him should I need anything. That kind of support is key in times like these.
I also fear that the crew may be losing respect for me. Over the last few days, I have been the victim of some unfortunate mishaps. First, Chief Medical Officer Lauren offered me a jar of peanuts, to which I delightfully agreed to share, only to find that there were fake snakes in the jar, this startled me severely. Then our head of Program Amanda called my communicator to ask if the refrigerator was running. When I gave the confirmation that the coolant system was working properly, she told me that I’d better go catch it. How could a refrigerator run away? Disturbing stuff indeed. The last straw was when Lead Scientist Alex placed a sort of rubber balloon on my seat, which sounded like flatulence as I sat on it, everyone laughed, it was quite embarrassing. I can only assume these are the actions put together by a crew with a lack of concern for my mental well-being. If their efforts turn to mutiny, I fear I will be forced to scuttle the ship and heroically descend down to the depths, which currently stand at 15ft, not very deep at all, thinking about it.
Please look after yourselves out there.
Greaves out..Ending transmission.
Picture 1 – Myself and Matt G planning escape should the worst happen
Picture 2 – Lauren ordering the deck about (no one was on deck)
Picture 3 – Go faster stripes have been added to Ocean Star to increase her speed, I can’t wait to test them out.