Location: Fiji to Palau
For Watch Team 2 (Myself, Anna, Lainey, Spencer, Elanore, Lexy, and Austin), the day started at midnight for the 12 to 4 AM shift- also known as the graveyard shift. In keeping with the theme, we kept ourselves entertained with stories of true crime and boat ghost encounters. The stories were so chilling that some of us were nervous to do boat checks alone and opted to do them hand-in-hand instead. In order to snap out of it, we wrote a song called “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Watchtime” (to the tune of “It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas”). When the time rolled around for the next watch team to be awoken, Lainey, Spencer, Elanore, Lexy, and Austin collectively illuminated their faces with red light and christmas carolled this song to each member of Watch Team 3 in their bunks. Apparently, the weirdness of it all leads to what is claimed to be the “most successful round of wake-ups of all time.” Even the people who are historically difficult to wake up were out of bed with laughter in no time. On the 8-12 watch this morning, Sidney and Maverick put their engineering skills to the test by constructing a new storm board for the main companionway out of old tupperware box lids. The stormboards are used to close up the boat to rain and sea spray, but we lost one of them overboard a few days ago.
Meanwhile, Beck and Emily maintained watch at the helm, and Olivia and Joshua helped Kelsey prepare lunch. While Kelsey cheffed, the rest of Watch Team 3 (Casey, Iain, William, Mathilda, and Addy) caught up on sleep after completing the sunrise watch shift this morning. After a lunch of cous cous salad, the students took their Marine Bio and Seamanship exams! Despite it being a double exam day, everyone seems to be in high spirits, with the calmer sea state and full sunshine compared to the past week of passage. After classes, many napped or lounged on deck only to be met with a … very mysterious … note from the one and only Neptune himself upon waking up. A photo of the note is attached. In two days’ time, we will enter the court of Neptune, and only then will we truly discover what is meant in his ominous and cryptic note.
I’ll go to bed tonight with many questions: what kind of offerings will please the Shellback court? Has Seamester prepared me in my mind, body, and soul for the wrath of Neptune’s gauntlet? From my experience in crossing the International Date Line, I know the King of Time’s ritual has included a teaspoon of wasabi- but what will Neptune demand at the gates of the equator? Only time will tell. Also, by the time you read this blog, our sweet, sweet Caterpillar Engine will have a birthday! She is turning 20,000 hours old! We are so grateful for her hard work and dedication to the cause. When the wind and sails are in a mood, we can always really on Cat to get the job done. With excitement, smiles, gratitude, sunrises, and sunsets- we inch closer and closer to Palau with the promise of an ice cream cone, life-altering scuba diving, and the opportunity to get in touch with our devout blog fans once again. On behalf of the Argo crew, we miss you! We are more than halfway there!