Location: Underway to Borneo in the South China Sea
Hello, today was our first day underway. On route to Borneo, we left very early this morning, about 0600 hours. Watches started today; we rotate between bow watches, where we look out on the horizon and the sea ahead for any ships, hazards, and land. Everyone was responsible for their own breakfast, which was different from what we had become used to in the few days aboard Argo. We were cruising at a slower speed than we would have liked to be, so we went through the process of raising two sails that are in the front of the boat, the main staysail and the forward staysail. We had our first introduction to the sailing classes today, basic seamanship and professional skipper training, where we went over the essential man overboard drills as well as the abandon ship drills. We also had our first shower while underway, which was exciting and interesting, to say the least. We rigged up the saltwater hose above our heads and washed in ocean water, which was actually extremely refreshing. All in all, today was exciting with the start of our passage, the raising of the sails, and our first saltwater shower, now off to night watch.