Location: Kumai River, Borneo, Indonesia
Day 10, 0100 hours. With a fierce headwind and fat rolling swells, our fearless first mate has noticed that the jib has become unleashed. He braves the bowsprit and weathers the crashing tide to lash down the jib. The captain gives the order to raise the mainsail, and our six-person watch team springs into action. This was to be the first time on this voyage that the sail was going up. We raised it well, and we had the bare minimum of the crew to do the job, and we even reefed the sail properly. Up until now, I had underestimated the intensity of sailing such a large vessel, but to quote an uncle, “Ocean sailing is 4/5 peace and 1/5 exhilaration.” This, I will never forget. After the hoist, Argo’s speed over the ground jumped to about 8kts, and this was all in the first three hours of the day. The swells persisted through lunch, which was amusing as we had to assemble our sandwiches in the cockpit. Our open water divers in training took their PADI test, which was a general success, and we all went to bed salty.