Location: 1000 miles East of Nuku Hiva
Today, we had no snow, no traffic jams, no stray dogs, no bills to pay, no frostbite, and no shopping channel. We did, on the other hand, have the wind coming and going, as well as slightly changing directions. Each little change calls for a watch team leader to find me for a short consultation. Shall we strike a staysail, which is flogging behind the main sail? What course shall we take in order to keep our sails full without adding too many sea miles to our journey? As the wind decreases, what would be the minimal speed we shall keep before turning our engine on? In order to answer such questions, we aim to strike a balance between the number of shore days we plan, the ease of steering, the stress on our rigging, the financial and environmental cost of diesel, as well as the joy of sailing. Every sail-plan decision calls for a dedicated watch team to flex their collective muscles at any time of the day and night to hoist, trim, strike, and/or flake huge heavy sails. Another little decision to make was our Argo time zone. We could turn our clocks back an hour every 15 degrees we sail West, and by that, keep our local noon (sun highest in the sky) around 12:00. Instead, we opted to keep our clocks unchanged for a while so we can enjoy longer daylight for dinner and clean-up.
Of course, we will have to change 2.5 hours back in the next days before arriving at Nuku Hiva. What I liked most about today’s Leadership class was that the students took center stage. Emma and Felipe prepared a short introduction to the Marquesas. Anna facilitated a discussion about a chapter of her choice from “Exploring Leadership” book. Then Chance took the floor and presented our first rudimentary draft of Argo’s carbon footprint together with Makena, Emma, and Max. I can’t wait to see their next consolidated version. As much as we can feel the vastness of the ocean, we can also feel this long passage is slowly entering its last stretch. I didn’t really know what to expect from a group of total strangers and first-time sailors attempting to cross the ocean. By now, I feel so much admiration. Argo is overflowing with resilience, kindness, optimism, and joy. Tomer.