Location: Krabi, Thailand
Today marked our 6th day of the program, and I think everyone is really starting to get the hang of life on Argo. I have been impressed with everyone’s enthusiasm, work ethic, and ability to pick up the way things are done onboard. As today’s skipper, it was my job to make sure that everything that needed to get done got done, and it was made so much easier by the fact that everyone on board was so willing to help out. We are getting quicker at launching the dinghies in the morning and bringing them back on board in the evening, rolling out and putting away the tarp, and, in general, getting ourselves from point A to point B. Today, “point B” was the shore of Krabi, where the crew enjoyed a morning of free time on land. Time was well spent – hiking around the beautiful island, eating local Thai food (I heard the pad Thai was awesome), and doing the first bit of shopping (there are several pairs of “elephant pants” onboard the boat now – the super comfortable pants, often in an elephant print, that seem to be obligatory to buy while in Thailand).
After lunch, everyone returned to Argo and spent the next few hours learning about safety on board. We walked through what would happen in the event of a fire, a man overboard, or an abandoned ship. This included setting up the fire hoses on board, learning how our life rafts work, and locating all of the emergency supplies and rations onboard. Of course, we hope to never have to use these things, but we will constantly practice with drills so we are prepared for anything.
There was some free time before dinner, so some of us decided to do a little exercise up on deck. About half the crew joined Laurie for an extreme ab workout on top of the chart house, and then four of the ladies stuck around to do some cardio kickboxing with me. Aside from being a marine biologist, I was also a fitness instructor back in the US, so I love it when people want to exercise with me onboard. So far, in the past three days, we have done yoga, Zumba, and kickboxing. Fingers crossed that I can keep up with the Argo-robics as we continue on, but so far, I have been impressed with the level of enthusiasm, energy, and skill of the group. So there you have it – a day of exploration on shore, safety, and learning, and a little dancing around on deck – life in paradise seems to be working pretty well for this group.