Location: Underway to Fiji
To all Argo’s loyal fans out there: hello; it is I, your skipper of the day, r-dawgg (Renee P). for the lucky 8 of us on Watch Team 1 (myself included), the day started with a 3:30 am wakeup in preparation for our 4-8 watch. As we sleepily emerged on deck, we were greeted by Watch Team 3, who passed along the news that on the watch prior to theirs (8-12), Watch Team 2 saw GLOWING DOLPHINS (!!!). The possibility of a glowing dolphin sighting energized us as we set out to complete typical watch tingz (boat checks, bow watch, you know–the usual). Unfortunately, no glowing dolphins were spotted. However, we were awarded a fabulous constellation prize in the form of muffins made by Nick the night before and yet another beautiful Pacific sunrise. Eventually, the clock struck 8 am, and as I rolled back into my bed, members of Watch Team 2 rolled out of theirs, ready to start the day. As I blissfully slept in, my bunk Watch Team 2 was busy with boatmeal, dance parties, and putting up the fi$h–a milestone for us here on Argo: sailing with all 6 (SIX!!) sails up. at noon exactly head chef Nick, along with sous chefs Thea and Giselle, brought a delicious lunch of pesto and mushroom risotto up on deck. (clarification: lunch for most, breakfast for myself as, despite my proclamation the night before that I was gonna get up early, I ended up reemerging from my slumber at an impressive 11:55 am–some would point out that this has become somewhat of a pattern of mine throughout this passage. I, unfortunately, can’t disagree). After lunch and cleanup, we started a new unit in Marine Bio class with Amanda and then had a split Seamanship class in preparation for our upcoming NavMaster exam. To ensure we each get enough practice on the charts, our group has been split into two for Seamanship. While half of us work on plotting, dead reckoning, estimated positions, and a few other things I can’t remember (clearly, I’m in the second group), the other half of us get some study hall/free time. The class was ended by the distinct sound of the hose hitting the deck, taunting us to get going with our deck showers. We reemerged on deck clean and ready for dinner, and what a dinner it was. Nick, Giselle, and Thea worked like a galley crew have never worked before to prepare the delicious chili, french fries, and cheese sauce we had for dinner, completed by cornbread made by breadmaker Marina. No one was left unsatisfied, and yet there was even more… birthday cake!! Oh? Did I forget to mention that TODAY FRANKIE TURNED 20!!!!!!! our already great day was made even greater by the non-stop birthday celebration for someone so easy to celebrate. Squeeze was filled with many laughs as we all shared our favorite memories with Frankie. It is now 8:27 pm as I write this; Watch Team 3 is currently having a great time on watch (I know this because I can literally hear them singing and dancing as I type); Watch Teams 1 and 2 are likely in bed trying to get what little sleep they can before they’re on watch, while Riley and Lewis are in the salon, waiting for me to hurry up and finish this so we can get started on our standing Survivor-watching date.
peace out from the Pacific,
Renee
Current position: 726.26’S x 12009.87’W
Pictured:
the birthday girl
Niko, our resident dm in training, is working on something that has to do with an oxygen tank… BLINDFOLDED!!!
Niko, Marina, Izzy, and myself on the chart house