Location: Sopers Hole via The Indians
It’s been one busy day here on Argo! We started off the day with a sail to The Indians, where we got our first little taste of a wavy morning. After some coaxing, we had a wonderful breakfast of blueberry muffins prepared by Nick the night before (thank you, Captain!).
Following that, we split up into two groups: one to dive in the morning while the other had our first Seamanship class, which would swap come afternoon. I was in the first group along with Alexis, Lainey, Lizzy, Brig, Alexander, Lana, and Avery. After setting up our kit, we had a lengthy swim out to the dive site. The views were spectacular, though Meg noted that the reef had more algae than in the year prior. The highlights of the dive (besides watching Brig pose for photos underwater) were likely the Southern Stingray and the large Puffer Fish. That said, Logan informed me that group two (Mimi, Emma, Maizy, Mina, LouLou, Ella, Emily, and Logan, for certain some of the students opted out) mentioned that they saw a Nurse Shark and a Lionfish.
While eating lunch, we started to notice how absolutely fried we all were (with, hilariously, the exception of me, who is pretty much ALWAYS covered, knowing that I practically burn in moonlight), and were ordered to wear long sleeves for the rest of the day. There was some grumbling, but we complied without much fuss.
As Group Two departed for their dive, Group One had Seamanship. Today’s focus was pinrails and coiling, and I have been asked to mention that I was surprisingly good at it, or at least good enough to teach. I also had the pleasure of watching Shane demonstrate how to use the halyard. When the divers returned, we deflated Plaai (one of our dinghies), stored our dive equipment, and began to prepare the boat for our seventeen-day passage to the Azores.
The weirdest part of today happened in our passage back to Sopper’s Hole. We were approached by an unfamiliar catamaran that wanted to take pictures of Argo. They came alarmingly close to our starboard, so much so that Nick had to honk at them ten times to get them to back off. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to storing the remainder of the dive gear, cleaning the deck, and showering before dinner (chicken alfredo).
Tomorrow, we will get to go ashore for snacks and last-minute necessities, as well as call home to our families and friends before the passage.
To my family: I love you all, and I can’t wait to talk to you tomorrow! Give the pups some scritches for me, and give my cat a squeeze I miss them so much.