Location: Underway to Australia
Two weeks. That is all that remains, my loyal followers. Two weeks until we end our journey and return from whence we came. It should be an exciting two weeks, however. I’m definitely looking forward to it. Now, on to what you came here to see: my recount of the day’s events. For my watch team and myself, it started at 4 AM. Our sleep was abruptly cut short by people who said it was their turn to sleep. I don’t understand it. Why wouldn’t they want me to be more rested? I suppose I shouldn’t be too cross with them. I do get to spend time with my best friend whenever I am on watch, and what could be more fun than that? Nothing, that is what. We had to finish off my stash of snacks that were still full of chocolate.
I’m not one to keep eating sweets after I have satisfied myself, but I certainly was doing it today. Luckily, I had apples and oranges left, a rare commodity after six days at sea that was able to counter some of the artificial sugars. The watch went quickly. Eric and I were at the bow for what seemed like an hour, but it turned out to be two. Just after sunrise, a few dolphins decided to join us at our bow. They only stayed for about a minute, but I was within 10 feet of them. One of them jumped out of the water just before they left.
Lindsey woke everyone up in the focsle by yelling Oh my god, dolphins. This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. You can take that to court cause that is exactly the words she said. After watch, I went over some of the Emergency First Responders booklets in order to refresh myself for the upcoming exam. I planned to take a nap after that, but I got sidetracked by other things. I don’t recall the particulars, but I definitely didn’t get any sleep. Then lunch came around, and that is when the day started getting a little hectic. That was around the same time that we started to get some fairly big pitches. Nick showed Eric and me a fun game where you jump as the boat is at its highest point while surfing a wave. It is a strange sensation that I imagine is sort of like zero gravity for a split second. Oh yeah, lunch. Ben was the head chef, so that meant good food. We were lucky enough to be made fresh French bread by Mina, which was an amazing addition to the sandwiches that Ben prepared.
Then, we were gifted with humpback whales breaching a few hundred yards from our boat. Lindsey yelled, “Oh my god, I was wrong before.” This is the most amazing thing I have ever experienced in my life. I wish I could fly with the whales. After lunch, we had Marine Biology with Carolyn and then MTE with Captain Sam. Then, my team was back on watch. It was already two hours into our watch before we were even up there, so it wasn’t a very long one for us. There weren’t many of us even up on deck for the two hours, though, with everyone working on making their bunks ready for customs to inspect. And then it was dinner. Ben went to town on all the fresh food we had left in the galley. We couldn’t keep anything that we had in the fridges, so he made one giant dinner for all of us. There was chicken that he marinated overnight, macaroni and cheese that was to die for, potato salad, fried potatoes, and some of those veggie things that some people like. It was definitely a meal that you came to expect from Ben, and it was nice to have a full stomach. To top it off, it was Grace’s birthday (Happy 21st). She asked for a brownie and chocolate cake, and that is what she received. It was a great finish to the feast we had just enjoyed.
Oh, and my squeeze question wasn’t as in-depth as my previous questions, but I liked it. If you could live in the world of any movie, book, or TV show, what would it be and why? I went to sleep after dinner and then woke up to watch about thirty minutes before we were coming into Australia to dock. It was about 1:00 AM when we finished docking. Leah says it was freezing and wishes she hadn’t seen people wearing so many clothes. That’s about it for me, my followers. This is my last entry so you won’t be hearing from me from here on out. Stay strong, my friends.