Location: 19 57.96'S 165 44.81'W
Today we woke up to another day surrounded by blue in all directions. It is day 30, a big milestone, and we have also now traveled 1200 nm since the start of our trip, a pretty impressive feat for our first month at of program, I think. It is crazy to think that a month ago, everyone was just arriving onboard Argo in Tahiti and that a month from now, I will be sailing to Australia – but I am getting ahead of myself as we have lots of islands to explore first!
After a lunch of burritos, we had marine biology class, where we learned about marine reptiles and birds, and then we headed up on deck for our leadership class. We read different quotes from various leaders and business owners from around the world as to what they thought leadership was or what makes someone a good leader. Then we each wrote down a two-line summary of what we thought was important for leadership or advice for someone on how to lead their life so that it was meaningful. We then put our papers into a pile in the middle of the cockpit and then took a different one to read aloud to the group. It was really cool to hear all of the different things that are important to the members of the crew, and many of them were very thought-provoking or inspirational (I think we could make a pretty good book out of them!) We then broke up into four teams to put our leadership and teamwork skills into action. The mission: build as tall of a structure as possible out of 50 bendy straws and a ball of playdough in 10 minutes. This may not sound too difficult, but remember that we are on a ship that is currently rocking back and forth, plus there was a bit of a breeze to consider. All of the teams ended up with some good models, but there was a clear winner, with one group utilizing the straws as ties to secure several straws together to make them stronger. It was a fun activity, and all of the groups did a great job of working together.
After class and showers, we continued with a relaxed afternoon watch until we regrouped for dinner, during which we got to try Blake’s famous spaghetti pie. We have been hearing about this spaghetti pie since about week one of the program when it was first mentioned that students would eventually plan out their own menus. There was a lot of hype and also a fair bit of skepticism, but we have to say the result was good, and in fact, both of the first two days of all-student chef teams have produced some stellar meals. It has been great to see what this crew has learned and accomplished in the first month of the program, and I can’t wait to see what more we achieve in the next 50 days!