Location: Underway to Villefranche
Today we returned to the sea, well, the Mediterranean. It was an early 7 am wake up. Of course, no one got out of bed until 7:28, two minutes before a delicious breakfast. The food consisted of four, I mean FOUR, pieces of french toast, each with an absurd amount of sugar-filled toppings.
Today was not a day of leisure. Right after breakfast, we rolled right into cleanup and promptly pushed off the dock. Not to depart, mind you, but to head over to the fuel dock so that we could feed the engine. As the fuel was being pumped, we did the great “boat appreciation.” Going over almost every inch of Argo and making sure that she is ready for the five-day passage to Villefranche. All went smoothly on the boat. The laundry, however, was much more of a fiasco. To get to the laundromat by land from the fuel dock, we would have had to go through customs again. So to avoid that hassle, we unloaded the neatly sorted dinghy and lowered it into the water so that we could motor over to a different dock that did not require a visit to customs. Problem solved. The laundry squad went on their merry way and returned with almost 100 kilos of clean laundry for Argo and her shipmates.
Meanwhile, people on the boat got off the boat go to a little store at the gas station. They did not go just for the snacks but also for the much-coveted Wifi password. Soon after, we pushed off the dock for good. But we paused for Dan to go swimming. Preferably in a spot with no jellyfish! He was really just checking the propellor before we got underway again. After his swim, lunch was ready. There was fresh fruit, a build-your-own salad bar with delicious toppings, along with warm bread and cheeses. Yum. Then we started getting back into the usual routine of clean up, class, and showers. Except it’s “sailor Monday,” so no class today, folks! 🙂
When it was time for showers, everyone was sweating buckets. The sun was shining right on us with no wind. I mean, the water was glass, and it was HOT. So the ice-cold shower we all got felt great; well, as good as an ice shower gets. It is a pleasant reminder that we are really back at sea.