Location: Underway to Mauritius
We woke up this morning to clear skies and light wind (too light)! We had to turn on the engine last night for the first time in over a week! It’s also the warmest weather we have had since leaving Cocos. We had a delicious lunch of chicken and pasta with a choice of pesto or marinara, and after a record time, cleanup headed down below for classes. Before learning about marine birds and reptiles in today’s OCB class, we had a species ID quiz. As part of the class, everyone has to keep a log of species they identify during dives or from Argo (everything from reticulated damselfish and sea cucumbers to spinner dolphins and frigate birds) and also take a series of short species identification quizzes. As the OCB instructor, I was pretty pleased when I heard reports after the first dives of the semester that they had seen almost all of the species from their first quiz. I love it when class and experiences can complement each other! After OCB, it was time for MTE, during which they watched a documentary on the life of Irving Johnson, who was an amazing sailor and has been a huge influence on many of the people involved in Seamester. The afternoon concluded with deck showers (the cooler water much welcomed this time around with the toasty sun out today) and some free time before we all gathered back together for our evening squeeze, a dinner of shepherd’s pie, and a beautiful sunset. We are just over a day out from our arrival in Mauritius, and everyone is getting excited about the prospect of land. I think the first item on everyone’s list is ice cream, followed closely by either a walk or run to stretch our legs or the internet to catch up with loved ones. For many of us, it has been almost a month since any form of the internet was seen. I have to admit; it is actually pretty nice. Living on Argo, especially during long passages, is like living in a bubble. You come to really appreciate the company of the people around you, can concentrate on the tasks at hand, enjoy the scenery surrounding you and really forget about the rest of the world for a little while. We have absolutely no idea what is going on in the rest of the world right now, and to be honest until we actually reach land, it doesn’t really matter. Although I don’t always agree with the statement ignorance is bliss, it is somewhat true out here at sea, and there is something very blissful and relaxing about being out in the middle of the ocean, away from the rest of the world, in our lovely bubble known as Argo. That being said, I am very much looking forward to hopefully talking with my parents soon and updating them on all of the amazing things that have happened in the past month, including sailing a few thousand miles across the Indian Ocean, swimming with dolphins in one of the most beautiful places I have ever been (Cocos Keeling), and completing my PADI Rescue Diver certification. The ice cream and Skype time with my parents will come soon enough, but for the next 36 hours, I am going to just enjoy the expansive view of the big blue and the company of my shipmates in my bubble.