Location: Christmas Island
Youve heard of Christmas in December, of course, and maybe youve even heard of Christmas in July- but where we are going, Christmas is ALL YEAR ROUND! And Christmas Eve? Christmas Eve was today! Our last day of passage before we arrive on Christmas Island. The holiday season is often filled with many wonders and surprises- will the weird aunt start talking about politics? Will your brother bring over the new girlfriend? Is Santa even coming? Similar questions plagued our minds today as we sailed closer and closer. Despite the name, Christmas Island is not home to any magical workshops or candy cane lanes. Rather, this Christmas Island has crabs (lots of them) and a high-security Australian prison (no worries, there are no residents at the moment). We came to learn via Sat phone that there is also a golf course! This is where the islands one and only immigration officer would be spending the day- fair enough, after all, it is Christmas all year round here. The immigration officer assured us that despite his prior engagements, we would have no problem clearing in. Thats where surprise #1 came in. Shortly after the golf email, he sent a follow-up email to notify us that despite the many weeks of correspondence, there would be no place for Argo on Christmas Island, and we would not be permitted to clear in. If life at sea has taught us anything, its to go with the flow- the motion of the ocean, some would say. So, for the most part, we didnt let the sad news ruin our positivity or excitement. Our morale remained high as we worked together to come up with an alternate plan. There was just one problem- Santa (an airline pilot) and his sleigh (an airplane from mainland Australia), already dropped off all of our presents (an order of fresh food supplies!). Anyway, today was awesome, at least from my perspective. My watch team (Ben, Travis, Ali, Ava, and Drazka) started the day with the 8-12 watch. Watch Team 1 briefed us about a story they were reenacting on watch throughout the night. Although it was confusing, from what I gathered, Kiley was the main character, Ainsley was a flight attendant, Phillip was a pharmacist, and Charlie was a lawyer. Anyway, the 8-12 watch is usually quite an unpopular watch time to have, but we all agreed that its one of our favorites. Theres nothing better than a quiet morning with perfect sailing conditions. We drank coffee, ate bowls of cereal, told stories of our families and childhoods, learned about Bens piano teacher, and laughed almost the entire time. Thats my favorite part about being on watch- all the laughter to be had. This watch team makes me laugh more than any other, so shout out to the families of Travis, Ava, Ali, and Drazka for raising very funny humans. We are grateful for you and the support youve given to make it possible for them to be sailing with Argo! Meanwhile, Meg prepared chickpea curry and naan for lunch with the help of Hannah. In the afternoon, I taught NavMaster- a class that is loved by some and dreaded by others. But today, I was really impressed by everyones engagement and enthusiasm for learning about how to calculate the estimated time of arrival. I learned that Charlie is particularly passionate about the Pythagorean theorem. As a fellow math nerd, so am I. And if I had to guess, so is Juliette- she absolutely killed all the topics we covered in class today- she seemed to really lock in on the processes and got all the answers correct. So good job, Juliette! As we approached Christmas Island, Bodhi took a few photos of the sunset, which we are looking forward to seeing. We are lucky to have a photographer on board with us. At the same time, Amanda put up our quarantine flag, which shows immigration that we have intentions of clearing in. Meanwhile, Tomer was able to get more information from immigration- good news! We will be able to get all of our fresh food tomorrow before continuing on to Cocos Keeling! We are thinking of this unexpected experience similarly to an airplane layover, a quick stop before we continue on our adventure. Spirits remain high, and we are very excited to get underway again with Cocos! The wind forecast looks great, so we have another few days of great sailing ahead of us. Other updates: Clayson has yet to be found, although we are brainstorming some awesome Clayson-themed merch. Hannah and Ava continue to write the play/movie, and auditions are coming up next week. Allie and I are developing a competing movie. Ben is very upset about people not giving carrot cake the attention it deserves. As I write this blog, we are floating offshore from Christmas Island. We are remaining in watch teams to watch over the boat for the night since we are not on anchor or moored. Because we are just floating, watches are quite relaxed! We laughed a lot, listened to music, did some occasional pushups, shared snacks, and sang Christmas carols. Miss you lots and lots Ma, Dad, Cole, and Grant. Talk to you in a month! Happy Birthday Weebs! Anyways, Merry Christmas!