Location: Underway to St. Helena
For many of us, yesterday was our first day of sailing. We caught ourselves in nice winds and big swells that caused some of us to feel seasick. Despite feeling sick, we had to begin to accustom ourselves to certain routines that are required if you want to be part of a functional crew on a sailing yacht. One of these was having to get out of bed in the middle of the night to go participate in watch and helm duty. Waking up was quite difficult, but despite the difficulty, most watch teams managed to make it to their watch on time. The winds and seas calmed down overnight, and the stars helped to ease the seasick feelings.
This morning, many of us were feeling tired after our night-watch shifts; however, we were happy to wake up to light winds and a boat that wasn’t rocking nearly as much as it was yesterday. The view from on deck is beautiful. Looking out on the horizon, we have lost sight of land, but we are all excited to finally be underway with the first leg of our journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Not being able to see anything else but the limitless expanse of the ocean (and the occasional pod of dolphins or sharks) is very exhilarating and humbling. Our day consisted of watch shifts in the morning until noon, when we had lunch (grilled cheese sandwiches). After lunch, we had classes, beginning with oceanography and then going into a lesson about seamanship. We finished off our afternoon with a bit of free time, which allowed many of us to take a shower. After showers, we had chili for dinner. Right now, the rest of our daily tasks are being carried out (cleaning the deck, doing dishes, etc.) I think it is safe to say that we are all quickly getting used to life aboard Argo, but as time goes by, we are beginning to realize that it is impossible to learn everything there is to know about this boat. All we can do is simply hope to learn something new every day. And as we learn about life aboard Argo, we will also learn about ourselves, and I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we are ready for the challenges ahead and excited to experience what the Atlantic can throw at us.