Location: Denarau, Fiji
Unfortunately, today started off at a normal time, and I was not allowed to wake up the crew early. Furthermore, because today was the estimated day of departure, many people were already awake, calling their family and friends one last time before heading out. Speaking of, as of the moment of me writing this, we have just got written permission to enter Palau. WOOOOOOO. Anyways, after everyone was awake at the normal, boring time of 7, we ate breakfast. Breakfast was supposed to be pancakes, but something went horribly wrong in the galley, probably Caleigh’s fault, maybe The Big Dipster’s fault, who knows, but we ended up eating boatmeal, ruining what I had planned for breakfast tomorrow, which was also boatmeal. But this meal misstep ended up turning out really well later in the day, so I’ll forgive them. After breakfast, the staff all departed the boat to get their second dose of the AZ vaccine so we could go to Palau. Once they departed, it was absolute anarchy aboard Argo. The parents had left the house for the weekend, so we were throwing a huge summer blowout. People were screaming in the engine room, others were starting to make lunch, and even more, were sitting quietly in the salon studying for the oceanography quiz we had tonight like good students. A real madhouse is the only appropriate phrase to describe Argo in the time between when the staff left and when they returned. During this time, we also said goodbye to a valued crewmate, Bridget. Once the staff returned, a clipboard was thrust into my hands as I was put in charge of getting the boat ready for the passage that will be 1/3 of the breadth of the Pacific Ocean. Halyards were secured to sails; kinks were worked out of sheets, benches were lashed, bunks and cabins were 40/40’d as everyone worked diligently in order to get the prep done as efficiently as possible. Even though my leadership is truly inspirational and highly motivating, it was not the only motivating factor for getting Argo prepared to go quickly. It was promised that if we got the prep finished in time, we would be able to go to the grocery store to refill or supplies of snacks. So as promised, once we finished our lunch, which was a delicious chili and cornbread, repaired by Caleigh, The Big Dipster, Caroline, and Aidan, with onions expertly caramelized by yours truly, we headed out to the grocery store. Personally, I was in need of a cold drink because that is somewhat of a luxury item aboard Argo. I fulfilled that desire by purchasing some Schweppes old-fashioned carbonated lemonade which was guzzled down as soon as we reached a secluded spot where I could lower my mask. And since I know all of you reading this blog at home are absolutely fascinated with how I grocery shop for myself, I’ll run you through the rest of my haul. I got 1 ginger beer, 1 travel tube pillow, 1 lightning to USB iPhone charger, 1 roll of Oreos, 2 packets of spicy rice crackers, 1 packet of chili rice chips, and 1 20 pack of snack-size resealable glad bags. We got back from the store and had free time until dinner. We watched a young girl be Speed Racer, running up and down the dock. Some people climbed up on top of the booms and hung out, literally. And then we had dinner. Dinner satisfied a craving I’ve been having on the boat. And I know what all of you are thinking, but no, Caleigh did not make Wawa-like hoagies. We had buffalo wings with rice, carrots, and mashed potatoes. She also salvaged the pancake batter from breakfast to make a pancake cake, a genius move suggested by Amanda. After dinner, we had our nightly squeeze where we discussed what would everyone’s WWE name would be. Now, I am preparing to speed run this oceanography quiz so I can make a grunion run to the shore showers.
I’ll give a quick shoutout to my family as they have been keeping up with the blog, and I’m sure they’d appreciate it. Tj, Julia, Mom, and Dad, I’m thinking of all of you and am excited to see you all once again upon my arrival.