Location: Underway to Antigua
This very eventful day started off quite inconspicuously, with normal wakeups and a relaxed breakfast. Things started to pick up quickly as we rolled into passage prep: getting the sail covers off, putting away dive gear, and setting the jack lines. After that, we met in the cockpit to brief for this very exciting sailing-only passage. Everyone was excited to get to do this passage with our original watch teams from before the Atlantic Crossing. Cameron and Bryson, our skipper and chief mate, divvied up the responsibilities between the crew, and we got ready to sail off anchor. I was up forward with Teagan, Sam, Emily, Alexa, Shane, Jem, Thatcher, and Oscar to lift the anchor and raise the forward stay sail and jibs.
Once we were underway (around 11), we did some more sail-handling things, mostly tacking back and forth, and then it was lunch time, fried rice made by Bryson and his galley crew. We did another tack just after lunch as a squall was starting to come through, the waves were spilling over the bow, and the wind was whipping; it was exhilarating and honestly a blast. We had our last marine bio ID quiz scheduled for this afternoon, but due to some people feeling seasick, it was postponed, along with the VHF make-ups.
OG watch team 3 started off our 2-6 watch with taking down the mail staysail.. then raising it then dropping it, then raising ityou get the idea. It was also pouring rain for the first two hours of our watch, so tacking during that was pretty chaotic. Nevertheless, watch team 3 always knows how to power through, and eventually we made it to the other side of the storm, and got to tack again, dodge some pots in the water, and listen to Ben tell a great story during our brief chill moments throughout the watch. By the time we were relieved from watch, the sun had set, and dinner was being sent up, and then sent back down due to imminent rain. Watch Team 1 got their food and went back up to the cockpit to eat, and the rest of us were able to enjoy our absolutely fire taco bowls in the salon. All in all, our sailing-only passage has certainly been busy, and who knows what else lies ahead of us in these upcoming hours. But now, it’s time for a guest star, our lovely watch team 3 mate Chloe!
Hello!!! It’s Chloe!! Today has been QUITE. THE. DAY. I’ll mainly keep this about my duties as a mate, because, wow, the duties were fruitful. Let’s keep this in mind before I dive in: my mate-ship was bestowed upon me only because during our student passage election, I told Luca I would run if he did. I guess my speech was just too moving, and I ended up gaining the title of Watch Team 3 Mate. What the speech definitely was NOT about: my sail-handling skills. So, as you can imagine, being in charge of sail raises and the overall group was overwhelming. The day began with task 1: raising the main sail. Right. With the extremely helpful sidenotes from Cameron and my crewmates, we began by topping the boom, then setting the reef. I then got a crew on the halyard (Amelia, Nacho & Aidan) and put Sabrina on the downhaul. Yada yada, sail raising sail raising.
Later, during the 2-6, I’m not sure if it would be an exaggeration to say we raised & lowered the main staysail 10000000000 times. We also tacked, which is turning Argo into the wind and letting the sails turn port/starboard with some other little tasks. We took in the jib sheet and other stuff that I had to direct, even though it felt like I was the most lost one on my team. We had to watch for crab pots when the depth hit around 40 meters, had to keep our wind angle at around 55 degrees, and just HAD to eat lots and lots of snacks.
I hope this was a good enough summary of the eventful day we had- I’m very exhausted and would like to go to bed. Shoutout to my watch team, because even when it felt like I was shutting down from stress, they told me I was doing a good job and lent a helping hand in whatever the task at hand was. The team this boat has created is nothing short of amazing, whether split into 3s or as one cohesive group. I’m very grateful for them.
Love ya mom & dad, I’ll talk to u soon <3
Skipper’s Note:
It’s crazy that this will be my last time writing on this blog, so I just want to say how grateful I am to be part of this journey on Argo! It has been a crazy adventure, and it’s definitely going to be bittersweet as it comes to an end. I’m looking forward to making the most of these last few days 🙂 Signing out, Maria W