Location: Underway to Cape Town
My day started as early as it possibly could with the 12 am-4 am watch. We were “penguining” because the wind was whipping and howling up on deck and through the sails. Rewind about 3 hours; Ruby, Zoe, and I had been screeching and cry-laughing at the fact that we were told to stay in our beds and put our nets up. The next thing we knew, the engine was turned off. Zoe’s net was a tragic attempt at tying it up to the ceiling with the string Jackson had untied from her lifejacket… safety…first? Who knows. Ayden was the first sign of life we saw after the scary announcement. He casually informed us we were literally just sailing. As we all decided we were actually very disappointed that we weren’t about to hit some crazy monster waves, we soon after fell asleep. Now, back to the 12-4. I was seasick, which did not come as a shock to most. I was balled up in the corner, throwing up into the bioluminescence, when the conversation started going around about the worst or most awkward dates we had ever been on. Unfortunately, I cannot elaborate because of the written rule that what happens in the watch stays in the watch, but I’m sure you can use your imagination. The majority of the watch, though, was us asking for the time because it felt like it was below freezing outside. Ruby was suffering in her bare feet, and I was suffering in my choice to not ever wear my foul weather jacket because it’s soft and I like to sleep on it.
Zoe made a delicious pasta lunch for us, and we all gathered to watch us sail through the thick fog. Apparently, on the 4-8 watch, Allie and Daniel wedgied Griffin so hard in his PFD that he went non-verbal for about 30 minutes afterward. Tough scene for watch team 3. Today was a core memory for me for the trip. Everyone, watch or not, was gathered together up at the bow, blowing up fenders and watching for wildlife. Cristian and Ayden stood on either side of me to help me try to spot seals, which, apparently, I couldn’t do if my life depended on it. All of us up there watching and listening to music was such a bonding experience and a beautiful note to end our last passage on. We saw seals and whales and sunfish. Tom said he saw a great white shark, but I don’t think I believe him (pictures or it didn’t happen). When we pulled closer to shore, we were all finally able to strip off our foulies and sweats and walked around in T-shirts and shorts, which we hadn’t done since Mauritius.