Location: Atlantic Ocean 26 07.1N 062 55.9 W
Early this morning, watch team 1 (including Ben, Wyatt, Darius, Jessi, Keally, Fitz, Josh, Dylan, Freddy, and myself) woke up for our 4-8 AM watch. What could have easily been a long and draining early morning was made immensely more enjoyable by the sun’s slow ascent from its place beneath the horizon. As it climbed higher to its perch in the sky, we got to see a lovely sunrise as our team did our usual rounds; an hourly deck walk and down below check. As day broke, the wind really started to die down, and Captain Tom made the call to pull out all the sails, so we ended up sailing with all sails up. At one point during watch, Freddy vanished only to come back to the cockpit with a dead flying fish that had clearly miscalculated its aim and instead got itself stranded by midships. I named the fish Ron, but Darius voted it to be named Kevin. We are going with Ron (don’t tell Darius), who was promptly named and then returned back to the sea.
Speaking of the sea, we saw water today! Shocker, I know. It’s almost day four of endless water, so there hasn’t been any major change in scenery over here. But all jokes aside, the experience of being such a small dot surrounded by nothing but blue and indigo as far as the eye can see is a unique experience that each crew member has welcomed with open arms.
As the day continued, watch team 2 took over, and the rest of us took the chance to catch up on a few hours of well-earned sleep before lunch. Following a tasty meal of chicken wraps made by Leoni, we had one leadership class. Ines and CeCe taught the class about the Relational Leadership Model, which refers to the relationship between leaders and followers. In a previous class, we watched the film the Maiden, which follows the journey of the first all-female crew to participate in the Whitbread Around the World Race. To anyone who is interested, the Maiden’s story is truly one of ambition, grit, and determination in the face of doubt and adversity. I highly recommend the film to anyone who is interested in both a great sailing story and a story of some inspiring women who opened the doors for future generations of women sailors in what used to be a very male-dominated sport.
Following classes, we all worked through a fire drill, in which all three watch teams split up into different jobs in the event of an emergency. Part of the drill included taking out the fire hose, which we all got a chance to practice spraying. Soon enough, it was time for Watch again. The vibes for our 2-6 PM watch were immensely good; we all bopped along to some of our favorite Panic! At the Disco, Green Day, and Blink – 182 tunes.
We just finished up a wonderful pasta meal as we head off into our respective clean-up jobs. I’m off to bed before my 12-4 AM watch. See you all next time!
Signing off from somewhere in the big blue,
Kaleigh O’Leary
Fun note: Yesterday, Jessi and I both respectively spent time locked in the head. If you are familiar with boats, I’m sure you’ll know how fun that would be! Boat life, I suppose.
Photo 1: Darius
Photo 2: Me, James, and Ale’s eye!
Photo 3: Me and Jessi – snack time!