Location: Almerimar, Spain
We concluded our overnight passage from Cartagena to Almerimar, Spain. Team 2’s 4-8 a.m. watch flew by despite the cold as we continued to listen to the first Percy Jackson book, and Del and Miles were kind enough to supply donuts and chocolate, respectively. After handing off the torch to team 3, we slept and got some last-minute studying in for our upcoming Marine Biology exam, and I found out I was skipper of the day (and therefore got to wear the coveted skipper hat!).
Directly after a lunch of chicken avocado wraps, the whole crew managed to strike the sails and prepare the fenders and lines just in time to pull into the marina. Rob, Sean, Liam, Stich, and I set up the sand lines, which connect the bow of the boat to the ocean bottom, keeping it in place. We had a host of issues; we had to bring the lines along the boat to the bow by hand, the wind forced Mac to push Argo like a tugboat with one of our dinghies, and the lines themselves were muddy and fraying after sitting underwater. As I was tightening the lines using the anchor winch, Rob noticed the danger and began suggesting that I move to the side so that I wasn’t directly behind a massive rope under tension. Halfway through his sentence, the rope snapped in half, luckily missing me but sending one end down into the water and forcing us to restart the process with a new sand line. Eventually, though, Argo was docked, cleaned, and put to bed.
After our exam, which quizzed us on microscopic organisms such as coccolithophores and dinoflagellates, we had a windy noodle dinner by Rob, McGee, and Skylar, and now have some free time before Seamanship class to explore around Almerimar, where we’ll be for the next few days. As I’ve been writing this, both Amanda (intentionally) and Daisy (accidentally) have brought me gelato, which I’m super grateful for. 🙂
Shoutout, Joe, for being a great headmaster, and hi, Adrienne, Mama, and Papa!