Location: 33,29,6 S, 17.41.3 E; Table Bay
The day has finally come – Argo has set sail! After a week in the beautiful bay of Cape Town, we were all ready and excited to experience what we signed up on this journey for – sailing across the Atlantic. The day started with cereal for breakfast, quickly followed by the lifting of fenders and line throwing so that we could leave the dock. As we pulled away from the V and A Waterfront, we waved goodbye to our friends (the seals) and Table Mountain. After about half an hour, we got to test our skills – by pulling into another dock. At the fuelling dock, we pumped the engine tanks with as much fuel as they could hold, and then we said goodbye to South Africa for the last time, pulling out to sea.
Once out at sea, we learned that we hadn’t needed all that fuel after all – there was more than enough wind to sail by. Some of us lifted the sails with the halyards, some of us steered the boat, and some of us fed our regurgitated breakfast to the fishes. With every passing moment, we are learning more than we ever thought we could learn, and we are doing more than we ever thought we could do. Though some of us are plagued by seasickness, and some of us have nearly been thrown overboard (don’t worry, we clipped in to prevent it from happening again), the crew of Argo stays positive and helpful no matter how hard the wind blows. Amid all the sailing, you can see students running to get blankets and medicine for their sick crewmates, and pretending to surf on the deck when the waves get big enough to knock them over.
After a messy dinner of our favorite couscous (courtesy of Smash), we did our Squeeze, like always. Today’s question was, “Who is your hero, and why?” Many of us spoke about our parents, who helped us get to where we are today and our siblings back at home who we are missing. After that, some hurried off to shower and nap, because tonight marks the start of our real watch shifts – which means no more getting nine full hours of sleep or staying up late to talk. As the day draws to a close and the students finish their duties for the evening, we are all hopeful that come morning, we will be one hundred miles closer to our destination and a day closer to overcoming seasickness.