Location: Underway to Fiji
Today was a beautiful day. It started off last night with some of the most amazing bioluminescence of the entire trip. What seemed like jelly-fish sized fireworks were lighting up and giving us a show behind the boat. At first, watching this was a profound silent observation among a few students, but it quickly turned into what seemed like two 12-year-old girls screaming at a Justin Bieber concert when Una and Elie showed up to watch. Watch team two took over at 8:00 am just as watch team 1 was finishing up a heated argument. The rest of the day was fairly routine. If there even is such a thing on Argo, every day is different! However, leadership class took a different route today. Instead of class, as usual, we had a Whaling debate. The question was, “should the people of Bequia be allowed to hunt their maximum of 4 whales a year for the sake of their cultural tradition?”. I think this question ended up being much harder to answer than we originally anticipated, with the debate ranging anywhere from “whales fall under humanistic rights” to more complex answers like “who are we to determine what is right and wrong for other cultures?”. It is definitely a very interesting topic, especially considering the Bequia people are doing it in such a sustainable way compared to other countries around the world, but also knowing what intelligent and beautiful creatures whales are and how heartbreaking it is to see them die and grieve for each other. It was interesting to hear everyone weigh in with their individual thoughts on this for the squeeze question and not have to argue for an assigned point of view like we did for the debate. Aside from that, Ezra, Sam, and Frankie whipped up an outstanding spaghetti and meatball dinner, one of the better meals of the trip; they were almost as good as my mom’s. Today was just another perfect day; there seems to be a lot of those when you’re sailing across the Pacific.
Sincerely, Skipper of the day
Hi Mom, Dad, Olivia, John-Paul, Ceci, Salty, Gubby, Pa, and Gram. I miss you guys!
Current position: 0702.34’S x 11051.11’W
Pictured: Bella drying dishes, deckie crew scrubbing the cockpit, Natalie hiding from some sea spray