Location: Port Denerau, Fiji
Today was a truly amazing last day on Argo.
Early wakeups this morning as we waited for one final covid test to get us home. It had to be gravy train by young gravy as the second to last wakeups, and I had a little too much fun with it as Thea, Giselle, and Gil can tell you about my solo concert between the 3 man cabins. Over half of everyone was already up and hanging out in the salon as Louis, Frankie, and Marina whipped up breakfast. We got right into our final boat appreciation after breakfast until everything was put on a halt as we ran around Fiji chasing Covid tests. Tim, Amanda, and the rest of the staff have jumped through so many hoops to keep the plan as stable as possible, so this was just one last bump in the road. We got a few extra miles in the sun out of it, so I’m not complaining. Once the navy came on board to bring our flour, sugar, and the medical personnel to administer the covid tests, it was dinner time, and we all had a nice carbonara meal with a brookie dessert for the two belated birthdays and a celebration of our time coming to an end on Argo.
Squeeze today was one of my favorites as we went around with the usual appreciations, a word that summarizes something that we’re going to miss, and an embarrassing or slightly questionable confession from our time on Argo. These were hilarious as they ranged from Niko intentionally putting his bow watch partners to sleep for some quiet time to Lewis discovering a knife sharpener and immediately dropping it down the unreachable bilge, Elie and Giselle being the two mystery hose breakers, Niko again being the reason we haven’t been able to find deck sponges in weeks, Una hiding the speakers when she didn’t want to listen to any more 2000s pop or sad T-Pain, Gil and Nick’s fear of the engine room, Mac admitting to the extent of his pringle addiction, Gil and Elie switching pins on the pin rail, so Argo is forever changed, and Marina is the reason we have one butter knife left, and the rest are scattered across the Pacific. I ended squeeze today with a couple of words about how this is an experience that has changed every single one of us. About how it is due to being on a boat for 102 days, but mainly because of the conversations and shared experiences that we have had together. We swam across the equator, we’ve been through squalls, learned to dive, crossed the Pacific, swam with sharks, seen 360-degree horizons, been through the Panama canal, seen 102 beautiful sunsets and 103 sunrises and each has brought us closer together as a group of people. We will forever have this shared experience, and as each of us goes into life beyond Argo, we have a slightly different perspective on things.
Thank you, Argo, staff, Mum and Dad, the best crew, and everyone else who has played a part in making this happen for the best 103 days of my life.
Signing off for the one final time,
Sam
Pictured:
1: Fo’c’sle through the beloved hatches
2: Una keeping me company through the porthole while I write the blog
3: Early morning card writing
4: Mac getting emotional about goodbyes
5: Gil, Una, and I putting the sails to sleep
6: Fo’c’sle love with Elie
7: The best crew 🙂 (plus Amanda)
8: fun salon times
9: Flour from the Fijian Navy
10: Thea and Gabe cleaning the hull
11: Giselle and Louis on Panama line duty