Location: Elba, Italy
This morning was quite a special one! I had the pleasure of waking everyone up at 5:45, which I did by blasting supermassive blackhole throughout the cabins. As we came up on deck, we were immediately given different jobs as we prepared to… set sail for Elba! Pulling away from the dock was definitely a special start to the morning. Seeing Argo with her sails up and in her full glory was awesome. Despite how early it was, we were all too distracted by this moment to even feel tired. Once we set sail, watch teams were put into place. Part of watch team 1, Gordon and I had to eat breakfast late because we volunteered for the first boat check, but it was worth it. We got to know Argo so much better in that time by learning to identify when there’s a problem with her and also filling in the logbook. The engine room is quite fun, in my opinion, but when the engine’s running, and you’ve got the ear-protectors on, you can’t hear a single thing! I know Mac was talking, but I don’t think Gordon or I even comprehended a thing he said, despite his animated hand gestures. After watch, we got some time to chill and hang out or sleep (which many people foolishly did on deck, in the perfect spot for my camera). We’re all truly exhausted from the work we put in this morning to hoist the sails, but that was really only the beginning. All day, we’ve been tightening and retying lines plus other jobs around the boat to ensure a smooth passage to Elba. Some of us got to steer the ship today, which was quite exciting, and while I was at the helm, Daisy spotted a whale! Besides the fish that eat our food scraps, this was the first marine life we’ve seen so far. We also began learning to scuba dive today by watching some videos in the salon as we all fought the urge to sleep and/or hurl…(some of us lost those battles). By dinner, though, everyone seems to be better. Being up on deck with the fresh air helps a lot. Anyway, after about 13 hours, we’ve arrived at Elba at last and are finally dropping anchor! And you can just tell everyone’s confidence has grown. We’re all so obviously more at home here on Argo now than we were this morning. Well, that just about wraps up day four; the sunset outside right now is beautiful. Truly, nothing beats our view of the sky over the endless ocean, no matter the time of day.