Location: Underway to the Caribbean!
Well, the day we have all been waiting for is finally here. I believe it goes without saying that today is the day we sail across the Atlantic Ocean.
Before I get ahead of myself, my day started at the ripe hour of 5 a.m., my morning consisting of a quiet hour on watch. It flew by, and since I am skipper today, I had to wake up at seven anyway, so I decided to allow myself 30 minutes in bed playing Block Blast and texting my friends from home before I got up again and began mentally preparing for the day ahead. Cameron, Aiden, and Charlie prepared a delicious and nutritious breakfast: a medley of eggs, cheese, sourdough bread, yogurt, and papaya. The papaya was a treat, after mainly being served melon for breakfast (not that Im complaining), and everyone gobbled it up. After breakfast, we were allowed shore time- our last time on land in 18ish days- and many people decided to go out and stock up for the hibernation to come, either on food or downloading movies & music. Since I was able to load up my snacking cube (yes, a packing cube full of snacks) yesterday, I felt as though sleep was more of a necessity than more monsters or corn nuts. I was able to get a lovely 2 1/2 hours of extra rest, and by the time I woke up, people were filtering through the doors with their collection of various items to prepare for the crossing. Emily came back with a hefty amount of energy drinks, Sabrina got special Milka cookies, and others just went out to enjoy their time ashore. While writing this, its hard to believe all these events took place a mere 7 hours ago & not 3 years ago.
We were called up for lunch, Mediterranean bowls, always a goodie on Argo, and it was very tasty, but I fear I will never be able to eat chickpeas again after this trip. We then cruised into Leadership class, where we all wrote a page or two about how we feel with the crossing looming in the next couple of hours. Its extremely hard to put into words. This crossing is what the trip is about, what we all signed up to do, and what weve been preparing for since day 1. Writing about it actually happening felt like writing a fictional narrative- as if it wasnt going to really take place, especially in a handful of hours. Once I experienced a borderline existential crisis, we then had Oceanography with Nacho- learning about beaches & shorelines. Class ended, and I think thats when it started to hit everyone that it was really happening. Everyone hunkered down and began calling their loved ones. I personally spent my time writing everyone who will be on my mind for the next 18 days, and it was hard to put all my emotions into a few words on a screen.
When Rachel came down to the bunks and shouted for all hands on deck, thats when it really started to sink in. As I put my PFD on, I asked myself over and over, Am I really doing this? I sent my last messages in a hurry and began following orders & directions- it was organized chaos. The horn sounded, we pushed off the dock, passed the seawall, the swells commenced, and the unorganized chaos began (as Teagan puts it so eloquently). The Atlantic greeted us with some rough waters to begin with, which Im going to look at as a rite of passage.After a rolly exit off the dock, we were all gathered for dinner, which was teriyaki chicken & rice. It was absolutely delicious and calmed my stomach down a bit. My squeeze question was inspired by my dad, who suggested I ask how people feel about the passage in one word. Some of the answers were nervous, infinite, wonder, excited, anxious, and my personal favorite, eepy. Well, I believe its my time to wrap this up. To all my loved ones back at home, Im going to be thinking of you every single day without fail. I love you all very much and every day that passes I will be closer to home & closer to seeing you guys. Thank you for supporting me <333 Chloe