Location: Underway to Borneo
Families, Friends, and Potential Students, I feel like no one has taken the time to explain to ya’ll how a typical day of Watch Teams on passagework. Now, some of you might be wondering why your usually groggy, ever-sleeping college kid would be so ecstatic to wake up at 4 o’clock in the morning. I can only give you this answer through a detailed description of our Watch Team schedule. Here is the general overview: There are three watch teams on Argo. There are seven different watch times. 12 AM-4 AM, 4 AM-8 AM, 8 AM-12 PM, 12 PM-2 PM (Dog Watch – Lunch), 2 PM-6 PM, 6 PM-8 PM (Dog Watch – Dinner), 8 PM-12 AM Now every team rotates for every third-time slot. As a whole crew, we have dedicated names to each days-worth of time slots.
The Golden Watch is 4 AM-8 AM and 2 PM-6 PM (This is the watch I am currently standing on right now). This watch allows for eight hours of sleep before watch and four hours of sleep after watch is over at 8 AM. This watch is heaven. I have never seen more students (especially college students) so unbelievably excited at the prospect of waking up at four in the morning. It also helps that we get a sunrise and a bowl of cereal halfway through the watch. The second rotation that has a title would be the Struggle Bus Watch. These times are 8 PM-12 AM and 8 AM-12 PM. For some strange reason, staying up until midnight and waking up at eight in the morning, you see a whole new side of struggle with this crew. The evening Struggle Bus Watch is usually accompanied by snacks, word games, and questions to keep us going through to midnight, after which we are excited about a good night’s sleep. The last time slots are designated as the Sunrise and Sunset watch. The glorious views make up for the slight lack of sleep; during these times, our cameras are filled with stunning pictures of 180-degree views of oranges and pinks. I hope this semi-brief description helps you better understand and appreciate our daily adventures and tasks on Passage. My final words of wisdom to the parents out there is I personally advise against waking your children up at 4 AM in the real world. It really only works on a boat.