Location: Richard's Bay, South Africa
Thirty days ago, we arrived at Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This morning, we found ourselves on the opposite side of the Indian Ocean, entering Richard’s Bay, South Africa. Watch team two was greeted by a double rainbow, and the rest of us awoke to not an island passing by but rather an entire continent. It’s hard to believe that we’ve traveled so far. I looked up the total nautical miles traveled during this trip so far, and it is now over 9,000 (9,471, to be exact). Never in my dreams did I ever think I would have the opportunity to travel to even the continent of Africa, and even farther from my dreams was the idea that I would arrive by a sailing yacht.
So parents, friends, and family reading this blog, we just wanted to let you know that we did it! Over the past 64 days, we’ve learned how to work together to sail S/Y Argo across an ocean. It’s been one amazing journey, and I believe we’ve changed in ways we cannot even recognize yet. Once we set our dock lines and essentially “parked” the boat, we dove into our boat appreciation duties of the day. Every time we flake the sails, wash the deck, polish the silver, rust bust, clean the galley and the saloon, organize our beds, mop the floors, and clean the chart house, we get better at it. And not only do we get better at it, but we also get faster and more efficient at it. Thirty days ago, I’d say we did a fair job at it when we entered Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Today, I’d say we did an awesome job. We took our tasks in a stride. We are now well aware that it is just something we have to do. As Kris says, if we show our appreciation to Argo and take care of her well, she will take care of us in return. Now that we’ve crossed an ocean, I believe it wholeheartedly.
As our last long passage is now complete, we are all looking forward to a few days of peaceful sleep (no rolling from the sea), warm showers, and the safari we are scheduled to go on. It’s going to be a great week, I can tell. Thank you for reading and for following us on our adventure. Stay tuned. There’s so much more to come J.