Location: Underway to the Azores
Well, they let me back onto the computertime to boost my own ego.
We started a beautiful morning with lovely weather: hot sun, no clouds in sight, and Sammy still managed to come to watch in foulies. After a calm and relaxed morning, our chefs for today (Robert, Carsen, and Gabe) managed to bang their heads together hard enough to make pizza, which made everyone feel much better about being on a boat for 12 days. After lunch, during cleanup, a whale was spotted.
It rested upon the surface of the water, blowing air and flashing its fins. It was then quickly seen that there were two whales, then three, five, and before we knew it, we were surrounded by a pod of sperm whales. Everyone was amazed, and cleanup quickly ground to a halt. As we all crowded along the side (some of us holding phones precariously near the edge), a fascinating sight was seen, a whale breach. A juvenile whale leaped from the water about 150 meters out of the boat. An interesting thing to know is that sperm whales don’t normally breach like that, so either a little humpback made its way into this other pod, or we know much less about sperm whales than we thought.
After the pod swam away, normalcy resumed, and cleanup continued.
After cleaning up lunch, it was time to give Argo some appreciation for carrying us this far. Boat appreciation consisted of a number of different things: cleaning out our bunks and cubbies, making sure the salon was sanitized from ceiling to floor (literally), the heads (toilets for you landlubbers) were deep cleaned, and the deck was given a complete wash. Everyone scattered after positions were assigned, and all throughout the ship, music could be heard alongside the sighs of young adults being forced to actually clean something.
Argo better appreciates the work that went into cleaning her and getting her ready for a landing in the Azores; most of us inhaled too many cleaning fumes, and the rest are still traumatized by climbing into the bilges.
Once we had Argo looking shiny and clean, dinner was served, a delectable beef curry, and we shared our most fun moments during the program. (If you MUST know, mine involved a beach, a coconut, and at least three first-degree burns.)
To all the family and friends reading this, worried about their children, don’t. They’ve acclimated quite well to sailing life. Many have even started to see sirens in the water! They all miss you dreadfully and can’t wait to see you.
As we approach land at a steady 6.3 knots, we promise we’ll call you in about six days, depending on how many more whales we see.
Have a good night Seattle. Tip your waiters. I’ll be here all week.