Location: Underway to Mauritius
What a day! I expected today to be a typical passage day: lunch, cleanup, classes, dinner, clean up, watch, but no! Before class could happen, we had to lower the main sail as a unit. Just as we began the process, it started to rain, and then it started to rain some more. As chaotic as it was, we did it, all with smiles on our faces. The group on the main sheet were singing Christmas Carols, while the group at midships were just laughing pure joy as it felt like we were experiencing real sailing in the wind and rain. Allie L. made the daunting task of flaking the main sail hilarious by referring to it as “an alligator that needs some tackling,” which is so true, in this wind especially. Amanda M. shouted with joy, “This is what we came here for!” as we were standing by the downhaul, and she was absolutely right. It was so cool to hear the whistling of the wind against Argo. Especially after dinner when the jigger was whistling a song through the blocks.
Backtracking to just after lunch, Tomer shared a touching story with us, which ultimately left us with the question, “What will we make peace with today?” This really makes you think about what is bothering you and how it’s really not that big of a deal. Moments of reflection like this are more than crucial when staying mentally well, and it’s nice to be able to get together as a group and share with each other during the squeeze. At the end of the day, we are all living and experiencing this time together, so it’d be silly not to make the most of it! To wrap up day 38’s blog, I want to share my appreciation of the day I saw the whale just off our starboard side, which was massive, so much so that Ben mentioned, “It looks like a bus.” This was the peace and calm before the “surprise dinner” made by Charlie and Bodhi. It was so delicious once we had it (some of it from the deck floor), but it was so comical because as soon as we were walking to get food, boooOOOOMBooooooooM, the pots slipped away from the sticky mat on the low side and with the rocking of the boat, slid across the chart house almost in slow motion, but also fast like we were all watching an intense tennis match with our heads on a swivel. Luckily, we only lost one bowl (at least we think so), and we all laughed about it, which is exactly what we need on passage. Best, Kiley Mom, Dad, and Jack- I miss you guys! Give Molly huge hug for me 🙂 Mops and Pops- Enjoy your trip, and safe travels! Talk to you all in around two weeks!