Location: Underway to Mauritius
Hello readers, Today was our groups first full day at sea on the longest leg of this adventure – across the Indian we go! My day started as early as possible by taking over the 00:00-04:00 watch. Being only a few days behind the full moon, the sea was relatively well-lit, and morale soared high as the consistent force 4 South Easterly trade winds helped us run with a slight sea. Making 8 knots under a full main and two headsails was joyous, and Allie and I thoroughly enjoyed the company of our new watch team (Travis, Ainsley, Charlie, and Drazka). Travis and Charlie both happen to be music fanatics like myself, so I am now looking forward to our future watches, where we intend to listen to complete albums back-to-back. After a solid post-watch sleep, I awoke at 10:00 to unchanged conditions and a sky filled with fair-weather clouds. The morning agenda was devoid of schoolwork (as usual), so Hannah and her sous chefs (Tomer and Meg) were soon readying lunch in the galley. After briefly checking on the inhabitants of our bustling saloon, I retreated to the aft deck to join Kackie and Bens watch team – a cup of tea in hand.
Although Argo was still pushing 7-8 knots, Bodhi and I thought we should check out the fishing gear situation and get some lines out. Our logic was this – if a Wahoo could hit one of our lures at this speed, it would probably be big enough to make for good eating. Unsurprisingly, the lures were skipping far too close to the surface, and no fish gave chase but it was a fun first attempt, nonetheless. After abandoning our fishing ambitions, I assumed the helm for the 1200-1400 dogwatch, and various states of persons soon filled the cockpit in anticipation of lunch. The usual first-day-of-passage conversations were being had. Howd you sleep? Did you sleep?, What watch do you have tonight?. It can often seem that the life of a Seamester student on passage is as sleep-deprived as that of a new parent (at least, thats what it can sound like). There is a concept here, though, that lends an explanation, and its one that was conceived by the staff team a while ago. Its called hatching. Essentially, we assume that people wake up or hatch at different rates. If a crewmember is being short with others, it can often be waved off by saying oh, theyre still hatching. Happily, the person still hatching usually perks up quickly after being accused of being in such a state. Soon enough, a delectable lunch of Cava Bowls was produced, announced, and subsequently demolished by our half-hatching crew.
I checked the schedule, and after a quick clean-up, the students rolled into their afternoon classes Leadership with Allie, followed by Marine Biology with Meg. In the meantime, the rest of the staff took the opportunity to either solemnly helm Argo, work out, sleep, or read. The evening fast set upon us, and I soon found myself back in the cockpit with a bowl of Hannahs awesome pasta for dinner. I assumed my usual post – stood beside the starboard rail, facing forward, in line with the helmsperson. Hannah and Ava in an endearing and admittedly mocking fashion stood beside me for some time. After dinner, my squeeze question for the group was, If you could make one modification to Argo, what would it be? (GXG office, I hope you read this). Some of the top answers we heard were: 1. Ice cream machine at the helm 2. A crows nest and easy means to access it 3. Small hydraulic arms are needed to hold the lids up for the dry food stores under peoples bunks. Anyway, that is all for today, friends.
Stay tuned to see if these exceptionally favorable conditions stay with us! (*knock on wood*). In parting, I encourage you to ask yourself how your hatch period compares to that of your significant others. Bye! Rogue Shoutouts – A big birthday shoutout to Hannahs Auntie Mo! – Happy Birthday, Daddio! Amanda Drazka – Hello Sheba! Juliette – Whats up, Mom Ainsley – Dominique, Travis says Hey, 44% – HEYYYYYYY to Megs family Personal Shoutouts – Cariad! to Nain and Taid (I have no WiFi, so I cant write you a full sentence in Welsh but I send my best!) – Mum and dad, I hope your impromptu trip rocked! Give Nia a hug for me – Kale, I cannot wait to see your face in Cape Town! Ill call you when I can. x