Second passage seems to be going much easier. It is estimated to be twelve days long and we have switched up our watch groups and our schedule. We've switched to a schedule of four hours on and eight hours off which has turned out to be a lot better then the other schedule. We get more time off to do work, socialize, and sleep which has been really nice. This way we can actually get a full nights sleep (7.5hrs max) as apposed to only partial (5.5hrs max) like on the last watch schedule.
How to describe the beauty that I am playing witness to!? I'm definitely going to miss the open ocean. There's something to be said for not seeing land 360 degrees around you and looking up to see a city of stars. We can see the Southern Cross off our stern, the Big Dipper (upside down) to starboard, and Oryans Belt off our bow. We can also see a couple of other galaxies and the milky way is ridiculously bright! Night watch is one of my favorite times. There's nothing like having life chats while sitting on the bow of Argo at 4am or sitting in the cockpit watching the sun rise. I think I've seen, and appreciated, more sunrises and sunsets in the last month than I have in a couple of years.
About three days before land we had the big occurrence of seeing a bird! We haven't seen a lot of life other then the flying fish who periodically fly onto our deck. I had heard about them a lot before but never thought they would be something that I ever saw. Turns out they are pretty common out here and for about four days my watch teams goal was to try and have Sean get a really good picture of one of them...didn't happen.
I've gotten to know the people on my watch team really in addition to a few others. I'd like to introduce a couple of people to whoever is reading this because then you can know who I'm talking about. First person is Jason: he's 23 and one of the most traveled on board. He spent a year in New Zealand studying abroad and some time in Tibet. He's an EMT and working towards becoming a doctor, he definitely has his life together. He's one of the first people I really connected with because we spent a lot of time up on bow watch together. Another is Brian. He just had his 21s birthday and is the most chilled out person you will ever meet. He takes life slow and loves to enjoy the little things. He was one of the guys I met up with in Cape Town early. Annie was the first girl that I connected with. She just turned 20 and is crazy passionate about sailing and the whole boat life in general. She's really funny and outgoing. And then there is Catherine, known to more as Cat. I don't even know how to describe her. She is easily the person I am closest to on board. Her charisma and humor make her easy to get to know and she has a tenacity and zest for life that is unmatchable. We've had several amazing life chats and I find myself in total awe of her life story. She studied in New Zealand for a semester and is a professional dive instructor. I could go on and on with the people on board. They each have their unique characteristics that I love and I can't wait to get to know them all better!
This is a picture of the port sixman room. my bunk is the middle on the left side...you can see part of my sleeping self there!
No comments:
Post a Comment