Programs Blog

Saturday, 2 August 2025

Noon Position: (Lat and Long): 19 31.674’N 156 02.675’W

Ship Heading (degrees): Hove To

Ship Speed (knots): 0 knots

Taffrail Log (nm): 514.0

Weather / Wind / Sail Plan (from 1300 Watch Change): Sunny with a light breeze

Description of Location: Southwest of Hawai’i Island

It all started during dawn watch. It was 3:27 in the morning. I was on lookout like any other day but this time, out of nowhere, I saw a megalodon jump out of the water. It started circling our boat, but thankfully I was able to find a rope, lasso it, and punch it in the snout to scare it away. It whimpered and retreated down into the depths of the ocean because it knew who was alpha. About three minutes later, a mermaid dressed in all gold holding a triton with a seahorse by her side came up to the side of the boat. She kindly apologized for the megalodon trying to attack us. Apparently, it was a misunderstanding because she informed us she had intel that captain Jack Sparrow had teamed up with Moby Dick to attack her kingdom. She mistakenly thought we were them and she wanted to stop them before they had the chance to do anything. We cleared everything up and I courageously saved our ship. As a thank you for not suing her kingdom, she gifted us with a brand-new ship, underwater breathing powers, and a personal bodyguard for the rest of our journey which happened to be Aquaman.

Not long after we started sailing again with Aquaman leading us, Moana and people from her village showed up on their sailing vessel and told us a crazy story about how they met a shiny crab who ate his grandma, and he said that the mermaid dressed in all gold had a secret that she wasn’t telling us. Turns out, the mermaid was Sydney. She was the daughter of the shiny crab which explains why she was also super shiny in her all-gold outfit. She was adopted by the crab when she was very young but realized how evil he was so left when she turned 18 and went off to build a kingdom of her own. I’m not sure why she didn’t tell us, but I guess it makes sense because she would disappear every night. Apparently, she was just in her underwater kingdom making sure everything was in control which makes it clear why she’s like the “mom” of the ship. She’s used to taking care of a bunch of people and making sure they stay safe from any dangers. Overall, I think it was a pretty chill watch, and I think it’s really cool that we have a mermaid queen sailing with us.

Faith Lawrence, B Watch, UC Berkeley