Programs Blog

Author: Willa Letscher, B Watch, University of San Diego

Ship’s Log

Sunday, 7 April 2024

Noon Position (Lat and Long): 40°09.6’S x 165°19.6’W
Ship Heading (degrees):  090°
Ship Speed (knots): 4.8 kts
Taffrail Log (nm): 1075 nm
Weather / Wind / Sail Plan (from 1300 Watch Change): Beam reaching on a starboard tack under both stays’ls, jib, jib tops’l. Seas SW 12-14 ft, wind is a Beufort force 5 and SSW.
Description of location: Over 1000 nautical miles east off the coast of Aotearoa New Zealand!

Picture this, it is 1415 on April 5th and B Watch (minus Matt) has made
themselves comfy and wedged into the Gear Adrift bunk in 16th Street.
T-minus 25 minutes until the start of The Line Chase. We are sporting an
array of wigs, capes, sunnies, and a singular hotdog costume. The time is
nearing and Meg, our trusty Watch Officer who has unwavering faith in us,
says “even if we don’t win, at least we will be the best dressed.” The time
is now 1420 and we make our grand entrance on the quarterdeck (queue The
Final Countdown intro). A Watch is decked out in the safety lab glasses:
unicorn frames with pink lenses, sparkly toucan frames, and a pair of flip
down red lenses just to name a few. C Watch has shown up wearing their
finest: collars buttoned up to the nape. Tough competition all around. We
line up on the quarterdeck and Captain Allison fires the starting gun (not
really) and the first person in each watch line is handed a card with the
name of a line on it.

Now, before I proceed, here are the rules of the Chase:

1.       Everyone stays on the boat.

2.       No running, if caught you need to crabwalk (significantly slower
than walking is).

3.       You get 3 guesses for each card you are handed. If you get it
right, head back to the quarterdeck and the card is placed in the done pile.
If you get it wrong, it will be added back to the pile to be found again.

4.       Team members are constricted to the quarterdeck and can only say
the words “HOT” or “COLD.”

5.       Be kind and don’t get hurt (pers. comm., Davi 2024).

Back to the main event: People are walking like they have never walked
before on the Bobby C., some aimlessly as they are aided by “hotter, hottER,
HOTTER” and others with full direction and confidence, showing that their
studying between watches paid off. Meg is standing on the Lab top, bright
red wig flowing in the wind as she cheers us on. Rocky and JC are also
positioned around deck so that they can verify that we touch the correct
line. The air is filled with cheering, Sam’s voice bellowing out “HOT” or
“COLD”, the slap of high fives, and constant laughter. We all take a couple
turns finding our lines as fast as we can when all of a sudden I am next in
line and Keya is coming back, leopard print jacket and PitVipers slightly
askew. Nick hands me a card and it reads “CONGA LINE” and I yell it out to
my teammates as a slight question because I didn’t remember learning a line
called conga. Ah! Conga Line as in the dance! We won (to all of our
surprise)! I lead the way and stop before getting to the ladder when Nick
says “go all the way around the deck!” and I spy out of the corner of my eye
A Watch has started to conga. What ensues next is the fastest conga line you
have ever seen (no running though, don’t worry). B watch barely makes it
back to the quarterdeck before A Watch and celebration ensues! Turns out,
the conga line was not a race but it did add another element of competition
to the event.

Despite the constant wig in my mouth, the tripping hazard of my Robin
costume (sans Batman), and the surprisingly large magnitude of the ocean
swell that afternoon, I think I can speak for the majority of the South
Pacific Ocean population that this is one of our favorite memories on the
Bobby C. so far.

Peace and love to my friends and family, happy early birthday dad, and happy
(almost) 1.5 years Cole J

Willa Letscher, B Watch, University of San Diego

https://sea.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Apr7groupsmall.jpg