Monday, October 10, 2011

Westward









It's been a while since the last post and quite a bit has been going on! Since Chinque Terre in Italy, we've made it to multiple ports and areas including Elba, Rome, and now in Palma, an island off the east coast of Spain.

We've done three dives so far with the first two being shallow and learning basic skills. The third brought deeper and harder tasks to accomplish. After one of the dives in Elba the group got to hike to the top of one of the taller mountains around and see beautiful views of endless ocean and mountains.
After Elba, we had another dive off the island of Pulau. Weather forced us to move quickly to Civitavecchia, Italy, the major cruise ship port for Rome. We got to see the island of Monte Christo on the way over. The day after our first night in Civitavecchia, we awoke before the sunrise to get on a train to Rome for a daytrip. The group started together at the Colosseum and another ruin on a nearby hill, and were released to explore alone after. A few of us cruised around the city going to St. Peters cathedral, the Pantheon, the Trevvi fountain, and the Spanish steps. Most of the groups got lost around the city and we barely made it back to the train in time. We had another half day in Civitavecchia before a four day passage to Palma and it was my turn to be skipper. There wasn't much action but it was fun being in charge for the day. We had our first real storm on the boat on the third day of passage. We  had 30 knot winds and 20 foot swells. Trying to have class down below was miserable and a few of the kids were forced to surrender their lunch to the sea as they were unfamiliar with constant back and forth motion. I was lucky enough to hold everything in but we'll see what the future holds.

We're in Palma currently, but leave tomorrow for another dive close by, and onward to mainland Spain!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

France, Italy, Monaco, and beyond





Since Sept. 18 in Tarragona we've been to three countries. We had a two day sail to Saint Tropez in France which is home to a very small, ritzy town right on the coast. There was an old fort that we go to explore around and had some time to walk around the small and secluded streets. The next day had us heading for Cannes. While having the same small comfy town feel that St. Tropez had, Cannes was a little bigger and a little more to do. The international classic yacht show was going on so there was an entire harbor filled with hundreds of old sailing vessels for the pleasure of looking at. 
Sept 24. landed us in Monte Carlo Monaco. Sporting unbelievably sporty and expensive cars and the like the group got to go to the oceanographic museum that is located in what used to be one of the Prince and Princess' palaces. There was an incredible variety of ocean life that was displayed that gave us a good learning experience. The international yacht showed was being held here so we got the chance to see multi million dollar motor yachts being displayed. There were 8 of the 10 worlds largest boats showing. 
Another night sailing trip took us to Nice, France. We had part of the day to take a train to see what the city had to offer. Being much bigger and more populated than previous town, it was also much dirtier and unkempt. We didn't find much to do but the beaches were calm and pretty to walk along. They also had a farmers market going on for us to purchase from. 
We arrived in Porte Venere the next day where we took a train to Pisa. We got to see the leaning tower and all of the cathedrals surrounding it. The tower was pretty much the only tourist attraction as it would be a very mellow town without it. We had to go back to the boat for early class and dinner so we shortly walked around the town and headed home. 
From Porte Venere we took a train to a mountain strip of cities called Cinque Terre. The five small towns were connected by mountain paths that got to hike. It was a beautiful adventure walking up and down hills and along the coast to take us from town to town. 
We head for Elba this evening, and get to have our first scuba dives tomorrow . We end up in Rome at the end of the week and more to come soon!

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Tarragona





Argo has been docked since we arrived in Tarragona, we finally get to stretch her sails tomorrow as we head out for a day of sailing to learn the ropes. Literally. We'll be able to see how every thing works and have our first experiences of sailing, including very likely sea-sickness. 

Friday was an un planned day so the crew got to explore Tarragona. Many went to see an old ruined amphitheater, while others decided to take it easy on the crystal clear beach. Saturday brought a very early wake up call with us departing an hour up the coast back to Barcelona. We got a chance to explore the local aquarium where one of our teachers gave us a little information about the marine biology.  The group and I was decided to go through this market that is held in what used to be a train station. There was food everywhere, seafood, most of it, and still alive on the ice. It was a truly new way of shopping for the Americans to see. After that we went to this enormous church that was called Sagrada Familia. The architecture was unbelievable and the builders have been working on it for hundreds of recent years to get it back to the way it used to be. We casually made our way back to the train station and then the ship after eating and chatting at some restaurants. The rest of the night was ours. 

Today, we got to see some true Spanish sport. We got to see the Xiquets de Tarragona which is an event where four teams have 100-200 people on a team in an effort to build a human tower. One unfortunate group dismounted incorrectly and around 30 people fell over 30 feet. Everyone was ok. 
We had our first introduction classes today which took up a chunk of our afternoon. We ended the day by piecing together some finished touches on Argo for our trip out to sea tomorrow. 

Friday, September 16, 2011

Beginnings in Tarragona

Starting out in Barcelona, I had to find my way to the train that would take me to Tarragona. It's incredibly hard navigating through an enormous station where nobody speaks English. I eventually found my way to the correct train and an hour later arrived in Tarragona. A short walk through a couple of streets and across a pier led me to my new floating home, Argo. Everyone eventually found their way and we started greeting and introducing ourselves. We had our first dinner on deck, followed by our first deck cleaning. We finished the night with some informational meetings and free time. Everyone seems fairly down to earth, there are 15 guy students and 4 girls. The ship is 112 feet so Everything is crammed. Everyone gets to sleep with half of everything that they brought with them. This makes a no crap policy clear pretty fast. We're going to take a trip back up to Barcelona tomorrow to see an aquarium and cruise around. We're going to be in port until Monday or Tuesday due to weather. Can't wait to see what awaits us this weekend!