Clipperton Expedition Day 12

Woke up again before anybody else. It's always just me and the deckhand Geronimo who's up first. Perfect cause he makes the strongest coffee! :) 

Between the Dramamine and the rocking motion I love how Im sleeping onboard. Didnt think was going to ever fall asleep, was feeling pretty green 😷🐸. My roomie Alex and I are really lucky in that we are very much alike, in many ways but especially as sleepers. She doesnt wake up if I get up, and I dont wake up if she does. We're either sleeping or arent, no in betweens. The best! 

Thankfully woke up feeling amazing! The seas have calmed down and the weather is more clear. The opposing sight of the moon disappearing into the horizon as the sun was rising to the east signaling the completion of another night and beginning of a beautiful day! 

The first activity on the boat is always Geronimo washing down the top deck. Fresh and clean from all the engine gunk overnight. 

While everybody was sleeping, us early risers - Patrick, Oscar, Juan and I, along with Anna played dominos. Oscar and I wiping out Juan and Patrick when they had to excuse themselves to sleep off the sores. 😜😂😘 haha everybody is so much fun onboard, I dont recall any trip where so many matched so much. Definitely not a single 'normal' one, not even in our standards. Hehe. No judges here. Im in love with each and every one of them. They all offer so so much talent and readily contribute to any task anybody wants to take on. Keen to ask, share and step in whenever needed. The sense of humor is JustforLaughs worthy. It is true, without an extremely healthy sense of humor and a high dose of sarcasm doing what everybody does wouldnt be possible. First time ever my sarcasm hasnt been referred to as being 'disturbing' but rather mostly as 'ha! Good one' or high fived and countered - man overboard drill anybody? Hehe. Insane bunch of beautifully loving people. 

The ride is so much smoother now.  The sea definitely has calmed down though we can feel how we're getting further and further from the equator. It's cold! 😜 Cooler. The wind feels cool to us, all wearing a sweatshirt on the top deck. Yes temperatures are above 23-24C. Go ahead hate me. 💙

Oscar and I the only ones up on the sundeck almost the entire day. He's finishing his 3rd book and Im on my second. We talk too much to read more. 😂He owns Cabo Expeditions in San Lucas, is an amazing pro photographer and loves to go camping. A beautiful soul working with the schools in San Lucas to organize competitions on using ocean plastics. A forever friend to be sure. 

Then it was time to get the last bag of plastics counted and sorted from our second day on Clipperton. Sean took this on by dumping everything on the red Oris towel. Jean Francois filmed Sean meticulously sorting each item by type and color. Counted 139 toothbrushes, 100+lighters, 39 spoons, and tens of pens, straws, toys etc. Im keeping the darn toys. We also had a full set of Avon containers in every color. Unreal the stuff that made their way to the most remote atoll in the world. Still cant stop thinking of how many did NOT make it all the way here, either because they broke down to microplastics or because they were eaten by an animal. 

Joined in an informative conversation about books and experiences with Jean Francois and Sandra, in French. If anything another added bonus is speaking French on the boat. 

We watched one of the most beautiful light ray show sunsets I've ever seen. Got a lot of photos from my big camera didnt want to miss a moment by trying to get to the phone, so photos will follow when back on land. The sky full of rolling clouds changing color from blue with orange outlines to the red lights in the horizon. Looked like a laser show. 

Then of course it was full moon time! 🌕 I havent found the words to describe the feeling of watching the moon light a blanket over the ocean with no restriction... Moon, ocean and us. 🌕🌊⛴ Was hoping to get a 'flipper' shot with two dolphins jumping out right in the moonlight. Lol. No it didnt happen this time. It will. 💙🐬💙

We're set to anchor about 2am at Socorro. We'll have 3 dives first one at 730am. The dive profiles in Socorro are deeper and longer so I also got my Nitrox certification so I dont hold anybody back. Will be diving Nitrox and see how it goes. It was a challenge figuring out my Cressi computer's nitrox function, but with all the experience onboard, Juan and Michel managed. Im all set and cant wait! First dive targets are dolphins, mantas and tiger sharks. Im sleeping early so I can wake up to another amazing view of the moon over Socorro while everybody is sleeping. 

Not a moment to change on this trip. 

Thank you for reading my experiences, please leave a comment if you want to know about something I havent mentioned. Stay with love with mother nature and our beautiful blue and wishing you a plastic free day! 💙🐬💙