Hello again readers,

The Chemical Brother’s song, “The Big Jump”, served as an appropriate theme for what Boyan and Manel got up to as a means of spicing up the day.

The wind was not exactly ideal, as Enigma was crawling at a measly 3 knots under sail. After some discussion, it was agreed that we would have to motor until the wind started to pick up. Because of this, the crew’s enjoyment would have to come from somewhere else besides sailing. This was certainly aided by, once again, the lunch that we had: delicious caneloni cooked by Julia before the sail in Lisbon (muito obrigado, Julia!). After lunch, the crew’s stomachs were certainly tended to, but nothing else seemed to be going on.

This was when Manel and Boyan decided to put on their bathing suits.

They were going to have a dip in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean – 250 kilometres from land, 3 kilometres of the unknown beneath them. After all, it is not too many people that can say they jumped 4 metres off the top of a boat into an endless ocean. The boat was all but stopped, the cameras were out and the adults helplessly looked on. Manuel joked that if he yelled ‘Shark!’ once, there was no need to worry; if he yelled ‘Shark!’ twice, we better swim back to the boat; if he yelled ‘Shark!’ three times, we may as well accept our fate!

One could imagine that the images going through everyone’s minds weren’t all positive going in. This was further exasperated by the fact that Boyan is currently reading ‘The Life of Pi’ – a fiction about a 16 year old castaway at sea having to fend off, among many other carnivorous fauna, sharks. But anyway, it was enough worrying and time to jump.

The boys had a great time. The water was a pool-like 26ºC and, as you can see from the fact that we are writing this, there were no sharks to worry about (at least none that we saw!). They found it so much fun that they jumped back in 3 or 4 more times. The entire ordeal was well documented – including a series of clips that Manel edited into a short movie – but this photo summarizes the event quite nicely.

So there you have it -- another day, another story from the Enigma crew – and the trip is just getting started!

Until tomorrow,

The Enigma Crew