Shellbacks and Pollywogs

We have two Shellbacks on our boat – Joe and Ruth. A Shellback is a sailor who has crossed the equator and both Joe and Ruth have done that multiple times.  A Pollywog on the other hand is an untrustworthy, lowly, unreliable sailor, and we definitely make that cut. We were nearing the equator and there was talk about a line crossing ceremony. We would be crossing sometime in the night, and to make allowance for the younger crew members, the ceremony would be held at 10 am after the children’s breakfast. 

The line crossing ceremony is an ancient naval tradition, that observes a mariner’s transformation from a lowly Pollywog to an experienced Shellback.  When a ship crosses the equator, King Neptune comes aboard and holds court over charges brought against Pollywogs who have not observed proper protocol and paid the appropriate respects to him.

We were all awake at 3am to watch the Garmin register the Equatorial crossing.  It was a full moon night, and in the distance,  we could see the lights of three other ARC boats.  We flashed lights and honked at them.

In the morning we sighted land, our first glimpse of the Galapagos.  At 10 am, our group of Pollywogs (Lara, Cobin, Marin, Tully, Sunil and I) dressed in outfits fashioned out of the childrens’ craft supplies, stood nervously before King Neptune. The boat continued sailing on Auto-pilot. Neptune looked at us fiercely and demanded our attention. He (she) was an imposing figure in a crown made of aluminum foil and a trident that looked suspiciously like a barbeque tool.

We were to be put to a test to be worthy of being Shellbacks. Using only our noses and mouths, we had to fish out a single M&M from a sea of rice krispies.  We quivered in our outfits and watched in relief as one by one each of the younger sailors were able to complete this task with some effort.  When the last M&M was fished out by Sunil, we were asked to stand in line and were then doused with the deck hose for good measure.  We were then pronounced Shellbacks and King Neptune disappeared into the boat for a quick change and Ruth emerged from the saloon.

When we looked forward, land had disappeared, and we were headed back to Las Perlas. Sometime during the ceremony, the Auto-Pilot had lost its heading and we had been turned around.  Joe scrambled to reset it and put us back on course. I must say that being a Shellback is a powerful feeling.