Bravo 1 & Charlie 1 2015 – Day 2

written by Photography mate, Erin Wildermuth and student, Don E.

The morning began early with showers, a brief introduction to diving at Sail Caribbean and our first sailing lessons. Once students were familiar with basic sailing vocabulary, general information about living aboard a vessel and the process of de-docking a boat, they were tasked with their first challenge: de-docking a fifty-foot monohull! Despite being the first day students had woken up with the Sail Caribbean team, they were already preparing to take over the boats.

With expert sailing staff by their side, Ethan M., Don E. and Annie R. led their ships as the day’s captains and helmsmen. Lines were snubbed, bows were released and three new crews emerged triumphantly from Hodges Creek Marina. Once underway, the teaching continued. Main sails were raised, jib sails were unfurled and the occasional jibe was orchestrated under the watchful instruction of Sail Caribbean Staff. Less than two hours later, students reversed the process. Main sails retreated into sail bags and jibs returned to their furled, resting positions. Students then undertook their first mooring ball pick-up of the summer in Manchineel Bay on the northwest shore of Cooper Island. The bay is home to an environmentally protected sea grass monitoring site and students spotted several green turtles popping up to breathe on the surface.

For many, the turtles above water were not quite close enough. These students spent the afternoon with Sail Caribbean Divers exploring a nearby dive site known as Cistern Point. Those who preferred to stay above water went wake boarding and explored Cooper Island. Most of the student had fun with their first boat shower, which requires several jumps into the ocean between various lathers followed by a fresh water rinse.

Every night, each boat comes together for a boat meeting, where they recap and record their navigation for the day and complete a ship’s log. Here is the log compiled by Don Euwer-Cherrington and crew on Galilée:

“Woke up earlier than usual today. Bruno and Alec slept in the cockpit. Went through briefing for an hour. Sailed to Cooper Island where we ate lunch and swam. Then we went diving at a nearby area. I saw three huge barracudas. I was trying my best to conserve air. All the girls and guys that were swimming decided to go snorkeling. Curtis, our captain, decided to make us take showers. We then ate dinner..”

Today our crew did a great job of “sailing.”

We need to work on “showering.”

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”22″ gal_title=”Bravo 1 & Charlie 1 Trip Blog- Day 2″]