Foxtrot 2 & Sierra 2 Day 7: Lionfish Dissection At Soper's Hole

written by Foxtrot/Sierra mate, Liz Deveau
July 22, 2017

The day started nice and relaxed with an 8a.m. wake up and breakfast. After breakfast was cleaned up, the students went to enjoy some last minute shop time before leaving docks again. They came back with ice cold drinks and the things they had passed up buying yesterday. We got everyone onboard and left the dock to set sail for Soper’s Hole. The dedocking was silky smooth!

We had a long downwind sail and were able to get several jibes in during the sail. The jibes were well executed with control and precision. It seems that everyone really has a solid grip on everything they have learned over this last week on the water! We got to Soper’s Hole, enjoyed lunch and then made our way to shore to check out the several shops there.

The Sierra students hung back on the boat and dissected a lion fish! All of the organs were perfectly intact! We got to inspect the swim bladder, reproductive organs, gills, liver, esophagus, stomach, heart and brain. It was awesome! A student cut open the stomach and we found six almost completely intact small fish inside. They cut into the head and found the tiny otoliths, or ear stones, and the brain. It was a wicked fun and educational lesson.

After the lesson, the Sierra students joined the rest of the kids and went to shore for the shops and the restaurant. A bunch of students bought souvenir shirts and got some frozen drinks at Pusser’s. Everyone mixed and mingled with all the other boats in large groups around the restaurant. Some started playing games and the laughter could be heard, I’m sure, across the mooring field.

We all went back to our home boats for showers and dinner. We had a dance session on the bow and amateur karaoke during shower time. The kids absolutely devoured their dinner because it was so delicious. After dinner, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset with the most vibrant reds and pinks. During boat meeting, we all shared stories and stayed up for a while talking and drinking tea. It had started to rain but no one took notice while we were under cover in our cockpit. The rain let up by the time we started to head to bed. We have an early wake up tomorrow so everyone settled in to get as much sleep as possible in order to prepare for the day ahead.