Bravo 2, Charlie 2, Foxtrot 2 & Sierra 2, Day 18: Jost Van Dyke

Written by Henry Joslin-Davis

Edited by Meredith Evridge

Today, the campers relished in a bit of a lazy morning which is not so typical for Sail Caribbean! We utilized this time to recharge after a very busy two and a half weeks. The official wakeup was not until after nine, and it was a delicious treat to be able to slowly greet the day, brush teeth, pull on some comfortable clothes and chat with friends around the breakfast table. Oatmeal and cereal were the carbs of choice for the morning, with a side of fresh fruit. Eggs were scrambled for those that had a big appetite.

There was nowhere to rush to for the next few hours so we decided to chill, hardcore, on the boat. It didn’t take long for play dates between boats to occur, and soon all the campers were visiting someone else’s floating home! They swam, played games, munched on fruit and other snacks that were shared with all, and soaked in these summer moments that would soon be happy memories.

After a solid chunk of chill time, it was back to boats for a tasty lunch. We cooked up paninis for lunch and devoured them! We were becoming quite adept cooks by day eighteen, sprinkling in interesting seasonings to shake things up. Lots of creative license was displayed in the galleys around Mega Fleet. The mates of every boat swapped to a different one right before we headed out for Jost Van Dyke. It was fun to have a different staff member aboard, some boats even having two guest mates for the sail!

It was about a three and a half hour sail and we had really nice weather. During this sail, the campers studied for and took their crew tests. Then, we picked up a mooring ball at Little Harbor on Jost Van Dyke. As the whole fleet was moored successfully, we put on some cute clothes and were dinghied to shore for an amazing dinner at Sydney’s. This is one of the best meals we have all program. They treated us like royalty, setting up quite a buffet with barbequed chicken, rice and beans, salad, pasta salad, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and more. One of our hostesses also set up a hair braiding station that tickled everyone’s fancy.

After we had all gotten our fill of the meal and the group pictures (gotta get those cute faces all in one place!), we stopped by the gift shop and purchased funny hats and t-shirts. Heading back to boats with our braids and Sydney’s swag, campers sat down to write a letter to themselves. They would later receive these, during the holiday season. They’re a great way to see one’s growth in half a year’s time. Once all letters were in envelopes and safe in the captain’s quarters, we had a boat meeting and then turned the lights off in the cabins and in our eyeballs.