Bravo 2, Charlie 2, Delta 2, Foxtrot 2, Sierra 2: Day 2- First Sail to Benures Bay!
Written By: Ebba Gustafsson
Day 2
Today we woke up in Hodge’s Creek Marina. Most of us slept outside in hammocks or sleeping bags and woke up early excited for the day. Hodges Creek houses Sail Caribbean’s BVI Office as well as their main dive shop here in the BVI.
We started the day by having a breakfast buffet of cereal, yogurt, fruit, and bagels. We got our duty roster schedule, which says what assignments students have for the day. For example, being Skipper, prepping lunch or cleaning decks!
After that, Mike, Sail Caribbean’s Founder & Director, came around to all the boats and gave his famous talk in which he details expectations of the campers and how the program is going to work.
Following our Mike Talk, we had our Prior to First lesson, which is a thoroughly detailed walk through of the whole boat, getting to know it and learning boat vocabulary as well as safety procedures while onboard.
Now that everyone had an understanding of our boat, we got ready to de-dock. We had a lesson about de-docking, made a plan taking into account the potential hazards in our de-docking path, got into our positions and had a nice and smooth de-docking.
When we got out on the water, we did a sail-raising lesson, raised our main sail and jib and started sailing towards Benures Bay. The weather was beautiful, sun shining and a nice breeze. All the islands looked so pretty with the green tops and white beaches. And students were very excited to be off the docks.
At Benures Bay, we grabbed a mooring ball and ate lunch -sandwiches and wraps. Yum! The afternoon was spent hanging out on the boat while listening to music and getting to know one another. We also did a swim test and then went swimming around just having a good time. Some people went snorkeling with a sea turtle and stingray and others had a nap on the trampoline.
Shower-time came and while we were waiting for dinner, some people went fishing for Jacks from the bow but a 3 foot barracuda was waiting right underneath the boat ready to steal our fish! It was a lot of fun. For dinner we had some good burritos.
In the evening, we cleaned the boat and did a boat meeting. During our boat meeting, we write a Ship’s Log about what we have been doing during the day and played a fun game. We had a calm and really nice, fun day getting to know each other and the boat. We already had so much fun and it’s only Day 2! It’s been a great day!
