Written by Elie H., Mate
We kicked off the day with a 7:00 a.m. wake up and a yummy breakfast of oatmeal and cereal made by Ian and Dylan. Today was especially exciting because it was mate swap day, meaning all the mates switched boats and sailed with different crews across the fleet.
I had the pleasure of joining Betty’s Dream for the day and had some awesome laughs with the students, Captain Dylan, and mate Peyton. Since tomorrow is Challenge Day, the campers were already stepping up and really taking the lead on the sail which was amazing to watch.
We sailed from the Bitter End to Anegada, our longest sail yet. After a smooth mooring ball pickup, we jumped in for some swim time and had sandwiches for lunch, made by Onye and Cate. Then, it was time to start shuttling to shore for a full afternoon on land.
We hopped in the trucks and headed to Loblolly, where the kids got to swim, eat, shop, and hang out. It was a super fun time, packed with delicious burgers and an epic beach clean up competition between the boats to see who could collect the most trash. Friendly, eco friendly competition at its best.
Afterward, we drove to the shark sanctuary for an awesome shark lesson led by Bronte. Then we waded out into the water and saw lots of shark commotion! The sharks were darting around, and we even witnessed a rare and adorable moment of shark love!
Once that adventure wrapped up, we headed back to the boats for ocean showers and dinner prep. Rosie, Andy, and Dylan even spotted sea turtles and eagle rays during their showers!
For dinner, Chris and Sasha cooked up hot dogs with caramelized onions, super delicious. After dinner and a quick mates meeting for staff, we got started on boat clean and boat meeting. After a long, full day, everyone was definitely tired and excited for an early bedtime.
With Challenge Day right around the corner, everyone’s ready to rest up and show off all the amazing sailing skills they’ve been building.
