Written by Finn, Marine Biology Mate on Moet
If your kid comes home saying they don’t know how to clean, don’t believe them! I’m surprised how clean twelve kids can get a boat when they set their mind to it. Today marked a culmination of all the kids’ lessons in sailing, cooking, and schedule following: Challenge Day! Sloan set an alarm on his watch and woke everyone up to House of the Rising Sun at 6:30 AM. Emma and Kinsleigh began breakfast prep and our Navigator, James, Skipper, Ella, and Mate, Sloan, ventured over to staff boat to get a comprehensive briefing on their journey for the day. The students had toast, bacon, yogurt, and granola for breakfast and, with only a few hints from the counselors (Hmm… I wonder if anyone’s checked the engine recently), got us up and motoring away from Anegada with Sloan at the helm.
There’s always a bit of Challenge Day debate on the best way to set sails, especially when 20 knot winds prompt a reef or two in our mainsail. Nonetheless, a reefed mainsail and an unreefed jib were set and it was smooth sailing from that point forward. The kids created a queue list of songs to jam to throughout the trip and everyone busied themselves with a mixture of reading, bracelet weaving, and tanning. Our boat set off a bit late, so we got started on boat cleaning and lunch prep (shoutout to Ella, Tyler, and Lulu).
When we arrived at Scrub at 2:30 PM, we had already eaten lunch, and the boat was (almost) spotless. Once the kids had gotten to all the crooks and crannies (and I retrieved a shirt I had embarrassingly forgotten at the helm), they went ashore to explore the boutiques, stores, and pool. Back to boats was 4:30 PM to start showers, and by 5:00, Brody and May had started dinner prep/photo shoots on their personal cameras!
Dinner was an eclectic mix of various food groups, but still delicious as usual. Post dinner, our boat did a story night. We got a great story from Jake about a long-lost family member and one from Parker about an adopted African sulcata tortoise. By this point, it was just about bedtime, and we all turned in for the night. The evening was bittersweet, having named Grace and Kinsleigh’s final night with us, but we’ve been so appreciative of their positive attitudes and dutiful bracelet making. We wish them luck in their future adventures!
