Alpha 1 Day 11: Let The Olympic Games Commence!
written by Alpha mate, Erika Florian
July 4, 2017
Today was Sail Caribbean Olympics! We left the Bitter End in the morning in order to get to Long Bay Beach. The staff drove the boats while the students slept in down below. Some of the kids woke up early and helped the staff anchor the boat in Long Bay. Once everyone was awake, we had breakfast and each crew made a boat flag to represent their boat in the Olympics games.
The Olympics consisted of a fierce tug of war competition, a dizzy fender relay race, a bury-your-captain sand art contest, and finally a synchronized swimming competition. Everyone was excited to compete for glory with their fellow boat mates. After Olympics were over, we all went back to our boats for lunch. We were so proud of our flags and our Olympics performances that we hung our boat flags on our sterns triumphantly.
Once lunch was cleaned up, we went back to shore to do some community service work with the local YEP BVI (Youth Empowerment Program) kids. The students got to spend the afternoon with ten girls from Tortola, teaching them how to sail, kayak, and paddle board! Our kids loved engaging with them and showing them what they’ve learned so far on this trip. It was a wonderful way for the students to spread the joy and empowerment adventure and water sporting instills. All of the YEP kids left with smiles on their faces and our students were happy to have spent the afternoon getting to know them.
For dinner, the staff hosted a barbeque with burgers and hot dogs for everyone. After dinner, we were driven to Aragorn’s Studio in Trellis Bay where Sail Caribbean hosted a Fourth of July celebration all of the current programs! The kids were able to hang out on the beach, dance with Caribbean music, buy some cold smoothies and just simply enjoy and celebrate the fourth! All of the kids loved seeing the other fleets and just had an overall amazing night.
We finished off the night by heading back to Long Bay, and getting dingy rides back to our boats for power down. From our boats, the beach looked amazing with the moonlight and the stars up above. We finished boat meeting and everyone was very sad to be leaving their boat family and the beautiful Caribbean in a few days. Tomorrow will hold a little more friendly competition than our usual program days, as tomorrow is Race day!
