Alpha 4, Charlie 3, Foxtrot 3 & Sierra 3 Day 1: Welcome to the BVI!
August 8, 2016
It’s been a most happy and exciting day, eagerly awaiting our Alpha 4, Charlie 3, Foxtrot 3 and Sierra 3 arrivals today! The staff members rolled into their appointed airports with huge smiles on our faces to meet all the waves of arriving students throughout the day. We danced with our Sail Caribbean burgees to the steel drum beats of a local youth band that was performing in the airport which was a joyful hit for all our arriving travelers. After each flight arrived, each staff member giddily guided their groups back to our home base of Hodges Creek Marina on Tortola by way of an hour long ferry ride through the islands. Following their arrival at base, students were assigned to their program’s leadership team and settled into their new homes on the docks.
With the sun setting on the horizon, students enjoyed a land shower before lining up with their programs along the dock to gobble down our buffet of delicious Caribbean chicken, mac and cheese and coleslaw, eating it up from the cockpits of their new homes, among new crew mates. Seconds and thirds were generously consumed, understandable after a long day of traveling.
Following dinner, students sat attentively as an infamous “Mike Talk” was delivered, naturally by our founder and director Mike Liese himself under the moonlight and dock spotlights, where he outlined our Sail Caribbean policies, standards, and expectations during each and every program we run.
After the rest of the campers had a chance to take their turn at some refreshing shore showers, each boat’s crew held their first boat meeting. During their very first boat meeting, crews get acquainted with each other and have brief introductions to the many aspects of our programs, such as the roles on the duty roster and writing within the ship’s log after each day of program. After wrapping up boat meeting, it wasn’t long before students were settled in to fall fast asleep in anticipation of leaving the docks the follow morning. You can look forward to each of our crews of the Alpha 4, Charlie 3, Foxtrot 3 and Sierra 3 programs’ boat photos prior to leaving docks in the next trip update for Day 2, or of course, have an early look by checking them out on our Sail Caribbean Facebook page later this afternoon!
