Bravo 2, Charlie 2, Foxtrot 2 & Sierra, Day 11: Art Without Limits, Truck Tours and Chili Cookoff

Written by James Cordery

Edited by Meredith Evridge

This Friday morning was started off at 7:30 AM with a hearty breakfast buffet. Once we had cleaned up breakfast, we up-anchored at Dead Mans, ready to set sail for Trellis Bay on Tortola. Our sail to Tortola was an upwind sail, and was a good chance for all our crew to practice their tacking for the upcoming Challenge Day.

Once we had picked up mooring balls at Trellis Bay, we prepared our lunch of sandwiches. Gobbling them down because they were that good, we loaded into the dinghies and headed to shore. Once all parties had land under their feet, the students were met by a woman from AWOL (Art Without Limits) named Debi. AWOL is a local community based art project that Debi founded in order to give local young people the opportunity to get involved with art. It is also for professional artists to educate and explore the local art. All of our students got involved with their projects that included several smaller paintings and a very large poster. Each student was also able to design and paint a “feather” to create a set of wings, that would later be made into a mural. 

While the art was flowing from our paintbrushes, some of us gathered to learn about ocean pollution. They grabbed trash bags and cleaned up the shore of Trellis Bay. They ended up collecting tens of bags of trash! Well done, Mega Fleet! Shore time was also an opportunity for our students to go to the local market and indulge themselves in some treats that they had not had in a little while. Ice cream was downed like it was going out of style. Unbelievably enough, there was yet another exciting activity: Truck Tours of Tortola! Four truck loads of starry eyed campers got to experience the steep and narrow roads of Tortola whilst also observing island life. This is the highlight of many campers trip, the thrill of the highs and lows of the island. 

The art supplies were cleaned up and put in Debi’s vehicle, and the last of the ice cream was savored as the last truck tour returned. A load of provisioning was carried by staff and students to fill up the larders on board. Fresh fruit, veggies and other important supplies were handed from the dinghies to the boats, and carefully stored. Once everyone was settled back on boats, we all had our boat showers and swiftly began preparation for the Chili Cookoff!

Our campers had the challenge of inventing a theme whilst also preparing their best chili. They had to present all of this to a pair of judges that dressed up and dropped by for a taste. We had a bunch of great themes including Christmas in July, a slumber party and even a Hollywood film set! Many of these themes were accompanied by some great chili and some “creative” chili. Secret ingredients included peanut butter, mustard and even curry powder. The judges hardly knew what flavor to focus on! It was fun for everyone, and the judges noted the effort and creativity that was put in by every single person.

After such a busy day, our boats finished off with a boat meeting, participating in True Course games such as Rose, Bud and Thorn. We were easily able to power down for what had been an awesome day of creativity and friendly competition, knowing that we are all winners in the end.