Delta 1 Day 17: Set Sail For The "Unspoiled Queen"
written by Mate-In-Training, Megan Lundequam
July 10, 2017
This morning, we slowly awoke on the docks of St Kitts to sounds of Jack Johnson and the smell of bacon. We ate breakfast and packed our bags to head over to the shops before de-docking and heading to Saba! We walked through the streets popping into shops and purchasing crazy Hawaiin shirts and various other knick knacks to a commemorate our time on the island.
With full bags and lighter wallets, we loaded back onto boats, completed pre-departure checks, reviewed our de-docking plan and set sail for the “Unspoiled Queen.” This five-square mile island is just as beautiful as it is unique with its steep and rugged shoreline rising quite abruptly out of the water to an elevation of 3,000 feet. There are no beaches or harbors surrounding the island; only a few mooring balls anchored in the 60 feet of water found less than a couple 100 feet from shore. Anchoring is restricted around the island as the area is part of the Saba Marine Park, the only self-supporting marine park in the world.
The sail from St Kitt’s to Saba took us about 6 hours but time seemed to fly by as we spent the sail reviewing ASA, reading our books, writing Letters-to-Self, learning some more new knots and educatedly dodging small squalls. We finally picked up a mooring ball on the south side of Saba rock around 5:30p.m. and immediately after tying our secondary, we were all in the water for boat showers.
Our crew members assigned for dinner tonight got started on pasta and by the time everyone was clean and dry, we all sat down for a nice family meal. After a quick dinner clean, we spent the rest of the night listening to the sweet sound of acoustic guitars and finally ended the night with a boat meeting where we talked about the things we have learned about ourselves so far and the things we want to learn more about. Everyone agreed that the day was one of our favorites so far and we all crawled into bed in anticipation of spending tomorrow exploring the mystifying island of Saba.
