Foxtrot 1 & Sierra 1 2015 – Day 11

written by Marine Science Intern, Grace McKenna

Anegada to Marina Cay

The day started off with an early breakfast and both boats were off the ball at 9am. Matt skippered Spyglass for the day, and did an excellent job steering his crew out of the narrow Anegada channel. The winds were strong, gusting 25 knots, and every boat on the fleet got both sails up! On Spyglass, Aidan, Kayla, and Liam worked on perfecting the sail trim, and got us cruising at 7 knots. On Miss You, Matt, Julie, and Dylan practiced raising the main sail with reefs in, which was necessary with such high winds. Spyglass had a right-of-way lesson taught underway by their mate, Liz.

Once the boats arrived at Marina Cay and picked up a mooring ball, a quick lunch of sandwiches was prepared by Emily and David on Spyglass and Vincent and Julie on Miss You. After eating, divers grabbed their gear and log books. All divers, including the Discover Scuba Diving students, Mayra, Julie, and Marley, got to go for two fun dives! Although the visibility was less than ideal after a windy few days, Paul, Nico, Reese, and Vincent managed to spot a Hawksbill Sea turtle munching on some sponge. Paul Mayra and Paige applied their coral lesson from yesterday to check out the polyps on the hard and soft reef corals! While the divers were away, Eric, Ish, Grace, and Oliver went for a snorkel at Lee Bay, and saw a school of baby reef squid!

Once the divers were back to their boats, dinner prep began. Nico and Alejandro worked together to make delicious Caribbean jerk chicken and egg fried rice on Sierra, and Reese and Julie made Caribbean jerk chicken and plantains on Miss You. All the students enjoyed a taste of local culture through dinner that night!

After dinner, students working towards the Advanced Open Water Certifications started completing their knowledge reviews, helped out by mate Eliot on Miss You and captain Alex on Spyglass. Everyone spent a quiet evening on board, and got to bed early after their long but fun day of diving and sailing!

Look forward to photos later on this evening!