Foxtrot 1 & Sierra 1, Day 4: A Taste of Everything on Cooper Island
Written by Henry Joslin-Davis
Edited by Meredith Evridge
Today, we had a 7 AM wakeup at the Bight, with a 7:30 breakfast. We had scrambled eggs that were loaded with all the good stuff: peppers, cheese, even little chunks of tomatoes! After breakfast, the boat immediately started breakfast clean and pre-departure checks. Today we’d head to Cooper Island! Shortly after all boxes were checked on the list of things to do before leaving, each captain taught a lesson on dropping a mooring ball. The lessons went very well, especially because our budding sailors were immediately able to put it into practice, flawlessly dropping mooring balls and heading out to sea.
Thus began our sail from the Bight on Norman Island to Cooper Island, with is farther up the Sir Francis Drake Channel. While underway, our boats were taught a lesson on raising and lowering the main sail, prepping us to raise the mainsail and jib. The sail itself was a good mix between educational and relaxed. Since we had to sail upwind to reach Cooper Island, the crew had to perform many tacks. There was a lesson given on tacking beforehand. The first couple tacks started off a bit shaky but by the end of the sail, the students could tack in forty seconds flat!
Our sail was concluded with a mooring ball pickup at Cooper Island that went quite smoothly. Then, every program began afternoon activity rotations. Some boat went on a snorkel of Cistern Rock, while others had some wicked watersports runs. Wakeboading and tubing happened at the same time, with both having satisfactory wipeouts! Meanwhile, others spent time at shore hanging out, buying ice cream or going out on stand up paddleboards. Each program would spend some time at one activity, then rotate to the next one. Everyone got to do everything! Then, at 5 PM, all camper started heading back to boats to start dinner prep. Dinner was a splendid batch of spaghetti bolognese. Once everyone was full, dinner clean and boat clean ensued. Everyone worked together to get it done quickly because we didn’t want to be late for the soda social happening ashore!
This was a total blast. Cracking open ice cold sodas among the strung up lanterns, we also had a staff member put on a spontaneous light ball spinning show. Cheers could be heard clear across the mooring field! Saturated with happiness and exhaustion from the huge day at Cooper, all campers were dinghied back to their home boats, had short boat meetings, and headed to sleep.
