Bravo 2, Charlie 2, Foxtrot 2 & Sierra 2, Day 13: Turtling and Leverick Bay
Written and edited by Meredith Evridge
The sun burst through the horizon, and we all rose with it. It was an early morning in Oil Nut Bay for Mega Fleet. A breakfast buffet was laid out with care, and we all had our pick of the usual spread! Once it was all cleared away, it was time to get cracking. Bravo and Charlie spent their morning improving their wakeboarding skills! Several rounds of campers had their turn. They also enjoyed swimming from boat to boat, relaxing in the warm Caribbean waters.
Sierra had a morning of learning about water properties in the area including pH, ammonia, and nitrogen levels. They collected samples of water and tested it for each property. Foxtrot was just a few boat lengths away learning about turtle diseases. They then had a session of turtle tagging, with one of our staff catching a gigantic green turtle! This turtle had never been tagged before. All students aboard were quiet and calm, making sure the turtle was comfortable. The students and staff both had turns taking measurements, recording data, and boosting their records with photos as well. As Sierra ended their water testing, they switched spots with Foxtrot and had a turn turtling as well. One of our students was the one to make the catch this time, much to our delight! They helped bring it into the dinghy and onto the catamaran where everyone was gathered. They went through the same process that their Sail Caribbean mates had just gone through, recording data. A turtle is on board for about twenty minutes before released back into the wild. Once all had been documented, the turtle was gently released back, but not before we observed it taking a breath and then diving down under.
It was quite an exciting morning in Oil Nut Bay! Lunchtime came around, as it so often does, and then both Chavo and Soxtrot fleets began to head toward Leverick Bay. This would be a docking, which the campers looked forward to. After all our catamarans and monohulls had secured their lines on dock successfully, we had a few things to do before our party tonight. Boats were deep cleaned, phones were given out to call home, and land showers were taken. The shops and small supermarket on shore were visited by all campers who were impressed at what souvenirs and snacks were available!
At 6:30, we were seated at a section of reserved tables, and the pizzas and lemonade began to flow forth. Once all had gotten their slice of the action, DJ Flava began to turn up the bass. Everyone, including staff, flooded the dance floor and we busted many moves. We could request songs and when they came on, there was a fresh flow of movement and hands in the air.
Properly sweaty, our hearts were pumping after this cardio blast. A few minutes before nine, the music began to get softer and we meandered back to freshly cleaned home boats. Boat meetings were had, with campers still a bit jazzed up, and then we all called it a night.
