Early Alpha 2015 – Day 8

written by Program Director, Phil Yudin

Today was a day full of sailing and activities! We woke up bright and early at 6:30a.m., and boy, were we all groggy! Lara especially wanted a few more minutes of sleep, but the day was just beginning!! We had egg sandwiches with bacon for breakfast and then snapped into cleaning mode to get the boats ready to go out to sea. We left Cane Garden Bay and headed around the backside of Tortola towards Trellis Bay, where we picked up a mooring ball.

This whole time, our open water divers plus Missy, Caroline, Grayson, and Olivia were diving, which meant that we had fewer people on board but still had to get all the jobs done which proved to be a difficult but fun challenge. Once we got to Trellis Bay, we all went over to Xeres for a Marine Science lesson about trash in the ocean, and then hopped in the water to clean up some trash ourselves! Down at the bottom of Trellis Bay, we found loads of clothespins, cans, and other things that people had accidentally dropped overboard. Grant and Ashley even found a deflated fender at the bottom!

After our snorkel, we went ashore to check out Aragorn’s studio and buy some of his organic fruits and veggies that he grows on his farm on the north side of Tortola. Once we had our fill of mangoes, bananas, and organic fruit leather, we headed back to our boats for a delicious dinner of barbeque chicken. After dinner, we cleaned up our boats and had our boat meetings. Ellie, Moss, and Lorenzo led the crew of Xeres in a dance-off! After such a long day, bedtime couldn’t come soon enough.

Photos of these exciting activities to come soon!