Sierra 3, Charlie 3, Foxtrot 3 and Alpha 4, Day 13 and 14: Baths day and departures!

Written and edited by Allie Faulkner

Day 13

This morning we woke up and were already underway. The staff members on the boat had woken up early to raise the anchor and motor us to the Baths on Virgin Gorda. We have to leave very early in the morning to get to the Baths as it is a very popular destination and the mooring field fills up very quickly.

We arrived at the Baths from Long Bay around 7am and continued to lay in our sleeping spots till the staff woke us up at 8am. We had a quick breakfast buffet, cleaned our dishes and got ready to go to shore. We jumped in the dinghy and were off to explore the Baths.

We tied on to the dinghy line and swam the rest of the way to shore. Once there, we all gathered around and listened to a lesson on the formation of the baths and the history of the location. Then we were on our way through to the other side. It’s an amazing place with breathtaking beauty and we were all in awe of what we were seeing! We climbed and crawled our way through the path from one beach to another. Once we got to the other side, we took some time to admire the beauty of where we were and splash around, enjoying each others company.

Eventually it was time to get on our way, so we began the snorkel  back to where we started. It was an amazing snorkel with lots of active fish and vibrant coral. It was a enjoyably long snorkel but we eventually made it back to the start, where some of the staff had set up a line leading to the top of a rock to jump off of. We all took turns doing cannonballs and other silly jumps off of Jump Rock.

After everyone had had a turn to jump off, we got back in our dinghies and went back to our boats. We all pitched in to make a lunch of leftovers, cleaning out the fridge before program ends. After our bellies were full, we began to clean. We had to clean the boat from top to bottom because we had another cleaning inspection to prepare for.

Once the boat looked spotless, we dropped the ball at the Baths and started to head towards Hodges Creek. We got our sails up for the last time and made our way back to the home base. We sailed across the channel and really soaked in our last sail of the trip.

We docked seamlessly once we got to Hodges. We did some last minute cleaning, like hosing off the decks before we called our program director over to inspect our boat. Once we passed, we were allowed to have our phones back for a bit and to go grab some ice cream from ice cream truck that we had brought to Hodges. The ice cream was delicious and everyone that had it was in love!

Finally, it was time for dinner; on the last night it is always catered and delicious! We had ribs, mac and cheese and steamed veggies. We ate on our boats and after cleaning up, we got ready for skits and awards. We found out the winners to the different events of Olympics and Chili Cook-off!

We returned to our boats for one final boat meeting before the trip came to an end. We did an appreciation circle, letting the people on our boat know how they impacted our trip. We wrote airplane letters and then turned in for the night to rest up for a full day of travel ahead.

Day 14

This morning we awoke with the sun, as we had a early rise to make our ferry and plane rides. We packed the last couple things in our bags as we mentally prepared ourselves to return back to reality. We carried our things to the taxi that was waiting for us as we grabbed muffins and apples for breakfast on the way. We said our “goodbyes”, “thank yous” and “see you laters” and piled into the taxis. With tearfilled eyes we waved goodbye to our wonderful counselors and headed to the ferry dock to get to St. Thomas.

It was a great program filled with unforgettable memories, new best friends and lots of learning. The staff here at Sail Caribbean want to say thank you for a wonderful last program of the summer. It was a great end to our 40th summer! We can’t wait to see you all next year and wish the best during the school year. Fair winds to all!