Written by Jacob, Mate on Summer
The students woke up bright and early at 6:30 am moored outside the Bitter End Yacht Club. A scrumptious breakfast of a ham and egg scramble was prepared by Luke and Lydia. The filling breakfast would be required for the day ahead: Race Day! This is an exciting day for students as they get to put their knowledge to the test in a friendly race against the other boats. With good wind conditions, the wind speed between 10-15 knots, the students dropped the ball at 8:00 am. Mate of the Day, Howard, was on the throttles and helped navigate the boat out of the mooring field.
The students raised the sails, and the start line was located just outside the North Sound channel. At 8:30 am, we were off! The race’s final destination: Anegada. Ian, the skipper of the day, instructed his crew to trim the sails for the two-hour sail ahead. The crew jammed out to music, had good discussions at the helm, and were neck and neck with another boat for a good portion of the race. The crew celebrated their second-place finish as they moored at Anegada around 11:00 a.m.
After a quick lunch, the students got ready to go ashore. Once ashore, they got to mingle with kids from other boats in anticipation of a car tour of the island. Following the car tour, the students had some time to unwind with ice cream and other delicacies before heading to the beach for a clean-up! The students got to partake in community service, helping to maintain the beauty of the British Virgin Islands. After a successful clean, the students got back into the cars and made the journey to a shark sanctuary.
Upon the students’ return to the boats, they prepared a delicious chili and worked on a skit for the Chilli Cookoff. 7:15 rolled around, and the judges started making their rounds to each of the boats. After the crew’s amazing skit and the judges’ judgment of the Chili, the students finished cleaning the boat, which was followed by a boat meeting. The day ended at 9:30 when the lights went out.
