Lates Fleet! Day 1 – Arrivals
Written by Caroline K., Marketing Team
Today’s the day!!! Last but certainly not least, our final programs of the summer have arrived. 53 students arrived today, making up our Alpha, Charlie, Tango, Foxtrot & Sierra programs. Our latest fleet has 5 boats + Staff boat that will be sailing all around the British Virgin Islands these next two weeks of adventure.
Our day started bright and early for all those involved. Staff spent the morning provisioning food for all the boats and turning over vessels to make sure they’re prepped and ready for arrivals. Maintaining 45-foot catamarans is no small task, and we thankfully have a dedicated, experienced staff who are up to the challenge. Once all boats were fueled, watered up, and inspected, our provisions order arrived, and we began to stock the fleet. On top of loads of fresh produce and protein, I spied some special boxes of cake mix for a few birthdays we have coming up during the program!
Around 3:30pm our first group of students arrived! Some campers fly into St. Thomas and take the ferry to Tortola, while others fly right into the Beef Airport in the BVI, so arrival times vary throughout the day. As soon as they were dropped at The Moorings, boat assignments were given, and luggage was loaded onto boats to get settled.
Our 5 booats on the Lates Fleet are Game Day, Gap Year, For Obvious Reasons, Pirate Song, and Fan Sea. After a long day of travel, students unpacked, had a snack, and took some land showers at the lovely Moorings.
Arrivals day is special because of our fleet-wide barbecue. We had plenty of burgers, jerk chicken, caesar salad, greek salad, and corn on the cob to fuel us up for our upcoming adventure. Boat by boat, campers came up to be served buffet style, before taking their plates back to boats to enjoy dinner with their new crewmates and get to know each other.
The night ended with our first boat meetings, each led by the Captain and two Mates on each boat. This is where all ground rules and expectations/goals are set for the program, and it ends with a game before heading to bed on the docks!
