The Lates Fleet! Days 1 & 2
Written by Nora E., Social Media
Hello from Lee Bay on Great Camanoe Island! It has been a lovely first two days of the program down here in the British Virgin Islands. All of our students arrived safely yesterday from all over. They arrived at Hodges Creek Marina and were greeted by our excited staff. They each were welcomed onto their boats which will be their homes for the next two weeks. Also, we had a yummy dinner of chicken, potatoes, rice, and veggies. Before heading to bed for their first night, they sat down to have their first boat meeting with name games and schedules for the next day.
As the sun rose over the docks, the students all woke up to a breakfast buffet on their boats. Then, they started some rotations of sailing lessons on the boat, boat photos, and going to the dive shop to meet all of the divers and shop around. Before heading out for their first sail, we all met up in front of the office to have a “Mike Talk”. This is where Mike, our founder and director, welcomes all of them and goes over some of our policies and traditions. Finally, it was time to leave the docks! Today, there were a few sporadic squalls so they got to experience sailing in the rain.
We all made it to Lee Bay with plenty of time to swim, go on the tube, and do some snorkeling. We saw 3 turtles! Our Marine Science Coordinator for this fleet, Ellen, and I met with the Sierra and Foxtrot students, and she gave them their first lesson on marine litter and ocean plastics. Did you know that marine litter leads to microplastics in fish, which therefore harms our food and environment? The students were then tasked with teaching a lesson to the rest of their crew during boat meeting tonight. The night ended with ocean showers and a yummy meal of pasta. I can’t wait to spend the next two weeks sailing with these fun and adventurous crews!
