Location: Antigua
Day 6 on Vela started with the crew being woken for what had been our last day in Antigua. After all of the blueberry muffins baked by Allie for breakfast were eaten, all of the 31 of us came together to raise the main staysail for the first time. We moved from Five islands, where we had been anchored for the past three days, back to English harbor, where our adventure had begun. Lunch was a fantastic macaroni and cheese that was eaten during the two-hour passage, where the biggest waves we have encountered so far had most people smiling but some hunched over the lifelines. Once we reached English Harbour, Tom carefully maneuvered Vela to the refueling platform, where we docked and refueled before our first overnight passage to Les Saints. The whole crew was sad to be leaving Antigua but excited for our first real passage. Once we were docked, Drew ferried all of the students to English Harbour town, where we set foot on dry land for the first time in 4 days. The feeling was very strange as, for the first few minutes, we all felt like we were still on Vela, rocking side to side. We went on land and immediately found the shop selling snacks, where everyone stocked up for the next few days. After our shopping had been done, many of us went on a walk around the harbour to an old fort called fort Berkley from the late 18th century. The views from the cliffs were spectacular.
We remained on land for 2 hours and returned to Allie cooking up what would be burrito bowls for everyone. Before dinner, we passage prepped before the overnight voyage, which consisted of doing things like fastening down all of the loose items on deck and taking off sail covers, etc. After Dinner was finished, we un-docked, and Tom took us out of English Harbour for the last time. Once out of the harbour, the main sail, main staysail, and foremast staysail were raised, and the passage to Les Saints began. The entire crew was split into three teams to be on watch during passages, and each team was on 4-hour shifts of 8 pm-12 am, 12 am-4 am, and 4 am-8 am. I am in watch team two, meaning that my watch is from 12 am-4 am. It is sad to be leaving Antigua, but I am very excited to be underway to Les Saints to be on our first proper passage and give us all an idea of what the next three months hold for us.