Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda, BVI
Day three is almost gone, and everyone is getting better at their jobs. Today was a new day with new things to learn. Early mornings are always hard, especially after having a long anchor watch the night before. The squalls that trolled through at midnight and 4 am didn’t make the anchor watch much fun for everyone. But the day gets better when you have a delicious breakfast. I had some delicious gluten-free banana bread muffins because I couldn’t have the delicious pumpkin bread. It’s nice to see that in three days, we are getting to know everyone pretty well. Today, I finally learned everyone’s name. This morning, Carolyn taught us a lot of new things. We learned that ropes, once they are on a boat, are now called lines. We learned how to work with those lines on pin rails, and we practiced “sweating,” which is what you do to raise a sail. Or, in this case, a person, because we raised and lowered Amy up the mast in the bosun’s chair. Learning a few things about sailing was exciting and new, although understanding all the new terms is getting pretty hard. So after that, we were ready to set off to Mountain Point. The trip was short, and I was on the helm, which made it even better. So far, that has been a highlight of my trip. I am impressed by how fast everyone is learning.
The food is one of the best things about the trip. Amanda is great, and we’ve been eating all different kinds of delicious and healthy foods. We had some Mediterranean bowls for lunch and some tasty enchiladas for dinner. After a long day, we finally had some free time to go to our tiny, white, sandy beach. This is something I wish we could have more often.
I am looking forward to tomorrow’s activities and having my first dive! So excited!
Pictured: Amy’s bird’s eye view of Ocean Star from way up the mast; Carolyn teaching the students how to sweat lines; Amy in the bosun’s chair; everyone going through the lunch line; Kaiden, Joseph, Steffen, Eli, Brit, Josh, Ridge, and Nate at the beach; Jade, Miranda, and Jill with the floaty giraffe; Ocean Star in the distance during our afternoon at the beach.