Location: Tobago Cays, Grenadines
The morning started at 7:00, but the crew had already woken up to the smell of Peter and Beef Cake’s pancakes being made for breakfast. They were the thickest pancakes I’d ever eaten in my life, and they were quite delicious. After breakfast, we got right into our passage prep for Tobago Cays. Captain told us we were bringing out a new sail called “the Flying Jib,” so naturally, everyone banded together to get it done so we could go sailing as soon as possible and see the new sail in action. Once underway, we rose the jib sail then the flying jib. There was a sudden change in the boat; she had more wind in her sails and began to swiftly glide through the waters. The boat’s momentum brought a wave of excitement among the crew as we were on our way to our destination.
About halfway through the passage, we had a man overboard drill with Bob the Buoy. The crew split into their three watch teams, and the Captain took the helm to command the ship. In a matter of minutes, we had recovered Bob, and everyone was safely mustered in the cockpit. It was an unexpected surprise to have a man overboard drill, but everything went smoothly because each crew member knew his/her role. Once the drill was over, we spent the rest of the day working on basic seamanship skills, sailing around the Tobago Cays, and practicing the different points of sail. Around 15:30, we anchored about 200m away from a sea turtle-protected area. The crystal blue waters made it easy to see some sea turtles swimming near the boat.
With the sails flaked and their covers on, the crew took their salt-water showers and dove into the chicken and rice meal the chefs had prepared. We ended the day with full stomachs, an oceanography class, and some good rest. In all, it was another great day at sea.