Location: Galleon Beach, Antigua
Im back! Hi again! You couldnt get rid of me fast enough, try harder next time. (Oh, and so you know, the storm is pretty much gone! Were good!) But anyways.
Today was a jam-packed day full of exciting things such as French toast, mermaids, and defending our honor. But anyways.
We started the day docked with some delicious French toast. I dont know why this typing program keeps making French capitalized, but I wont stop it. It was a delicious way to start the day. Equally delicious (maybe, no one tried to taste it) was raising the anchor caked in mud. Everyone needed to get sprayed down after that, and we were quickly on our way. But anyways.
After a long and arduous journey where we nearly ran out of food and fresh water (5 minutes), we reached our next place of anchor, right off a beach. By both dinghy and swimming, we made it ashore and set off on another expedition, just as long and death defying (15 minutes). We hiked through some trees up a path to reach a place called the Mermaid Pools, a collection of tide pools on the cliffs of Antigua (oooooooooo) (ahhhhhhhhhhhh). Hopefully theres some pictures on the blog of it (I dont put them there), but to give a description its a bunch of layers of rocks and boulders that you climb around, with tidepools all around and with huge waves crashing right next to them. It was so interesting to walk around looking at crabs and snails and the moving water. Very contemplative and fun stuff. But anyways.
We had a really fun morning exploring the tidepools, and then headed back on board for lunch to prepare for the (drum roll) BOAT-LYMPICS (fanfare). Because this program has two boats (Ocean Star and a big catamaran called the Different Drummer), we competed ruthlessly against each other in terrifying battle that any spectator would have rated R for Really Scary. We donned our war paint (colored zinc) and prepared our weapons of combat (a single flipflop from each person) and marched to our destiny, unafraid of whatever lay before us. We competed in feats of dexterity (balance on a boat fender (google it)), mind (the floor is lava), strength (tug of war), and countless other challenges none would ever dare – save for us. We also competed in a blindfolded obstacle course, where one person could see and not speak, one person could speak but not see, and one person could blindfoldedly move through the course, guided by the voice of their teammates. In the end, we were victorious, vanquishing our enemies and retiring to our boat to indulge in the spoils of war (drink cold soda). Truly glorious. However, onwards.
Weve just had a great dinner of jerk chicken (with real chicken instead of canned chicken) and cornbread, and are getting ready to take the final exam for our International C Crew certifications (I cannot remember what the first C stands for)(it stands for competent). If you want to help your student, message them the Points of Sail Song. It goes like this:
The points of sail / * clap clap clap clap * / the points of sail / * clap clap clap clap * /
the points of sail the points of sail / youve got your irons, your close haul, close reach /
youve got your beam reach, broad reach run**
**Sing as loud and out of tune as possible
That was our day! Its been a really good run so far, and were all excited to enjoy our last few days on board. Bye!
-Weston
PS:
Hi again Mom + Dad + Calla + Finn + Monster!
Love + miss you all! Ill see you again soon. <3