Location: Gallows Bay, Sint Eustatia
Today started with an early awakening, right at the crack of dawn, to the same song we’ve been woken up with every single day.. “Bikini Bottom Day” by SpongeBob and Patrick Star. We then prepared for a quick six-hour passage from Saba to St. Eustatius. It was a pretty standard sail; we mixed it up by raising our main while still moored. JJ, Jackson, Walker were the first watch, followed up by Mia, Im Im, and Jackson, finally being followed by Tati, Ellery, Juni, and I. We took one-hour shifts, each team doing two shifts.
The passage was smooth, close hauled pretty much the entire way, cruising right up to Statia with an amazing view the entire time. We anchored in Oranjestad Bay, immediately sending off Mattyp to go handle immigration for us.
Upon his glorious arrival, we left to hike The Quill, hiking a few miles up a Volcano, walking through the valley inside, around its edge, and to the highest point of Statia. Back-to-back hikes to the clouds were completed.
After the hike, we hit the town, browsing local stores and whatnot, and we talked with a lot of locals and similar programs to AQ. We’ve just finished dinner, and the others are cleaning up as I’m writing this blog. Afterwards, we will all ocean-shower (which typically consists of “King of the Dingy”) and head to bed.
The best part of AQ and today are the moments not put in the blog, the most random moments happening, and Walker screaming shortly after. The people using rotted trees as support during the hike and falling through them, random jokes, and deep-squeeze questions.