Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Hey everyone! I’m back for round two of skippering! Yay!!! Today, we woke up in gorgeous Sandy Spit, a tiny island off the coast of Jost van Dyke. We rolled out of our sleepy sacks, which were scattered all over the boat, to the signature Soulja Boy wake-up song: Turn My Swag On. Our chefs, Max and Lulu, brought out cereal and oatmeal to fuel our bodies for the exciting and full day ahead of us. Right after I finished breakfast, Will and I were picked up to go to the skipper meeting aboard Oryx to find out our starting place as well as the route and sail details we had to follow for RACE DAY! The starting point was in between Sandy Cay and Jost van Dyke down to Frenchman’s Cay and Tortola.
Because the wind forecast said there would be gusts of 27 knots, we were told we had to reef our main sail once we got going. After the meeting was over, Will and I came back to home base to brief everyone about the race. I thought it would be fun if we all turned our PFDs inside out so we would all be in blackout. One of the responsibilities of being skipper on race day is to assign people jobs for the main sail, jib, and taking care of the dinghy. Today, I assigned Max and Raiden the role of sweating the halyard to raise the main. The spotters were Jimena and Lulu, and they did a fantastic job letting Loren, who was taking in the slack of the halyard, know when to ease if the sail was caught in the lazy jacks. After we put up the main sail, we motored over to the start line and waited for our ‘Ready, Set, GO!’. Now it was time to take out the jib!
Margo was easing the furling line, which was a new thing for her, and she did a great job. The other part of taking out the jib is winching the jib sheet, a role assigned to Jorge. And just like that, we were off sailing!! We started off pretty close to the other boats, but then got further and further away from them, which was a shame. But it’s ok, because after the race we went to Soper’s Hole in West End, Tortola! This is the marina that we started our trip at, so it was a bit of a full-circle moment for us all. We got dressed and ready to go on land for lunch. A short walk from the dock is a restaurant called Pusser’s, which is a common favorite among ActionQuest students. Zach got a really yummy-looking jerk chicken pizza, which smelled so delicious.
Also, everyone got these really good banana smoothies which were so nice a cold! It was a little difficult to figure out how to pay because they wouldn’t let us split the check, but it all figured itself out in the end. There were a couple of other shops and a grocery store, which we visited as a group. Aliya, Xavi, and Jimena also went to Omar’s Cafe for a long-awaited iced matcha latte. Raiden also got a matcha while reading his novel on historical feminist views and how they have impacted the future. Jorge and I went into a clothing store where we found a cat sleeping on a blanket, and it was the cutest thing ever. While everyone else was shopping, I met up with Will for our second skipper meeting of the day! Although once we actually got to the start line, the actual skippers all decided that it was slightly too windy to sail, so we just motored. It was food fight time…! Every boat bought dozens of eggs to throw at other boats, and we got absolutely battered by eggs and apples. Some people even got hit! Everyone was ok though!! To wash off the egg juice and shells, we all sat at the bow where we got absolutely battered again, this time by saltwater. And just like that, we were pulling into our spot for the night, Great Harbour Peter. Jake came over for dinner, which was chilli and rice, not everyone’s favorite, but still good nonetheless. Advanced sailing and intro sailing both had review days before our exams tomorrow. After a very long and fun day, we are all tired aboard Glad 2 B Here and are going to bed now. Goodnight to all the parents and others reading this! Mama, Papa, Oliver, and Henry, I love you all so much, and I am excited to see you this Sunday!