Location: West End, Tortola
Day 21 was the most memorable of them all! We started the day nice and early with a 7 am wake-up call. I then attended the skipper’s meeting on Tantalizer for the end-of-session fleet race. Not long after the meeting ended, we had sails up and music blasting. We assigned people to lines, and then we were ready to go! Alex was on the main sheet, ready to ease when the countdown hit 0. Before you know it, we were off, a little behind the rest of the fleet due to a bad starting position, but our mindsets were in it to win it. Averaging 8 knots, Wombat was gaining on the monohulls ahead. We ended the race with a strong second place after a last-minute pass of the boat High on a Breeze. It quickly settled in that we were on the last leg of our journey, sailing back to the West End.
While underway, all shipmates contributed to a full boat clean-out and individually packed our bags. Eventually, we arrived back on the AQ dock, where our 21 days together all started. Students got shore time till 4, and then we had to get ready for the fleet barbecue. Right before we left, we all joined together on the bow for one final squeeze and 10 minutes of boat confessions (learned lots of people, including Sophie and Johnathan, dropped more forks and spoons in the water than we started with). Dinner tonight was at Omar’s, served buffet style to all 16 boats in the fleet. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with each other, making some last precious memories together before we leave tomorrow. Wombat has been so good to all of us these past three weeks, and I am going to miss it and all of the wonderful souls onboard. Thank you, Minerva, for a lifetime of memories and an experience I will never forget.