Day One!
Location: West End, Tortola
Day one on the dock in West End and we are finally getting to meet our shipmates. After two weeks of work to get everything ready, it's nice to finally see the names on a list materialize into students. We started the day bright and early with cereal, yogurt and bagel breakfast put together by the AMAZING Anna J. From there the staff broke off into individual boat teams and set to task on all the last minute details to make sure that our boats were ready for the students. Jack made all the bunks with fresh sheets, while Tor went through all of the diving gear and books to make sure that we had what we needed for each student for the next three weeks. After a pizza lunch, our first group of shipmates arrived from the airport around 1:00. An introduction by our director, Mike and the shipmates walked down the dock to find their boats. Tor had put her artistic skills to use and made a welcome sign on our whiteboard that explained the sleeping arrangements on the boat as well as the check-in procedure. Once the students had checked in and hopped in the water for a swim test, there was a little downtime for students to get to know each other. More and more students arrived in groups from Tortola and St. Thomas throughout the day until we had just about everyone on our boat for a tortellini dinner with a side salad. The energy on the boat is high as we get to know each other and get ready to cast off our lines tomorrow morning and get ready for 21 days of adventures.
Here is a little about the staff on Spindrift:
Jack- Skipper
Born in Colorado, Jack moved with his family at an early age and enjoyed an international upbringing in South America. When he was a child in Argentina, Jack first started sailing windsurfers and small dinghies on the River Plate. After returning to the United States, Jack raced lasers as a junior sailor. He returned to Colorado to study Economics at Fort Lewis College, graduating with a B.Sc. Since 2009, Jack has been a team member on ActionQuest and Lifeworks and joined Sea|mester as a mate in 2010. Jack currently holds an IYT Master of Yachts 200-ton sail and power endorsed, as well as a PADI Divemaster certification.
Tor- Dive Instructor/Mate
Tor was born and raised in northern California and attended the University of Oregon where she graduated with a degree in Human Physiology. She discovered her love for fish and diving off the Oregon coast. She was a Sea|mester student in '08, sailing from Australia to Thailand. She couldn't get enough of the Sea|mester, ActionQuest/Lifeworks life, so she became a scuba instructor and came back to work at ActionQuest last summer. In the off-season, she teaches skiing/snowboarding at Mt. Bachelor in Oregon. She loves working with the youth and outdoor adventuring!!! Tor's motto is that "everything tastes better in a tortilla."