Location: Sandy Spit, Green Cay

Day 16
Avizia had a great morning, including French toast and the sun on all of our faces. Gavin munched on his Nutella-covered toasts peacefully as we started our day! Mike set up the groups for our sailing practical, which were Group 1: Jovian, Andrew, Cam, and Dawson. Group 2: Pearl, Katy, Amaya, and Kennedy. Finally, group 4: Gavin, Suki, Holden, and Liliana. Group 1 began right away. Andrew raised the main sail with Jovian while Dawson did the winch, and Cam steered. During the first group’s sail, Kennedy and Pearl took a very long nap in the salon, and Amaya and I (Suki) read, which was nice because I finished my book. The first group put down the jib and main sail, and we went to Brewers Bay to have a delightful lunch of chicken salad wraps and some PB and Js in tortillas. Then, the second group began their practical and had a great time. Most of the groups who weren’t doing their practicals all chilled or made bracelets. I decided to take a small nap, and I was quickly woken up by my name being screamed from the salon, which was startling, haha. I went upstairs and began my sailing practical with my group mates, and we did things like raising the main sail and jib, using the winch, tacking and jibing, and easing the lines. Another section in the practical was that Mike would name a part of the boat, and we would have to go up and touch it. For example, Mike would say, “Go touch a stanchion!” And someone would run down and touch it. Btw, a stanchion is a metal pole that provides support for the lifelines. Then we moved on to tying different knots like a square knot 🪢 haha, that is actually a square knot emoji, lol. Then there are other knots like a clove hitch, figure 8, bowline, sheet bend, and a round turn double half hitch. I’m very happy to say that everyone who participated in the practical passed! Once all the groups were done, we went to Sandy Spit and set an anchor. After we anchored, everyone took their saltwater showers and did some optional snorkeling. The area we are at currently is very shallow, so when Dawson went snorkeling he was able to go to the bottom. He picked up a live conch shell and happily took some photos with it (which I’ll include). Everyone started to mess around, including Kennedy, getting tackled into the water. Everyone continued their showers and dried off for a dinner of cornbread, beans, rice, and salad. Everyone really liked the cornbread, which I can positively agree with. The squeeze question for tonight was, “What is your favorite movie?” There were some answers like Fantastic Mr. Fox from Pearl, Andrew said the movie Action Point, and Mike had an interesting choice of V For Vendetta. After the squeeze, the action for tonight was a Congo line! We played “La Cucaracha!” And happily waltzed around the boat while dancing. Amanda played some upbeat music, and everyone had a great time. Tonight, we are going to have a movie night, which we are all very excited about! I’m pretty sure we are going to watch Surfs Up, Mike’s all-time favorite animated movie. That was about it for Day 16, time is passing quite fast and I’m sure everyone is having a blast in the BVIs.

– Suki M.

P.S. – Hi Mom! Hi Dad! I miss you both so so so much! I can’t wait to see you!! Please give Binx some extra treats for me, but also make sure he gets exercise, He’s already squishey enough! Haha, I’m kidding. Love ya!