Follow Our Journey! Alpha & Tango 2 – Days 1 & 2
Written by Nora E., Social Media Coordinator
Excitement was in the air all day as staff prepared the boats for the new Alpha and Tango Program! Half of our staff headed over to the Saint Thomas airport to collect the campers while the rest of us worked to clean the boats, put fresh linens in the cabin, and provision all of the food. With two new boats joining our fleet (Maora & Life’s Been Good), there was a lot of work to check them out and get the captains and mates used to them.
Once the clock struck 4, we were all ready and awaiting our new students. One by one, they came in with their bags and all captains mates, and staff helped situate them on their new boats. The dock was lighting up with all of the laughter, stories, and eagerness.
After some time, we all had a nice meal of rice and beans, chicken, coleslaw, and steamed vegetables. As a staff, this is collectively a favorite meal of ours. With a long day of traveling and cleaning, the campers and staff were ready to go to bed after playing some name games.
The next day, everyone woke up with a positive attitude! After breakfast, each crew came up to our dive shop to take part of a meet & greet with the dive staff, get their ASA (American Sailing Association) books for their certifications, and a new Sail Caribbean t-shirt.
Then, it was nearly time to get off the Hodges Creek Marina docks- docks we won’t return to until the last day of the program! Captains all gave a ‘de-docking’ lesson and after they put on their lifejackets, they were ready to go.
It’s only a short sail to Cooper Island but today it was windy and wavy, so the students were in for an adventurous first sail. When we all arrived on our mooring balls, some of the staff led a snorkel around a giant rock off the shores of Cooper Island. Some kids said they even saw some squids and turtles!
We have one more full day at Cooper Island, and all of the kids are so excited to go to shore tomorrow to get some ice cream, do some tubing, and learn more about scuba diving.
