Alpha 2 Day 10: Race Day Had Us All Hype!
written by Mate-In-Training, Andrew Dyer
July 18, 2017
The sun broke over our sleeping heads, casting its benevolent rays over the new day. We were soon all up and about, the day was about to start with a bang. Hurrying through breakfast, making pre-departure checks, we dropped the ball and headed to the start line for the big race. Today was race day, and the course was between Trellis and Mountain Point, a two-hour sail with plenty of reefs and islands to tactically navigate. As we sat like poised sprinters before the start line, each boat hyped themselves up, from the captain to crew, everyone felt the excitement building. Over the VHF we heard the start signal and we were off.
It’s only on Race Day that we see how fast the crew can truly work, and all the boats blithely hoisted their sails, shaving minutes off of their previous records. From the first minute, everyone was on their toes, and for the next two hours the competition between the boats never ceased. After zigzagging between the Dogs, Mountain Point appears on the horizon. And though it was close, Montlouis came in a clear first, GP3 a close second and Miss You third.
Once on anchor, we proceeded with lunch, enjoying the unique view of the open ocean. With lunch over, we gathered our snorkel gear and swam to a very special monument, the Kodiak Queen. The Kodiak was an old WWII fuel boat which was sunk at Mountain Point just months earlier, and with the aid of technical divers and a group of artists and dreamers, a giant Kraken was attached to its stern. This massive underwater art piece presented a fascinating spectacle, offering so much history and also a whimsical yet crucial message of nature versus humanity. Snorkel over, we headed back to boats and began our much shorter sail to Bitter End.
After a challenging mooring ball pick up due to strong winds, we jumped right into dinner prep and showers. As dinner was underway, we completed all our boat chores. Dinner eaten and dinner clean done, we headed ashore for a social onshore at Saba Rock. Lounging on the comfy couches, with fruity drinks and scrumptious desserts freely flowing, we chatted and enjoyed our treasured land time. At about 9:30p.m., we headed back to boats for a relaxed boat meeting and power down. With the stars laying a sparkling blanket over our sleepy heads, casting their benevolent rays over the end of yet another eventful day in the Caribbean.
