Alpha 4 & Charlie 3 2018 Adventures Day 6 – A Very Full Race Day Sail To Anegada
written by Social Media Coordinator, Ryan Smith
August 11, 2018
This morning, we relished in the opportunity to sleep in a slight bit before breakfast prepping as usual and getting ourselves situated for a 9:00a.m. dropping of our mooring ball. Today’s start time was extra crucial in regards to keeping to schedule as today was RACE DAY! The official race start time was 9:30a.m. and counted down to over the VHF which induced a palpable excitement fleet-wide. With the extra time this morning, our crews locked and loaded all of their sailing knowledge and expertise so they were completely on their game by the time the race was underway!
Fighting for the front running spot for the majority of the race, Manao and Fidji were hot on each other’s tail, tacking alongside each other. Moselle and Galilee had trouble picking up speed at the start of the competition which ultimately lead them to their fall behind, unable to catch up by the tail end of the day’s voyage from Trellis Bay on Beef Island to Anegada.
Working up an appetite from all the hype throughout the day, lunch was enjoyed underway as we didn’t have a minute edgewise to steal us away from the hearty competition. Fidji pulled away in the final moments of the day’s match up and took the win (!), a celebration heard far and wide throughout the Anegada mooring field. By 1:00p.m., our student crews shuttled ashore to hop in rental pick-up trucks to tour the island and make moves towards Cow Wreck beach on the other side of the uniquely flat land mass. Once arrived, the students sat eagerly for a lionfish dissection put on by one of marine biology staff members, Meredith.
The dissection lead into a snorkel and beach day enjoyed at the location, followed up by another truck tour to Loblolly Bay, another astonishing destination on the island. At this beach, we enjoyed another lesson, this one specializing in rays! There were also small shops that the students enjoyed perusing as they meandered about the white sandy beach.
As if we hadn’t seen enough locations already, we took one last pit stop at Shark Point where we were able to observe reef sharks and pink flamingos! Each student couldn’t believe how many different locations/marine species we were able to jam pack into one afternoon on program.
In the late afternoon, we were shuttled back to boats for yet another exciting engagement – Chili Cook Off! Each student crew worked together to make a homemade chili recipe that they presented to guest judges who visited each vessel. On top of the taste and appearance, each boat also concocted a special theme to accompany their scrumptious dishes to the judges.
The very full day culminated in our habitual nightly boat meeting followed by a swift power down as we were all exhausted by the exciting adventures that Anegada provided us.
