Alpha & Tango, Day 5: Super Cooper Island
Written by Kyra Benforte
Edited by Meredith Evridge
This morning, we woke up at Great Harbor on Peter Island. Another lovely sight, first thing in the morning! For breakfast, we had more yummy tropical fruits, cereal, oatmeal, bagels, yogurt, and scrambled eggs to add a serious nutritional boost!
After breakfast, Open Water divers prepared for a morning full of diving! As they were heading off, six other crew members split off from their home boats and sailed the Colgates up to Cooper Island, where they’d meet the rest of the fleet. They really enjoyed working on their sailing skills and talked through ASA (American Sailing Association) skills that they would need to master! It was a thrill to be able to experience a smaller boat and feel the responses of the boat to each maneuver of the tiller or sheets. The kids also appreciated absorbing even more knowledge from our wonderful sailing staff.
The remaining students on Alphango (Alpha/Tango) Fleet dropped mooring balls and raised sails. Underway, a “points of sail” lesson was taught. Nothing like a classroom on the go! Upon reaching Cooper Island, the lunch prep duo on each boat began to prepare quesadillas for lunch – a student favorite! After all were filled, the meal was cleared away and our Discover Scuba Divers and Open Water divers were taxied to the dive boat for an afternoon of diving. The rest of Alphango fleet headed to shore for stand up paddle boarding, shop time, inner tubing and more time on Colgates. There was something for everyone to do on Cooper! To cool us down, the ice cream shop made sure we got a scoop or two of the flavor du jour.
A long and happy afternoon under our belts, we all returned to boats and took boat showers. The shampoo, conditioner and soap were shared and our campers turned from salty to shiny. Dinner tonight was chicken stir fry, which we all hungrily scarfed down!
Campers were told to get dressed for another quick trip ashore. Our staff had gone ahead and set up an ice cream and soda social on shore! It was the highlight of the day with students having the choice between strawberry, cookies and cream, vanilla fudge, and chocolate cream! They could even garnish their delicious desserts with chocolate, caramel or strawberry sauce, cones and sprinkles! It was almost like it was everyone’s birthday. With everyone pleasantly full of the sweet on-shore surprise, we all called it a day, returning to home boats. For tonight’s boat clean, we made sure to do an extra good job for we knew we’d have a cleaning inspection tomorrow! This was followed by a boat meeting. After all connected with their crew and reviewed the highs and lows of the day, the yawns became contagious and Alphango fleet snuggled into bed for a good night’s rest.
