Bravo 1 & Charlie 1 2015 – Day 10

written by student, Erin Wildermuth, Brought to you by the crew of Rioja

Today the Bravo and Charlie crew completed the most challenging hike of our Sail Caribbean Program. The beginning of our 1.5 mile journey felt more like bouldering than hiking. Large, sturdy rocks lined the Bitter End’s Guy’s Trail. The route was steep. The terrain was challenging. The sun was hot but the wind was strong. The hikers were quick, perseverent and surprisingly quiet. Guy’s Trail ended at a 400 foot summit, which fed into the Orchid Trail. Suddenly looming rocks were transformed to beautiful cotton trees overlooking the sea. To the crew’s delight, uphill also retreated to downhill. Our last stretch was alongside mangroves. Having just learned about the trees yesterday, it was nice to see them again and hike past their submerged roots. The hike ended with whopping shouts of success. Parker especially enjoyed it, noting that the climbing was super fun.

While we were meant to sail to Marina Cay today, the kids’ overall enjoyment of the Bitter End led us to change schedules. When we announced that we would spend one more day riding small boats, wake boarding and playing sports on the beach every boat became a yelling, shouting ball of enthusiastic energy.

After a quick lunch on board, rotations were set up on shore. Every single student spent an hour aboard a Hobie today! Avery, Matt and Murrie took one boat. James, Ryan and Ben took another, which they proceeded to capsize. Charlie, Nic and Parker took another. Reagan and Adrianna had a two-man vessel and Adam got to sail solo! They also enjoyed tubing, wake boarding and good clean fun in the sun. To Isabelle, Jade and Jules, tubing was the highlight of the day. Worry not – we made them all apply sunscreen multiple times!

Dinner consisted of variously garnished pasta – cooked into perfection by Avery and Adrianna. Notably, the kids have gotten keen on boat showers. Even those who were originally skeptical find themselves “sudsing” up, jumping in and swaying in time to early evening jams. Some sway harder than others and each group has developed an array of boat-specific dance moves.

As another day ends, everyone finds a slot of sleep. Most of the kids have chosen their own comfortable nook – whether it be in a hammock, in their cabin or just out on the deck under the stars – and are well ready for sleep after a hard day’s fun.

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