Charlie 3 & Alpha 4 2015 Trip Blog- Day 8

written by mate of Venture, Alex Armson, Brought to you by the crew of Venture
August 13, 2015

Today, Daniella was our skipper, Matt was the navigator and Lindsey was the mate. It was Challenge Day, which meant that the students are put in full control of their boats, so the staff were less than helpful at getting the day started. Nes and Mary made breakfast then we set sail for The Dogs. Because it was Challenge Day, Aoife, Alex and Clodagh, Venture’s captain and mates, were doing their best to play the reverse role of students throughout the day. They were hilariously irritating by doing things like actively fending whilst dropping the mooring ball and trying to climb into the sail bag. Despite all this, the crew did really well at sailing the boat! Daniella was really impressive at the helm and managed to maintain control throughout the entire sail. Mary and Parker’s sailing knowledge ensured that we stayed on the right course the entire time and Matt really proved his skills as a navigator and helped us get there successfully. Anna stepped up as a great team leader and spear headed things like lunch prep to make sure we were always keeping to schedule. Lindsey was amazing as a wind spotter which was vital for making sure we were at the right points of sail, while Greg tied our preventers to ensure that it was safe to sail downwind.

We arrived at The Dogs safely and successfully picked up our mooring ball. We all went snorkeling when we arrived because we even arrived ahead of schedule (nailed it!). After lunch, everyone went diving. Jenna, Daniella and Marc all completed their Open Water Certifications while the Charlie divers went on another fun dive. We then returned to the boats which had been moved to Trellis Bay on Tortola. We showered and had dinner whilst watching a beautiful sunset, then the Charlie divers went for a night dive. Meanwhile, Jenna, Daniella and Marc went to Galilee for a “soirée”. We all returned to Venture for a boat meeting where Alex had made a delicious apple crumble.

Today our crew did a great job of working together as a group but we need to improve on making less of a mess during dinner prep. Our quote of the day was when Alex said “Get the fenders out!” while we were in the middle of a mooring field. The miracle moment was when we saw a dolphin jump when we were sailing from Bitter End to The Dogs.

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