Delta 2 Day 3: Anchoring At Salt Island

written by Delta Program Director, Curtis Crooke
July 18, 2017

Our day began with a breakfast buffet followed by getting the divers ready for the dive boat. We shuttled our Open Water divers ashore and began our pre-departure checks to drop the mooring ball and head to Salt Island. After an anchoring lesson and a short motor over, the students on Rioja and Xeres anchored the boats with great ease.  The staff was left in awe with how smoothly the process went.

We headed ashore to hike along the salt pond and up one of the hills to look out upon the open seas with a wonderful breeze.  We could see clear across the channel and even saw a few goats jumping around the island.  After taking in the sights, we walked back down and boarded our boats to head back to Cooper Island.  The Open Water divers met up back on the boats for a tasty lunch of chicken caesar wraps before returning to the water for more training.  The divers are well on their way to becoming certified.

The afternoon was spent by the other students sun bathing, tubing, stand up paddle boarding and kayaking while all the ASA students had their first sail on Opal Bella, our 26′ Colgate keelboat. They spent the afternoon practicing tacks and gybes and returned with some new sailing knowledge.

We returned to the boats to shower and prepare some hearty burritos.  The students were in high spirits as they cleaned dinner and the boat. With full bellies and clean bodies, the two Delta boat crews sat down separately to create their Full Value Contracts.  These contracts bring the boats closer together and set standards for respectful treatment of each other for the remainder of the program.  The students spent the rest of the night observing the beautiful stars in the clear skies and continuing to bond with each.  We are already so eager to head down island in half a week and explore some beautiful islands.