Follow Our Journey! Alpha & Tango – Day 4
Written by Sadie C., Mate on Samoa
Sailors awoke to a beautiful blistering sun at Cooper Island to start the morning. Fueled by a breakfast buffet, open-water scuba divers, fun-divers, and advanced open-water divers left to start on their adventures for the day. Meanwhile, non-divers teamed up to take two boats from Cooper island to Salt Island. Along the way, students learned about anchoring and the necessary steps to do so. Topaz and Samoa successfully anchored at Salt Island and were greeted by a herd of goats!
Some by dinghy and some swimming, they went ashore for a salt island hike. The salt flats have an interesting history, which was taught by Captain Grace. After that, they climbed to an overlook of the Wreck of the Ruins dive spot. At the peak, a game of Wa was played.
Meanwhile, fun divers dove the Wreck of the Ruins and had fantastic explorations! Advanced open-water students worked on dives for their certification, and open-water divers did confined skills at the Cooper beach. Some highlights from divers include, sharks, fish, sea urchins, and turtles! After a necessary swim for all, students either went back to their dives, had time to explore the shore of Cooper island, do water sports, or spent time sailing the Colgates.
Ashore, there was lots of ice cream consumed and a lovely beach to splash around in. On the Colgates, students learned how to hoist the sails and do maneuvers on a mono haul including tacking and gybing. Water sports consisted of wake boarding and trying to see who could last on the tube the longest.
The afternoon concluded with more time swimming, fender rodeos, races on the lily pads, synchronized jumps of the boats, and other water activities. The sunset was beautiful and many students spent that time journaling and chatting at the helm. To refuel, many hotdogs and copious amounts of mac and cheese were consumed. A quick yet efficient boat clean rounded out the evening, just in time for a boat meeting-turned dance party. The current favorite song on Samoa is “Rock and Roll all Nite”.
