Foxtrot and Sierra: Day 9
We awoke to the smell of chocolate chip pancakes cooking on the stove.
After a hearty breakfast we journeyed to land to enjoy the beautiful views of the north sound from Guy’s Trail. This was the first “real” hike of the trip, a feat that tested our newly formed sea legs.
We then returned our gear to the boats before swimming to a nearby leeward shore covered in Mangroves. We learned the basics of mangrove ecology and specifics on the local species we would soon be wandering through.
After handing out trash bags, all hands were quick to collect every bit of trash in sight. Hannah even pulled out an old pair of jean shorts!
Further inland, we came across several black mangroves, easily identified by the salt crystals formed on the leaves, which the students were quick to give a lick.
After a lunch we embarked on what we thought would be a short sail out of the North Sound and around to the west coast. To our chagrin, our sails remained furled as we battled through squall after squall to reach our final destination. The squalls started brief, 30 seconds of hard, fresh water rain, but as we set our sights on the Mountain Point, the clouds opened up and the wind came whipping off of shore. On the plus side it was the longest fresh water shower any of us had had onboard the boat!
As the sky cleared up and we neared the bay, we prepared to test our abilities on a new maneuver: Anchoring! The anchor was cast on a nice mid-depth sandy bottom, and the students were able to snorkel the chain and see how she lay.
Onboard Geneve, the evening was wrapped up over a delicious sloppy joe meal complete with bean salad leftovers prepared by Ronny and Nico, followed by a quiet night on board (consisting of dive homework and Tarpin watching).
