Day 20 6 Jul 2009
Author: Charter A.Location: West End, Tortola
Last day, race day, and cleaning day: it was very windy during the race, and we don't really know who won. It was either us, Patty J., or Royal Troon. After the race the cleaning began, and proved to be quite an affair. Now the cleaning is over and it is pouring down rain. I am dry and warm in the salon writing this log while everyone else is wet and freezing in the cockpit. Tonight we will have our final BBQ and closing ceremonies (or whatever they want to call it). I am happy to be the final skipper on this quest. Thank you, and good day.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 19 5 Jul 2009
Author: Lindsay S.Location: The Bight, Norman Island
Happy fourth of July! There is only one more full day here at AQ and everyone is starting to get ready to go home. Also, tonight was the last squeeze, no more invigorating questions at dinner. Today started out at about 8 and after breakfast we waterskiied and wakeboarded for the last time. We then headed out to Road Town, the capital of the BVI. We are currently back at the Bight and are starting cleanup while singing camp songs!
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 18 4 Jul 2009
Author: Pete F.Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Day 18 (wow) started with one of the most thrilling experiences on the whole trip: diving the shipwreck of the RMS Rhone. This was an incredible adventure, definitely surpassing any other dive so far. Just swimming around the propeller was breathtaking (thank goodness for our scuba tanks!) and the rudder must have been 15 feet high. After the dive we conquered the summit of Salt Island with a rigorous ten minute trek. It was well worth the effort though, as heaving rocks down the cliffside felt very satisfying. Once our investigation of Salt Island was finished, it was off to Peter Island for showers and a delicious teriyaki noodle dinner This is too much fun! I wish we had more than two more days...
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 17 3 Jul 2009
Author: Kai W.Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Well, today was a very fine day. We woke up in Little Harbor, which was a bit hot but everyone woke up in a good mood. After a quick breakfast we and the rest of the fleet set up on the starting line for the race. The race was a load of fun. We had music blasting at full volume and the wind was great. We won the first race of the day and there was much rejoicing. After which we docked at West End for lunch, which was delicious. Then we set sail for the second race of the day, and although all the ships were at our heels we took second place with pleasure.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 16 2 Jul 2009
Author: Stewart B.Location: Sidney's, Jost van Dyke
Today was an "exam" day. Everyone on the boat had to perform the practical part of the sailing exam. The practical consists of tacking, jibing, heaving to, and knowing the names and how to trim the sails on a sailing circle. As I'm writing this I just overheard Coco complementing the shipmates on how "everyone did a great job on the sailing exam." We are waiting with great excitement for the dreaded theory part. A great way to end a long day of sailing is with a party. The whole AQ fleet sailed to Jost van Dyke for the third and final BBQ/dance. Nevermind, the shipmates reading this are telling me that we have one more on the final day. Thanks guys. Overall, it was a very successful day. P.S. camp songs are quickly becoming part of daily life.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 15 1 Jul 2009
Author: Tenzin L.Location: Sandy Spit, Green Cay
Today was a very challenging day but also very rewarding. We were all woken up early by the beautiful Coco and not "The British are coming" by Kai. As we consumed tons of cereal and milk we all thought of the hike up and down Mount Sage, the highest point in the Virgin Islands. Once cleanup was over we all got our professional hiking shoes and our minds were set on the delicious food that awaited us once the seven mile hike was over. We then hopped onto Azul, Pine's best and only dinghy, and arrived at the dock. At the dock all the students from ActionQuest and Lifeworks listened to Mike's speech on instructions on how to mike the mountain. The mountain was very steep; some parts seemed like they were literally 90 degrees up. Despite all the sweat we all perspired and all the water we consumed, we all reached the top. The view of the island's green land, blue ocean, and tan sand was worth it all. The hike down the mountain was extremely easy. Psych! I thought it was harder than the hike up. Overall we came down the mountain with body builder's muscles. So parents, expect some changes when your kids come home. LOL. JK. After the hike we all either treated to the cheeseburger restaurant known by Jimmy Buffet's fans for being the place where he wrote his famous cheeseburger song. Or for those who weren't a fan of his went to all the cool restaurants that were nearby. All of the fast food seemed gourmet to us. Then we walked around the town and visited the souvenir shops. Others waited on the dock for the magical school bus to pick us up for our field trips. Nah, I'm just kidding. We just rode the dinghies back to our boat. When we got back the Pine students took a fun shower in the ocean. No matter how many times we put on conditioner our hair felt salty. But we live the hard life of a sailor so we deal with it all. Afterwards the chefs made a delicious dinner of franks and beans. We also had a sand castle contest. I hope you, parents, enjoyed this log. I sure had fun writing it, despite the wind and the water getting in my way. But I have to go do a Lifeworks activity now. I hope it is fun, toodles. P.S. Parents, your kids are having loads of fun. And mothers, you shouldn't worry :-)
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 14 30 Jun 2009
Author: Delaney S.Location: Cane Garden Bay, Tortola
Today was the last rotation day :-( We waterskiied and wakeboarded, made some bracelets/anklets, Picoed, and learned about the ship's systems. Today was a long day but we ended it by becoming certified open water scuba divers! I think all of us are very excited to be real divers now. The next week is going to go by soooo fast. Pretty soon we are going to have to say goodbye to the clear blue oceans and the beautiful islands. I'm so not ready to leave so I'm going to make this last, I'm not going to blink and I'm going to savor all my time I have left.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 13 29 Jun 2009
Author: Nicholas S.Location: Sommer's Beach, Tortola
Today we had another rotation day. First we did wakeboarding/waterskiing. Jess, one of my shipmates, got up for her first time on a wakeboard. After waterskiing was knots (knot tying). I made my first monkey's fist then. After that we had Pico sailing. It wasn't very windy so Picos weren't as fun. Next we had vocational rotational, which was talking about next year if we came back. We had lunch afterwards. After that was DIVING! I only have to do one more dive until I'm certified. Later tonight we have our second BBQ. Yay! That was our day.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 12 28 Jun 2009
Author: Andrew Y.Location: Muskmelon Bay, Guana Island
Today's dive was fun. Lunch was chicken salad sandwiches. The rest of the day was uneventful and filled with even more beautiful scenery.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 11 27 Jun 2009
Author: Joe G.Location: Marina Cay
Today we had a late wakeup and start, which was much appreciated. We then started to sail downwind towards the Dogs, which was no easy feat. During this there was no wind, and when the wind picked up it started to rain. We then practiced our sailing circles in the Sir Francis Drake passage. We then anchored off George Dog. We then proceeded to sail towards Marina Cay. During this sail we got our second hibiclens shower. We then had a little over a half hour on Marina Cay to get our necessities.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 10 26 Jun 2009
Author: Jessica V.Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Today was a rotation day. We went on Picos, had our first open dive, practiced our mooring catching, and talked about navigation. After our exciting day we all sat around waiting for Jero to get back so we could have Thanksgiving dinner. After dinner a couple of the boat, including us, had a dance off. It was so much fun. Our boat put on togas and continued to dance. Everyone had a lot of fun. It was a fantastic day.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 9 25 Jun 2009
Author: Kevin M.Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Day 9 (already!?): We can all confidently say that today our skills, both on the boat and underwater, have finally clicked. Today we finally completed our confined water skills and are ready for open water diving, where the real fun happens. Members of our boat also learned what to do in a man overboard situation. Though we haven't perfected this scenario by any means, doing this drill certainly improved our confidence sailing, as well as mixing a good time with helping us deal with a rather serious situation. Between the encouraging compliments from our wonderful staff, the delicious surprise cake made for us by Coco, and of course the enthusiastic toga party, today was a day of growth both individually and within the group.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 8 24 Jun 2009
Author: Charter A.Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Today, after a delicious breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, the "Pioneers," our crew, set sail for Anegada. This would prove to be a rather long sail, but at about noon we arrived to our destination and then proceeded to eat lunch. After lunch we took Azul to the beach of Anegada, where we spent about an hour romping on the beach. Once back on the boat we set sail for Mountain Point, our final destination. This sail would prove to be the most exciting part of the day because of the rocking waves and expert driving at the helm by yours truly. Possibly the funniest happening of the day occurred during dinner at Mountain Point. The dinner was filled with a comedy based on a dispute about whether or not we were eating true Mexican food, which we weren't. It rained for a few seonds in the morning, and was sunny and warm for the rest of the day.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 6 22 Jun 2009
Author: Pete F.Location: Vixen Point, Gorda Sound
Today we had our second rotation day, which included windsurfing, sailing on small 19 foot boats called Rhodes, and scuba diving. Inconsistency of the wind mixed with lack of experience made falling inevitable while windsurfing, but the water's refreshing temperature felt extremely good. Definitely the highlight of the morning was zipping around on the mini boats trying to spray each other with water pumps. Scuba was exciting and a fun challenge once again, and dinner (tomato stroganoff) was yummy. Overall, a great and eventful day in the BVIs.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 5 21 Jun 2009
Author: Kai W.Location: Vixen Point, Gorda Sound
The weather was prime, the wind cool, and the sails full. The sea was perfectly calm but fun, but with a few bumps here and here! The ship woke up at 6:30 and we prepped for sail. On the way to the Baths the sea was beautiful and the crew in good spirits. After the Baths we continued to sail to Spanishtown, which was fun and had very good burgers. After which we raised the sails to go to Virgin Gorda. And here we are!
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 4 20 Jun 2009
Author: Stewart B.Location: Savanna Bay, Virgin Gorda
Today was a rotation day. The rotations included dinghy driving, confined water dive, water sports, hiking, and windsurfing. Windsurfing was just like sailing but more hands on. The consensus is that it is awesome. Absolutely everyone liked diving. The hardest part for most people was clearing their masks. During dinghy driving the engine broke so we had to get help from a fellow dinghy.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 3 19 Jun 2009
Author: Tenzin L.Location: Savanna Bay, Virgin Gorda
Hooray! Day three, only 18 more days of fun. Today we woke up at about 6:30 and performed our individual jobs. The chefs made wonderful scrambled eggs and delicious muffins. Then we headed off to sea. It was a long day of sailing in which we became even more familiar with the parts of the ship and how to sail. Coco directed this while Bobby and Jero helped while us sailors tried to do all the work. We learned how to tack and jibe and memorized the parts of the ship. We reached the island called Ginger through the Francis Drake channel and ate lunch, which was PB+J, pringles (salt and vinegar is so much better than cheddar), carrots, and celery. It was bien! We then swam in the crystal blue ocean and cooled down a bit while jumping into the water with our cool flips and dives. After that we sailed and arrived on the island called Virgin Gorda, where we tried to anchor but it was difficult because we didn't have reverse. After Mike came to the rescue we anchored. Then we took our second salt water shower that we enjoyed greatly. And when we were dried we went over to the bow (front of the ship) and learned how to put on the diving gear and how to use it by Bobby and Jero. After we practiced it ourselves with a partner, we ate dinner. Dinner consisted of pasta, salad, and garlic bread. Everything finished really quickly because the food was delicious and we were all really hungry after a whole day. After we cleaned up as a team we got ready for our second diving lesson.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 2 18 Jun 2009
Author: Delaney S.Location: The Bight, Norman Island
Day 2: woot! Today we started at about 6-6:30ish. We had some amazing pancakes and had the "dock chat" where Mike the director talks to us about, well everything. Then we took the boat out for the first time. I think the whole crew was a little nervous getting out of the dock. Once we got our sea legs we went sailing and learned the ropes (literally), then we got to the Caves, where we snorkeled and swam. It was amazing to finally get in the crystal blue water. We did get rained on twice only for 10 minutes though. Other than that the day was good. The crew got to take their first salt water shower, then finished off with some sloppy joes. We had Mike over for dinner and played some games. A great ending to a great day. Well I got to go, it's time for the first scuba talk.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 1 17 Jun 2009
Author: Andew Y.Location: West End, Tortola
Captain's log (the fact that I am no captain is irrelevant), start date one. Personally, I woke up at 7 and had a leisurely breakfast. The plane flight was uneventful. From that point forward it was a smooth sailing day, and our crew is AWESOME! Looking forward to writing again y'all!
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 7 23 Jun 2007
Author: Lindsay S.Location: Vixen Point, Gorda Sound
Today we had a rotation day. We sailed picos, learned about dive tables, waterskiied/wakeboarded, and sailed across the bay to get more provisions. It wasn't our most busy day, but it was fun-filled. There was a little bit of rain in the morning but it cleared up quickly and turned out to be a beautiful warm day. Right now we are all about to head out to a BBQ with music, dancing, and food. It's sure to be a blast.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Page 1
