Day 20 6 Jul 2009
Author: Hannah S.Location: West End, Tortola
Today was our last full day; in other words, quite an upsetting occasion. We started the morning with pancakes (the staff were nice enough to wake up early for us!) and I think that is one of the large factors that made us win the final race, which we did!! It was super windy today, which made the race that much more exhilarating. Although the end was very close between us and Patty J., we won! This was followed by a huge cleanup that was actually quite sad. It felt so final to clean our stuff up and remove our marks from the boat, as if we were never here to begin with. Dinner was good, but tonight is going to be hard. I know that I speak on behalf of the whole boat when I say that this has been an amazing adventure that I'll never forget.
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: DiegoLocation: The Bight, Norman Island
Today was a sunny day with a bit of rain later in the day. We began the day by waterskiing, David was so great at wakeboarding. And Diego did well on the slalom ski. Then we motorsailed to Road Town across the harbor. The whole boat ate together at the dock. We then sailed to the Bight at Norman Island. Diego got us fresh ingredients and made us special pasta, it was delicious! Tomorrow we will go to West End for our last night.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 18 4 Jul 2009
Author: Tilly B.Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Today was possibly the most anticipated day, with the open water's first wreck dive and the Carinas having the opportunity to go down to 80 feet and where they saw a green moray eel and a lobster which was amazing. We also got to hike on Salt Island, it's breathtaking ponds and magnificent views capturing everyone's attention. We ended the day with a sail to Great Harbor, where we celebrated one of our staff members, Kyle's, twentieth birthday, involving a large two layer cake that was annihilated within minutes of reaching the deck.
Flickr Photos from Today
Flickr Photos from this Voyage
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 18 4 Jul 2009
Author: Tilly B.Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Today was possibly the most anticipated day, with the open water's first wreck dive and the Carinas having the opportunity to go down to 80 feet and where they saw a green moray eel and a lobster which was amazing. We also got to hike on Salt Island, it's breathtaking ponds and magnificent views capturing everyone's attention. We ended the day with a sail to Great Harbor, where we celebrated one of our staff members, Kyle's, twentieth birthday, involving a large two layer cake that was annihilated within minutes of reaching the deck.
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: David B.Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Today, after waking up at Sidney's, we raced to West End. When we were there beginning sailors went on shore for lunch while the advanced sailors went on Mike's boat to practice docking. After our stop in West End we had a three hour race upwind to Great Harbor, Peter Island and came in third. Tonight we will have our final sail lecture to prepare for tomorrow's test.
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: David B.Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Today, after waking up at Sidney's, we raced to West End. When we were there beginning sailors went on shore for lunch while the advanced sailors went on Mike's boat to practice docking. After our stop in West End we had a three hour race upwind to Great Harbor, Peter Island and came in third. Tonight we will have our final sail lecture to prepare for tomorrow's test.
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: Paul M.Location: Sidney's, Jost van Dyke
Today was our sailing practical. Everyone got a chance to take the helm to tack, jibe, and do a man overboard. At one point someone actually dropped something overboard when I was at the helm so we had to do a real MOB simulation. We got to Sandy Cay, and at the end of the day had a reggae dance party at Sidney's Peace and Love Restaurant.
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: Marshall W.Location: Sandy Spit, Green Cay
Today we woke up bright and early for our hike to Mount Sage National Park, the highest point in the Virgin Islands. It was a tough hike, but the views on the way up were pretty rewarding. It rained briefly on the way to the peak, which was much appreciated. After the hike we had our sand castle building competition. We built a pretty awesome castle, but it only came in third. It's all good though, because it was pretty fun. Right before dinner our windlass malfunctioned, so we had people running around all through dinner. This was a very exciting day, despite the intenseness of it and how tired we all are.
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: Nick H.Location: Sommer's Beach, Tortola
Today was very nice out. A bit cloudy, that's all. Also not too windy or rough seas. Anyways, today was a rotation day. Advanced divers dove a deep dive, and open waters just did more practice dives, dance parties, and swam the floor. The best thing today was probably the diving (just cause it's amazing). Anyways we now have the BBQ. Should be great.
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: Lyric R.Location: Muskmelon Bay, Guana Island
Today was a little cloudy but still beautiful. The winds were very light, which made it a little more challenging to sail. Royal Troon woke up bright and early and sailed from Marina Cay to the Dogs, where the advanced scuba divers did a dive by themselves and the beginners practiced skills and enjoyed the scenery. After we sailed to Muskmelon Bay, which is where we have anchored for the night. On the sail over some took a nap and others enjoyed conversations and loads of laughter, fun, fun! Everyone is quite sad the halfway mark is up. We are one big happy family. Tonight's activity is movie night with the family.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 11 27 Jun 2009
Author: Jeremy B.Location: Marina Cay
Today we woke up around 7am. We had pancakes, which were quite good. We raised anchor and sailed around for a bit. We practiced sailing and we rotated positions. We then sailed over to Marina Cay and then raided their store for junk food and power for cell phones. We just had dinner, which was tortellini and garlic bread and was also quite delicious. Now we are getting ready to go do something with the other boats.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 10 26 Jun 2009
Author: Lynna D.Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Today was calm in the morning and not too windy til dinner, it was summer Thanksgiving and things were blowing all over. Our boat started out this morning on a mooring around the point then we moved in to where the other boats were anchored. Last night we did a night dive and this morning Lyric and I planned, navigated, and led the dive in the same location. We saw a fish and named it Rico. We then practiced picking up moorings. Next we sailed the Picos with some funky wind and had a sail chat. Currently we are having a giant dance battle with the other boats and it's really really goofy!
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: Jared S.Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Today was a rotation day. When we woke up we started breakfast. We then rushed through dishes so we could start our first rotation, diving. It was our last confined water dive. After the dive we proceeded to our second rotation, man overboard drills. We practiced throwing Timmy oveboard (which was really a fender).on Pine. After our intense drills we had soup for lunch, it was very good. We then advanced to our third rotation, waterskiing and wakeboarding. I think it was the best part of the day. As the other kids on the towing boat did wakeboarding I did not, I tried waterskiing and almost got up. When we got back we had a dive chat and prepared for our final test for after dinner.
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: Hannah S.Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Today was a serious sailing day. It went off to a slow start, with a full breakfast of scrambled eggs, muffins, and fruit salad. The advanced sailors went onto Mike's boat for some extra helm time before meeting back at the boat to head to the beach on Anegada. The sand was beautifully soft and we had a fab time just hanging out (after burying Jeremy and making him a butterfly in the sand). Then after a quick lunch of PB+Js we started on the sail to our current position, Mountain Point. There was great weather, and the sailing was so good that half the boat managed to fall asleep. Topped off by Mexican food for dinner, all in all a pretty good 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: Tilly B.Location: Vixen Point, Gorda Sound
Today may have been the most action packed so far, with every one of us diving, sailing, and attempting at least, to windsurf. The Carinas had a navigation dive involving a giant hermit crab and the Vegas may have found treasure. We sailed for the first time on boats smaller than ours and learnt how big of an impact everything we do on a sailing boat makes. After about a thousand man overboard drills we learnt how to correctly recover Kevin's water bottle and PFD (collectively known as Timmy) and not throw any shipmates overboard.
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: David B.Location: Vixen Point, Gorda Sound
Today we woke up early, lifted anchor, and left Savanna Bay at 7am. We motored over to the Baths, a natural rock formation that we got to climb and jump off. I also got to swim into a hollow rock where everything echoed. After that we sailed to Spanishtown where we ate lunch and got a chance to use our phones and go shopping, and we bought a pirate flag for our boat. The people were really friendly and helpful. When we left Spanishtown we sailed to Vixen Point, and we got to raise the sails and navigate on our own, which was loads of fun. We will be staying here for three days. Happy early father's day!
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: Paul M.Location: Savanna Bay, Virgin Gorda
Day four was our first rotation day. We took five hour and a half rotations on activities such as diving, windsurfing, wakeboarding, hiking, and boat docking. For the open water divers it was their first dive ever and experienced divers reviewed their skills. We hiked to the other side of the island which was amazing because it had a windward side and had enormous waves and big rocks on the beach. We didn't do any sailing today but stayed in the bay.
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: Marshall W.Location: Savanna Bay, Virgin Gorda
Today we sailed out from the Bight to Savanna Bay. We focused a lot on sailing today, as we learned how to tack and jibe. The weather was quite lovely, with some beautiful clouds. The sea was pretty calm and the wind was fairly consistent. The coolest part to me was the "man overboard" drill we did with "little Timmy." Today was a pretty chill day and I think we are all ready for tomorrow's first rotation.
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: Suzanne M.Location: The Bight, Norman Island
Today we set sail from West End and won't be back there for three weeks. Those of us that hadn't sailed before learned the basics and those that had helped out. We went to the Caves and snorkel and swim. Then we sailed to the Bight where we anchored for the night. Today it was kind of cloudy and rainy but there was still sun and humidity. Today we learned many new things and it was a lot of fun!
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
Day 1 17 Jun 2009
Author: Kevin J.Location: West End, Tortola
Day one, session one, of AQ summer 09 has finally arrived. Faces walk down the dock. Excited faces, nervous faces, hugs between old friends and hand shakes between new ones. Excitement is felt all around, staff and students alike. The excitement to meet new people and start a new adventure. For the next 21 days we as a crew will sail and dive our way through the BVIs and along the way these 15 strangers will come to know each other better than their best friends. An experience not to forget. I am excited.
Blinklist | Del.icio.us | Digg | Furl | Ma.gnolia | Newsvine | Spurl | Technorati
