Sailing the V.I.: No Wind and Monkey Point
During the 2012 Winter Term (January 3-19), Dr. Ken Ayers is teaching a travel class in the Virgin Islands called Leadership Through Sailing. Five students are taking the class and are sending updates and photos for the KWC blog. If you missed any entries, you can also read their adventures from the beginning.
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Day Five:
Today we woke up moored at Jost Van Dyke Bay and to our surprise the water was nearly as smooth as glass, even though we were expecting bad weather. Captain Ayers informed us the skies were red when he woke; as the old sailors’ omen goes, “Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning!” But today as we got underway under power (motor, no sail) this omen was incorrect. After clearing a few islands, we were told to be prepared to sail. Little did we know, there would be a small amount of wind, so onward we motored!
Once we moored at Monkey Point, we went snorkeling at one of the top ten places in the world to snorkel. We saw all sorts of different fish with vibrant colors, including rainbow fish and tropical parrot fish. After our snorkel, we had the best quesadillas known to mankind on our boat (which was conveniently stationed next to Eric Clapton’s yacht).
Eric Clapton's yacht.
We finished our day off with a lesson about leadership and initiative. Everyone evaluated themselves on how we can improve our work ethics in the next few days to finish the trip off with 100 percent confidence in ourselves. We will have dinner tonight at a fancy restaurant on shore overlooking the sunset, and tonight we will be in bed early to rest up for our big day tomorrow; we will be heading back west in the early morning.
Student Quotes:
Tatum: My favorite thing to do is snorkel, and today I was flabbergasted by how many fish I was swimming with today. I almost caught one of those suckers!
Maggie: Although I was disappointed that we weren’t able to sail, it was a great day to bond with the others on the boat. It’s amazing how we all have changed since being here. This trip is something I’ll never forget.
Jayden: This week has changed my life and the way I look at it. It’s truly amazing here.
John: Today was a great day; I enjoyed it greatly due to the great bonding time that we encountered as we snorkeled at Monkey Point. I loved when Captain Ayers gave us our mid-term … We all got to express our feelings of self-confidence and leadership rankings of our individual selves. After the mid-term, I was impressed on how everyones confidence rose greatly as we dinghied to shore to check out the island where we were going to eat for the evening..
Jordan: When I woke up this morning I was prepared for a long day of sailing. Unfortunately we didn’t have a bit of wind. Instead we all bonded and took a midterm. This was a great experience. I love it down here.
Captain Ayers: Today the students learned that sometimes you have to change your plans and go with what nature gives you. No matter how badly we wanted to sail, it wasn’t to be. We have reached our turnaround point. The students have come a long way since Day One. Tomorrow we will sail with or without favorable winds. Anyone can sail when the wind blows, but it takes a sailor to sail with light winds — tomorrow they will learn to be sailors. Fair winds and following seas – from the Caribbean.
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