19
Location: The Bight, Norman Island
Mornings have never been my thing, but when you wake up on a sailboat next to, amazing friends in the British Virgin Islands- mornings are the best things. After rising from the Blue Lagoon, we began breakfast; this consisted of eggs and sausage. Those of us who are pickier had the cereal of our choice. Jumping into the dinghy after breakfast has to be one of the most frustrating things about being on a sailboat. For the shipmates of Catalinaville, we have still not figured out how to count how many people are on the dinghy. When finally getting every shipmate onto Saint Peters Island, we walked to Therman’s house. Therman is a man trying to get back into touch with his past family’s traditions. He lives a little inland in a small house with a garden surrounding it. Our project today was cleaning his garden and piling leaves for him to use for fire. For me, Therman showed that simple life could be the easiest and happiest life. From there, we walked to the exclusive Saint Peter’s resort beach to listen to Elliot, the skipper on Firebolt, speak about the importance of the lessons we have learned here. On this three-week trip, my shipmates and I have learned how to survive without getting our every wish on command. He spoke about keeping these lessons in the back of our minds even after we go back home to every part of the globe. This was the end of our service projects, but the day was not over. We anchored out and were able to snorkel and generally hang out with the other GoBeyond sailboat, Firebolt. Hannah, Sophie and I all snorkeled for the beginning of this “play time” and saw beautiful fish at a near reef. From there, we all went separate ways to do different things. I went on shadow, Firebolt’s dinghy, with Elliot, Katelyn M., and Kurt (or as I call him Kurtalicious) and took a little joyride. After “play time” was over, we sailed to Norman Island and anchored there. This is where we ate our last family dinner. Tonight we are doing a night activity that is a secret- for now. Although this trip is almost over, the experience will stay in my mind and heart forever.