6
Location: Anegada
Hello everyone!
Today was another early wake-up. Thanks to the rain, we all made a mad dash inside as it started to pour. It was going to be an easier day than all the hard labor we did yesterday. We planned to sail out at 8:00 a.m. It was a 3-hour sail to Anegada, the furthest island in the BVI, where we would be participating in “boat Olympics” against the rest of ActionQuest. After we helped to sail the boat, some of us napped (I’m guilty), and we were the first in the fleet to arrive. Victory! We lathered up in sunscreen and got ready for the games.
Davis tried his best to hype us up and made sure we were hydrated. After making it to shore via the dingy (aka the Lava since the black vinyl gets burning hot in the sun), we found that the other boats were very into the games. They had face paint and crazy hair. While we were the odd ones out, we knew our worth. The first challenge required each boat to pick a “tribute” to battle it out on a paddle board. We chose Wil as he had won the cotton-eye-joe contest at the barbecue last night. They had to stand on either side of the board and whack each other off with pool noodles. The odds were not in Wil’s favor; his opponent was 3x his size. She may have been a 13-year-old girl. While that competition was a loss for team “GoBe,” we were still determined. I volunteered to do this one. I had to sit and balance myself on a fender, the thing that stops the boat from hitting the dock in the water I could not stand in. When they told us to put our hands in the air, I was done. I splashed headfirst into the water. Another loss, but we were not disheartened.
The next challenge had promise. In this one, we had to dig a hole under a paddle to start. Five of our teammates, one by one, had to crawl under said paddle and run into the ocean. Samira, Talula, Wil, Rishi, and I volunteered. We had to swim to a greased dinghy and try to climb on while staff members used “chiclets”, white squares used for flotation, to push us off. In an attempt to redeem myself, I went hard in this challenge. I bolted into the waves and swam my heart out towards the dinghy. I was knocked off once before wiggling my way on, diving back into the sea, and swimming back to the shore.
I tagged Talula before collapsing onto our beached dingy in exhaustion. We got 3rd place! The second to last challenge was a doozy. We had to spin around five times before crawling through the legs of the rest of our teammates. Next, we had to run into the water while avoiding staff members trying to deck us into the waves. The goal was to absorb as much water into our shirts as possible to fill a cup up. We may have used our mouths. I managed to dodge two of them but was ultimately pushed into the sea. Running back, I wrung my shirt out before going to tag Mimi.
We won this challenge! Finally! After celebrating our victory, it was time for the final challenge. This was called the “rodeo” and was our chance to get revenge on the staff. Everyone formed a circle and boat by boat. We got to chase our staff members around. The goal was to be the first two to tag them when the second whistle blew, and they had to get on all fours. I failed to get Davis but was happy to cheer my teammates on. Edie and Wil were the last two standing as they got to Chris first in the second round. After all the boats were done, the final round was played. Wil got out, but Edie stayed in until the next round. While it wasn’t a victory, it sure was fun! After ocean showers, we had our dinner before settling down for the night. We all agree that while we’re having the time of our lives, we miss our families very much! Can’t wait to see you guys! Hugs and kisses to Onyx, Boomer, and Shortbread!
-Margaux