Follow Our Journey! Lima – Sail Caribbean

Written by Ellie., Student on Polygala

The last few days of the program were filled with loads of fun under the hot Caribbean sun. After a night swimming in bioluminescence at Lee Bay, we packed up the boat and sailed over to the Bitter End Yacht Club. In true Caribbean fashion, it rained off and on all day while we were there but we made the most of it by taking refreshing land showers and having dinner on land.

The following morning was sunny again and we rented some Hobie Cats for a few hours. We all hopped from boat to boat, took turns driving, and capsized (both intentionally and on accident). After this, we sailed to Trellis where we dropped off our divers for the night dive. We then sailed off again to Great Harbor. We ate a charcuterie board underway including cheese, crackers, nuts, and sparkling grape juice. We sailed this stretch during sunset and nighttime and arrived at Great Harbor just in time to prank some of the other boats, including stealing and/or moving the following dinghies, paddle boards, 14 life jackets, and a kid named Ian.

The following morning four divers were picked up for some morning dives while the rest of us went tubing and water skiing. We dropped the ball after the divers returned to the boat and sailed to our last overnight location: Valley Trunk Bay, located right next to the Baths. Once we anchored (twice) we ribbed over to the Baths for a hikel (snorkel and hike) at sunset. We saw crabs, lobster, squids, octopus, and fish of course. We all climbed up jump rock for the sunset finale of our hikel and watched our pro divers, Chase and Reagan, flip into the water. We concluded our last night on the sea with a fried rice dinner and slept under the stars for the last time. Today is August 3rd, our last full day on Polygala. As we reflect on our last 3 weeks, I think it is important to recap a few of our crews’ favorites…

• Frieda’s favorite place where we spent the night is Lee Bay. 
• Alli’s favorite meal on the program was our sushi dinner at Marche’s. 
• Frankie’s favorite shore activity was getting coffee from our favorite barista at the Loose Mongoose, Anne.
• Chase’s favorite place to sleep on the boat is in the triple bunk bed hammock between the jib and mast. 
• Thomas’s favorite part of the boat is the galley because he loves to cook. 
• Reagan’s favorite day on the program was yesterday doing watersports and the hikel at the Baths. 

Overall, the past 3 weeks have been filled with learning, fun, friendship, and teamwork. Speaking for the whole crew, we will miss each other but were excited to be home to see family and friends. My favorite quote of the day that I think embodies our whole trip is “everyone is a little sunburnt and a lot a bit happy” (Aidan). I’ll miss you all and our time together. Peace out Polygala, see you next year!