Cleaning and BBQ

Author: Zach
Location: Roadtown
Today we woke up and had to clean the whole boat. It took a couple of hours, but eventually we got it all done. We are heading to the botanical gardens today and later on we will have a final BBQ with Action Quest and wrap up our amazing adventure aboard the good boat Natasha with Lifeworks.

Turtling

Author: Dylan
Location: Roadtown
Today a tropical depression was brewing way out in the sea, but it was only big enough to slightly affect us. As we were looking for turtles to catch, it started raining and made the turtling more difficult. Roxy chased a big green turtle around for about an hour an a half! Later, we sailed to the docks at Roadtown, where we would stay the night and wait out the storm. Late at night the weather turned foul and it rained off an on all night, but the wind wasn't bad at all.

Painting and landscaping at VISAR

Author: Dylan
Location: Road Town
Today we went over to the VISAR building. VISAR stands for Virgin Islands Search and Rescue, which is a volunteer organization. Due to the fact that they are a volunteer organization, they don't have the time or manpower to maintain their facilities, which is why Lifeworks helping out with maintenance is a big help. After we spent a few hours working at VISAR and had lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing with some free time in Roadtown. For dinner, we went to Pusser's for pizza.
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Planting Mangroves

Author: Danny
Location: Roadtown
The sweet buttery smell of pancakes awoke us as the radiant rays of the sun warmed our spines. We sailed for hours until Natasha halted at Roadtown. With pipes, mallots, and seedlings, we planted many mangroves. These salt-water drinking plants are exceptionally vital to the eco-system. The day closed its curtains with a fantastic mexican night. It was quite a splendid day.
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Jost Van Dyke Kids

Author: Sarah
Location: Jost Van Dyke
We had an early morning, but the motor was far from boring. Those at the front in a deep sleep awoke with haste and a leap, as they were splashed with the waves. We then went to pick up to JVDPS (Jost Van Dyke Preservation Society) kids from Jost Van Dyke and took them for a hike through cacti. Yikes! We went to an old quaker archaelogical site and nobody failed to take a bite of tamarind from a nearby tree. Some people stayed near the boat to swim, but others decided to attempt turtle tagging. However everybody passed with ease through the day's hurdles. It felt like the turtles were playing a game with us and despite the fun, the results were the same: no turtles. Hanging with the children was a blast and the day went by too fast. Summertime Thanksgiving was our evening meal and congrats to the vegetarians for having to deal with cooking the meat. Now all we have to do is clean and wash the dishes; at least for today, we are done swimming with the fishes.
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Turtle Tagging and Beach BBQ

Author: Alli
Location: Lee Bay
I woke everyone up around 7:00 am. We ate some yummy eggs. After we finished cleaning up, we sailed to Lee Bay to go turtle tagging. We split up into two groups to go chase some turtles. My boat spotted a turtle right away and chased it for a while, but it got away. In the distance, we spotted two more! We were so close to one, but we missed it. After we gave up on that location, we sailed to Long Bay and gave turtling another try. We had no luck there either. After we gave up on turtling we sailed to Sommer's Beach. We all jumped in the water, showered, and got ready to head to the beach with the rest of Action Quest for the beach BBQ. We all hung out there for a while and ate burgers and hotdogs. After eating some pretty burnt burgers, Jim gathered everyone together to play the game of Life. Since I played the game last year, I couldn't play. They made everyone who played it in previous years sit on the rocks. I got to hang out with all of the people from last year and it was a lot of fun. When it was done, we got back to our boat all sandy and went to bed.
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Fun Day!

Author: Samantha
Location: Muskmelon Bay
Today, after Action Quest stole Dan from us to go turtling, we took the boat 3 miles away to Muskmelon Bay. It was so beautiful. We took the dinks to go look at the blue footed boobies, which were all sitting along the rocks. Afterwards, we carried out our fun day duties, including some serious snorkeling, pico sailing, wakeboarding, treading water for fun, hanging out on the boat, and eating various snacks. Then we all showered, while blasting Stephanie's awesome iPod and avoiding the purple jellyfish in the ocean.
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Cleaning a Beach

Author: Roxane
Location: Cam Bay
Today we slept in a bit before sailing to Cam Bay from Anegada. After the 3 hour sail, which was rather slow due to a lack of wind, we prepared to clean Cam Bay with the help of the National Park rangers. This beach was extremely dirty. We gathered nearly 7 bags of trash and Sarah found a message in a bottle! We dropped off te trash at the Trellis Bay dumpsters and then motored to Marina Cay. Once there we listened to an inspirational speech done by one of Jim's friends.
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Feeding Iguanas and Turtle Tagging

Author: Stephanie
Location: Anegada
A nice breeze woke us up around 7:00 am this morning. The chef and sous chef made breakfast. After the morning meal, we met up with Rasta Jim and went to a rescue place for iguanas. We got to see some rare iguanas that are unique to the island. Then we went turtle tagging. This was a great success because we caught ten turtles! For dinner we had salad and rice. Melissa surprised us with brownies for dessert!
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Cleaning the Beach

Author: Kaiya
Location: Anegada
The group woke up around 7:00 am and began sailing immediately, while breakfast was being made. We filled the boat with fresh water while the rest of the group scarfe down oatmeal. We then began our sail to Anegada. When we arrived we ate lunch of sandwiches and fruit. We took a taxi to our beach locations where we split into groups to clean the beach as well as complete a scavenger hunt. Dan's group won the hunt. The group drank soda and inhaled french fries before heading back to the boat to shower and eat our Mexican entree.
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Turtling and Dance

Author: Jordan
Location: Mountain Point, Deep Bay, and Vixen Point
We woke up and started preparing breakfast immediately. After we ate breakfast, we learned how to tie 3 basic sailing knots. After knot tying, we learned how to drive the dinks. Next, we went turtling for the first time, but we didn't see much. At the second location we went turtling at, we saw a total of 4 turtles, but we weren't able to catch them. Later we went to a dance at Vixen Point with the rest of Action Quest.

VISAR Parade, Shopping, and Sailing

Author: Jenny
Location: Roadtown
Today we sailed into Roadtown, capital of the BVI. Our job was to help throw candy from the Virgin Island Search and Rescue boat that lead the parade, but we had plenty of time to shop and walk around town. However, we all got lost...especially me! We all eventually made it back to the boat safe and sound.
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The Derby

Author: Zach
Location: Hodges Creek
Today was the best day yet! It brought a big smile to my face just to see kids who have nothing, yet have the happiest smiles on their faces. Our group helped out at an event put on by a great organization called YEP (Youth Empowerment Project). We helped run various attractions such as a blow up slide, bouncing castles, and a water dunking tank. The event ended in a traditional soap box derby race. It was a long day, but it was a lot of fun!
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Beach Clean and The Baths

Author: Xan
Location: Savannah Bay, The Baths, Hodges' Creek
We awoke in Savannah Bay to grey skies, which eventually became a downpour. We trekked over to a rocky beach on the windward side of the island and began to clean the shore. We then sailed over to a beautiful place called The Baths, where we stayed for about an hour and a half. We explored the area and then played some teambuilding games. Afterward, we made our way to Hodges' Creek Marina where we hooked up to a mooring. Before dinner we had discussions about polititcs and current events.
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Sailing

Author: Dylan
Location: Savannah Bay
Today the weather was great. We sailed all day from Soper's Hole to Savannah Bay, Virgin Gorda. The water was so choppy that the people sitting on the bow of the boat were getting soaked. Once we anchored, everyone took showers in the ocean, which was kind of weird at first. There were jellyfish in the water so some people were freaking out, but they didn't really bother anybody. All in all, today was pretty cool.
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