Gifft Hill Live-Aboard Program: Day 1

St. John and St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Monday, March 20, 2023

Log written by Gifft Hill Students Cleo and Britton

On 3/20/2023 the Denis Sullivan (DS) and the GHS 8th grade class merged. Starting out the day we took the dinghy to the DS from NAS dock. Upon arriving we put our stuff down in our bunks. After putting our stuff away, we had a muster and talked about the journey and watch groups. Then we set sail for Saint Thomas. Eighth grade class helped sail the boat, and after we had set sail, we had lunch, which was a chicken sandwich with Doritos. It was very good. After lunch we split into our watch groups and did rotations. My watch group had Cleo, Britton, Brian, Mackenna and Bannon. Then we did the lunch dishes. And after that we anchored and did more stations. I had R&R -rest and relaxation-so we had a discussion on success and productive struggle. After that we rotated again and learned how to tie ropes. After we had a snack and got our swimsuits on, and then had a full safety tour of the boat. After that we got into the water and did a swim test then played around a bit. After swimming, we had dinner which was rice, beans, nachos, and veggies. This was also very good and after that, we cleaned the galley and the pilot house soles. Finally, we had an evening muster, where we discussed anchor watches, values, how to wake someone up, food and water conservation, and rest time. On anchor watch, we checked the bilges, the three point bearings, depth, anchor chain, and anchor light, the traffic around us and overall neatness of the ship and heading location. We also got cookies for the anchor watch and then me and Bannon woke up Brian, Britton, and Mackenna so they could take over for the next watch.

- Cleo

In the morning around 9 AM we got on the Dinghy to go over to the Denis Sullivan. We got on the ship and went to go find our bunks after getting all of our things into our bunks. We had a muster introducing all of us and what our plan was today. After the muster, we got into groups and did some chores. I was with Teddy and we cleaned up ropes. We started to sail over to St. Thomas when we were a little past Saint Thomas, we ate lunch which was a chicken sandwich. After lunch we cleaned the dishes in our groups which were me, Cleo, Mackenna, Brian and Bannon. We rotated chores after dishes and we got a break time. We had a group discussion on our struggles, and what motivates us. We arrived in St. Thomas by Hassell Island, and we did more chores, such as clean up ropes, and trash on the deck. We ate a snack, which was some goldfish, and after snack we did a safety tour of the ship in groups which led to swim time and we were able to jump into the water - I sat on a life ring like chair. After cleaning, we had an evening muster going over what we did that day and just talked. After the evening muster, we went to our bunks and hung out until lights out. We then went to sleep and I had to wake up at 11:15 PM to do an Anchor watch which ended at 12:30 PM. I woke up Alejandro so we could switch shifts. I then went back to sleep.

-Britton