The Start of the 2023-2024 St. Croix Season
St. Croix, USVI
December 11, 2023
Ship’s Log written by 2023 AmeriCorps Deckhand Educator and Program Coordinator Rachel Whetten
What a start to our St Croix season!
This week was our first full week of programming, and we officially took over the deck from the old crew. They will be missed, but we are looking forward to all the adventures we will have over the next year.
We sailed every day this week with school kids from around St Croix. Us new deckhands got to put our skills to the test by teaching all the lessons we learned on transit.
The kids had so much energy and were so engaged and curious. The new deckhands killed it with all their lessons, and we all learned a lot. Looking forward to more great programs.
In the evenings we did sunset sails with members of the public, and met so many different people!
We're all learning how to work together, and how the programs run. Every day we learn more about the ship and each other, and slowly but surely, we are becoming an awesome team!
I couldn't think of a better group of individuals to spend this year on Denis Sullivan with. They are all fantastic, and the amount of support I have felt as I try to figure out how to be program coordinator has been incredible. I'm so proud of the way they jumped in and taught all the lessons (including some that they had never seen taught before). I saw so many amazing moments on board this week.
This job is tough. It's hot and sweaty, and mostly un-glamorous. Physically, mentally, emotionally, it puts you through the ringer. But it's really the small moments that make all the hard work worth it. It's seeing a kid's face light up when they do something they didn't think they could. It's watching them cheer their friends on as they make the climb to the crosstrees. It's seeing them leading each other to pull together during sail set.
I wish I could capture every one of these moments and keep them in a jar that I could open whenever I feel exhausted or down. It's impossible to feel sad when you see these moments happen, the seasickness, exhaustion, and everything else melts away in the joy of seeing that impact. That is why I do this. That is why I love tall ships. They truly have the power to touch people in a unique way. I feel incredibly grateful to have been a part of that in California, and now in St Croix, and I'm so looking forward to seeing all the amazing moments that will happen for the rest of our year on board.
