Hello again from the BVI. I'm enjoying my first off day in a while and will briefly recap a bit of my life goings and whatnot.
(And for the record, I now have a mustache)
Staff training was an interesting look into what life has become on board sailboats with lots of other individuals. Over 9 days, we ran an accelerated program with lots of training sessions, meetings, disaster scenarios and whatnot. During days we sailed between various islands of the BVI interspersing life stories with crash courses on tacking, jibing, points of sail, mooring/anchoring, head (marine toilet) maintenance, engine repair, and the like. My staff training boat was amazing and for the most part liked everyone there. We sailed on a Footloose Charter boat Lis (a 50' Beneteau) which, while slow, is quite homely and is currently my home boat on program. Highlight days were those with a lot of time spent sailing and especially our day following staff training B night out at the Bitter End Yacht Club, a night beginning with shower beers and followed by rum, a dance party, and a moonfish school (bootius showus) which took over the docks. I enjoyed most of it although the close proximity to 10 other strong (and mostly type A) individuals certainly took its toll on me as I struggled to find free time and a chance to decompress from the madness, a process I continue to struggle with. All in all however, a fine time and something that turned me from zero to hero in terms of sailing knowledge. I now feel completely comfortable in running a boat. So hey, how about that.
Following staff training came a few days on docks as kids came in and we prepared for our first program. I have been placed on the Chavo fleet, a mixture of the Bravo and Charlie programs. On arrival day I was sent to St. Thomas to pick up nearly 80 kids from the airport there and since then have seemingly been running around with my head cut off. My captain on my home boat, Claire, is great and we get along well although communication is tough especially seeing as how I, as a mate and dive instructor, am frequently switching around to other boats. The kids here are a mixed bunch but mostly great. Most come from great families (what you'd expect from a 5k per session camp) although there are a few princes and princesses scattered about. Add in a whole bunch of awkward and a dash or two of teen comedy luminaries and you have quite an interesting mix. It definitely keeps things entertaining. I seem to be received quite well by nearly all the kids (despite wanting to leave a few out to sea) and get along well with the other captains and mates. I have some problems with leadership especially given the high stress conditions we've been working under but after some conversations and a day spent on the staff boat I am beginning to walk a bit more in their shoes and see their perspective. Do I still have problems and things I would improve upon? Oh most definitely. Our program director describes it as a "crazy train" and apparently every year it is this way and that's just the way it is. Staff morale has been quite low, a mixture of stress, inexperience, harsh criticisms, and lots of bad luck. But we seem to have turned a corner after a beach day at Anegada yesterday (wonderful place) and hopefully now on the home stretch of the first program can put it all together.
The strange thing about all the craziness of working here is that at the end of the day it seems to be rather enjoyable. We all have a common goal of making this program great for the kids but I am beginning to see that this summer will ultimately end up in making me a stronger person and very much the better off as a result of it. The staff bonds that get formed here are amazing as well. Definitely quite a few people I hope to know for life.
The diving here as been less than ideal both from the actual diving standpoint and my role. As for the first I think I just got spoiled on Bonaire and as for the latter I have many complaints mainly about being used primarily as a glorified divemaster and not really doing as much instruction as I would have liked. One of the selling points for me was that because there is a land based staff a lot of the odd jobs would be taken care of so I wouldn't have to worry about those and spend more time with the kids but in reality I just get entered in to a system with a pecking order and I'm very low on the totem pole. The other instructor/mate and I have been quite frustrated with this and had a meeting with the owner of the company and hopefully it gets better. Many agree we've gotten the short end of the stick but because it's "just the way it is" I don't think there is much to be changed. At any rate, it's an opportunity to suck it up and prove myself worthy of more dive instruction as well as helping out the best of my abilities in other areas where I can be useful. I'm trying real hard to use this summer as an opportunity to make myself a better person, stronger in will and overcoming any sense of entitlement I may have and hoping to get myself back on track as far as who I want to be in life. It's all quite grey to me now, but I hope to have a better feel on who I am and where I want to go with my life following this summer.
In other news I was evacuated the other day in a medical accident that was more or less a sum of parts than any one particular danger. In a culmination of several extremely stressful days, I was placed on the baby boat which is also the fleet short bus. Vivaldi is the combination of 2 parts Persian Princes, huge maturity variation, 1 part Willy (the 12 year curse like a sailor completely ridic class clown and funny as hell), and a lot of incompetence, with a dash of the just plain weird all under a captain who I love and is one of my good friends here yet lacks toughness with the kids. At any rate, after a very hectic and off-schedule morning, we left Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor while kids downstairs cooked omelets (very tasty). We ended up struggling throughout the day with boat safety, were keeling over quite a bit, entered a squall with sails up and a day that you just can't wait to be over. To top it off, we have to anchor in Savanah Bay, which can be quite windy and has a very precarious entrance with little wiggle room. Upon trying to anchor in the bay, our winless would not work to lower our anchor (which we later discovered to be a problem with the battery not having enough juice to power it). There was, however, a small line caught up in it, and I set about trying to fix it with my multi-tool yet failing to secure the anchor hatch before doing so. Add in one big part wind with anchor hatch and bolt from anchor hatch plus my head and you have a lot of blood, quite a bit of dizzyness, and a VISAR (Virgin Island Search and Rescue). While heading out of the channel to be picked up by VISAR, a massive squall came up, blowing off our bimini, freaking the kids out, and all hell breaking loose. VISAR picked me up, rushed me to shore where an ambulance awaited. I got in, enduring a very bumpy road to a very questionable hospitable where they cleaned me up, spoke some form of english, and released me and my captain who accompanied me to walk all the way back to harbor to be picked up and sent back to fleet. Ultimately, I think it was not so big a deal, but better to be on the safe side. A combination of dehydration, stress, blood loss and seasickness led to severe head trauma like symptoms (dizziness and nausea/vomiting) and while it was quite frightening I don't think it was that bad. I was able to dress my wound as well as call our program director over radio to inform regarding the situation and at the end of the day all I have is a story and a scab on my head with my a small section of hair around the wound which has been shaved away. So, med evac and ambulance ride can be checked off my life-to-do list.
Overall I'm doing great here. It's high stress, high structure, low pay, low appreciation, low R&R, and crazy all the way but I love it. It's exactly what I need right now and at the end of the day, I'm with kids who never cease to amaze me with their insight, humor, innocence, and general ability to make the most out of every situation and have a great time. Oh, and in other news I have taken great pride in being able to fix any and all head issues the kids might have and refer to myself in these situations as "Poo Bear" and/or the Poomaster General. Anything to get me through the summer.
In closing, life is grand, and this bear travels on.
