Saturday, November 17, 2012

Day 8 - BOSS Sailing School Trip - 10/20/2012


I started the morning taking the final test, the ASA114, that is after coffee!  What a way to start a day!  I ended up passing it with a 87%, my lowest score, but averaged a 90% for a four tests!  The main thing is that I passed all test, and have my certification to charter a cat in the future!  Today we need to sail about 7 NM from Bequia back to St. Vincent and the BOSS pier.  Tony asked that I take control and be captain, telling him and Sadeem what to do!  This was great, as it enforced my knowledge and allowed me to be in control!  We raised the anchor, and motored out of the harbor, raising the sails once we were in the clear.  We motor sailed up the north side of Bequia, as the wind was coming directly from St. Vincent.  We tried to get as much angle as we could before we crossed the channel.  It was a fast but nice sail across the channel, with only a couple of tacks.  We motored once we got close to Blue Lagoon.  We put Inordinate on a mooring and took the dinghy to the pier.  My sailing week was over, and now it was back to the real world! 


BOSS Sailing school from the plane (Yellow building and pier in the center)  Boats on on right.
I then took a taxi to the airport to catch a Liat flight back to Barbados.  Next time that I come to St. Vincent, I will find a way to make it in a single day.  The stop over in Barbados is a real pain, as you need to take more taxis (total of 6) and go through immigrations and customs 4 times just in Barbados.  I made it to the airport with plenty of time!  I went through security and waited at the gate for my flight.  Then, one of the security guards entered the gate area and was looking for me.  He had a stern look, like I had done something wrong, and asked that I follow him.  So we went back through security and into a secure room, where there was another guy waiting.  Everyone looked tense, but I couldn't imagine what could be wrong.  The guy then asked me if I had the key to the lock on my suitcase, which was a TSA lock.  Of course I had the key and unlocked the suitcase for him, asking him why they didn't have a TSA key, but he ignored me.  That was it....they just need me to unlock the lock on my bag...but I don't know why the theatrics.  So it was back through security, take my shoes off, etc, and then back to the gate.  The flight to Barbados was nice, and I was on my way back home.  Wow, it is hard to go back to the real world, and work, as the week was excellent.  In my next post, I will summarize my week with the pros and cons of BOSS Sailing school.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, the view is beautiful! Nice! Thanks for posting this information on sailing schools. :D
    http://www.sydneybysail.com.au/ | www.sydneybysail.com.au | Sydneybysail.com.au | sydney harbour cruises

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  2. Alan,
    Thanks for the 'WOW'! Also, nice website in Sydney! One day maybe I can make it there!

    Dale

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