Eastbound & Down

Since leaving the touristed turnstiles of Samana, D.R., the crew and students of the Spirit of Massachusetts have cozied up to the cadence of the Caribbean, with its high mercury and forever blue skies.

In the weeklong passage that veered and hugged the southern coast of Puerto Rico, Spirit beat up-wind past coastal highlands beneath beautiful night skies that resembled backlit canopies with holes punched in them. The days were filled with navigation, engineering and science classes, and the nights with sweetened rations and Milky Way mosaics.

An arrival to the barely populated greenscape of Norman Island in the British Virgin Islands brought swim calls, ear-to-ear smiles and infectious exuberance to all aboard. A pleasant Thanksgiving holiday that boasted a menagerie of delectable dishes was an ideal cap to a day of snorkeling that had the students feeling like they were on the other side of the aquarium glass for a change. The local reef held numerous species of lively and wonderfully vibrant coral and tropical fish that looked as if they had been designed by an Italian Renaissance painter and carefully suspended in a gravity-less exhibit.

With hopes of more island hopping in store, the crew and students are aiming to have an eventful and cheery two weeks that remain before reaching the Spanish brownstone of Old San Juan.

- TAYLOR HAAG, Apprentice

Spirit of Massachusetts