March 17, 2016
Today we visited the absolutely breathtaking island of Anacapa. We took the dinghy to the island, then proceeded to climb about five flights of rusty stairs to the island. Anacapa has lots of inhabitants; two people and lots and lots of seagulls. The group decided to take a hike around the island. Crystal-clear waters filled with sea lions lay at least 500 feet below us for the majority of our hike. Most of our groups finished the mile and a half journey and were exhausted, but some of the crazy cross country runners proceeded to run it a second time! Of course… that’s when it started pouring. Huddled in raingear covered by PFDs, we boarded the tiny dinghy. Because of the unusual weather we had to eat below deck inside the girls’ compartment. Let me tell you… a room that barely sleeps 18 shouldn’t have 35 people in it… especially if we haven’t showered!
Sadly, we were locked in the ‘B’ compartment for the rest of the night due to the rough weather. The boat lurched from side to side, but that didn’t stop us from watching none other than… Pirates of the Caribbean! This event tested our moral strength, but also brought us closer together. After very rough night at sea, we ventured towards the city of Santa Barbara, which personally, I was super excited about. All of the sails were unfurled, as we made our way towards our next destination. During this time, we really dove deep into our sail training. We learned a lot about the rigging: which ropes control which parts of the sails. I was on the outer jib sheet, the sail closest to the bow or front, of the ship. Although these days did not go as planned, we really enjoyed learning more about our Brigintine, the Irving Johnson
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