Day 6: Ending with a Splash

After an amazing week of sailing, our final day ended off on such a high. Before we set sail, several students and Mr. Roper, jumped at the opportunity to splash into the cold, refreshing water. The rope swing, jumping from the side of the boat, or jumping from the shrouds was great fun as we all watched and cheered on our shipmates. Then we embarked on another awesome day of sailing with fantastic winds that allowed us to tack back and forth in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The crew were amazing as they switched the sails from starboard to port side several times. It was great fun while we were on the deck or in the hold doing dishes with the boats leaning heavily to either the port or starboard side. We sailed 103 nm (nautical miles) which is about 10 nm more than usual.

Another bonus to our trip was little Reuben and Rowan. Rueben is the 3 month old son of the Swift’s skipper (captain) who was with us all week. Rueben's mom is Rebecca who grew up on the Salts’ boats. Rowan is the year old son of the Grace’s first mate, Sam. Rowan’s mom, Elska, also grew up on the ships. Elska and Rebecca are sisters. It was truly remarkable to watch these women and their husbands embrace having their sons on board. They were so calm and peaceful..It is wonderful how God uses our unique contexts to raise our children.

Also, Kayla, the watch officer on the Swift, wearing the blue ball cap in our pictures from our final day, is Mr. Graffunder’s niece. Kayla’s mom was Mr. G’s twin sister who passed away from brain cancer 9 years ago. It was a real delight getting to know Kayla.

Sadly, the time had come to take down the sails for the final time as we sailed into Victoria Harbour. Since we were the last sail of the year, the boats went under the drawbridge to their dry dock where maintenance will take place until they begin their 2018 season in March. After group pictures and lots of hugs, we left the ships and headed off to the airport to return to Calgary. We are so thankful and grateful for the amazing adventure of Salts we experienced. Until next year's adventure...

PS...Salts keeps log books for each boat and they have each group draw a title page for their group and then everyone signs it. Carissa did the title page for the Swift and Bethany did the title page for the Grace.