Sailing, Yacht Club, & Sunsets (Day 4)

 Sunday was our last and final day in Alicante for our oceanography class trip. We were granted the opportunity to “sleep in” until 9:45 am which everyone greatly appreciated. The only activities on the agenda for the day consisted of boating at the Royal Yacht Club of Torrevieja in town. 

When we arrived we split into small groups to formulate a rotation between sailing, kayaking, and small boat sailing all in the Mediterranean. I started out sailing on the big mast boat. There were about 11 of us in each group. The boat was gorgeous and my favorite part of the day. A few of us laid down on the front of the deck as we glided along the dark aqua water. Sailing on this boat was the most relaxing feeling ever. The weather was the right temperature at about 83 degrees with no humidity and a nice refreshing breeze. At one point I actually took control of the boat. While I was steering, the “captain” or gentleman in charge of our boat told me what everything meant (buttons, screens, gauges, etc.) 

 This ride made me feel like I was on vacation, not a class trip. However, my teacher was on board with us! Soon enough the rotation time came and two little dingy boats picked up my group from the big sailboat and brought us to the small box type sailboat. There was a young kid steering the small sailboat we sat in. He said he was 16 years old and has rowed crew since he was 9. He loves rowing and participates competitively. The little boats we were in literally just felt like a square plastic box, and compared to the other boats in the water, this one was extremely SMALL. Our 3^rd and final rotation was kayaking. Going 3^rd for this activity was a bad idea because we had to do the most work. When we got on the kayaks, they were way outside of the bay/marina. Eventually we had to do the job of paddling them all the way back to the yacht club. At one point Hannah, Annabelle (the other girls in my kayak) and I held onto the dingy boat to give us speed then let go and started paddling! This was pretty fun for the whole 45 seconds it lasted. We literally paddled at least a mile with other big boats passing. I wish we would’ve known we had to paddle this much by going last or else I would’ve went kayaking during the 2^nd rotation and only paddle around a super small portion of the ocean. I guess I have to get my exercise while abroad somehow! After our ocean activities, we went up to the yacht club’s restaurant/grill/patio for some sandwiches. 

The club’s pool, which overlooks the marina, was up there too but unfortunately the pool was closed. 

We were living the good life except for the fact that we could not take real showers to scrub the salt off until we were back home in Madrid 7 hours later. This was the only thing as far as planning goes that I did not like/approve of because the water left so much salt on our skin you could see the crystals with your own eye. On the way back to Spain, we were lucky enough to watch the sunset over the Spanish countryside. This oceanography trip was a blast and extremely educational at the same time. It was helpful to apply what we learned in class to real life experiences. Everyone had a great time and met new people!  

Sunset