Sailing Camp: Sea Trek — Tracy Moore<br/>

Last summer, Caroline and one of her closest friends went to a sailing camp in the British Virgin Islands. Caroline had experienced sleep away camp in the mountains the summer prior to 2020 and really did not love it, so we thought her days of sleep away camp were over. That was fine by me because I miss her terribly when she is away. I was wrong…it was really just the mountains (she and I are truly beach people). She and her friend starting researching camps where they could be in the sun, sailing, snorkeling, diving, etc and they ended up finding a few that looked quite interesting. Both Matthew and I, as well as Addie’s parents did some research and we landed on Sea Trek BVI. The only thing that would make this camp better would be if I could go with her.

The girls went on the Open Water Trek for two weeks to the BVIs. It is also offered in the Bahamas, but we opted for the British Virgin Islands. The boats are separated by age, so Caroline and Addie were with 16 kids 12 to 13 years old, a few counselors, and a captain. They did around 15 dives, including one or two night dives. However, there was a LOT of book work to complete before going on your first dive. Sea Trek sends the book work to your house a few months prior to the trip. Caroline took it with us to Mustique in June and had some of the water sports guys help her with the work. It was no joke! The great thing about all of the hard work was the girls came home with their open water certification, advanced diver certification AND their individual sailing certification.

I’m not going to gloss over it, I had MAJOR hesitation with sending her this far away for sleep away camp. Not to mention summer is my absolute favorite time of the year - I love being with the girls 24/7, out and about to the beach and pool. I knew she wanted this experience and I knew she needed to try a non traditional sleep away camp, which sometimes letting go of our fears can be the hardest part of parenting. She had a fabulous time and I think will always look back on this time and think about how cool of an experience it was; plus, Caroline could be your captain the next time you go sailing….think about that! Do I think she will go back?…No, I don’t think so. She viewed this as a once in a lifetime. She did get homesick and the food was, well not great. We only were able to talk to her on the phone twice, although I thought we were going to be able to talk to her more while she was away. We knew she was ok through pictures and e-mails from the counselors. It was also quite taxing. Hiking, sailing, and scuba diving day in and out is hard on the body, especially when you’re sleeping on the boat in not the most comfortable way. It was more like camping than Caroline was expecting. With that said, she had an AMAZING time! She said the marine biology portion of it was fascinating and she learned a ton. It was so much fun listening to her tell us what all she learned when she got home. This is an experience she will always be able to talk about and the added bonus was coming home with a lot of certifications.