Island Times Blog

Hi Everyone! It’s Kelsey again, checking in with you now that summer is over! I just finished my first year of SeaTrek’s ShIP internship and my 4th voyage and it was great! I thought for this entry, I would tell you a little bit about one of the fun and dangerous sides of SeaTrek: Rubber Duck Piracy.

As all Seatrek student and staff know (and future Seatrek students will soon find out after arrival), while sailing, diving and exploring the beautiful Virgin islands there is never a dull moment with SeaTrek.

There is always something fun and exciting and rather unexpected happening. Whether you are on land, on the boat or in the water there will also be something special going on (and by special I might mean DASTARDLY!)

Take this summer, for example: Every boat has a rubber duckie that sits proudly as a member of the crew and mascot. Everyone loves their boat’s rubber duckie. On one fateful, dark night this summer while unsuspecting boats and crews were sleeping, the rotten Captain Kris dispatched his theiving crew (of which I admittedly was a part…) to take hostage every boat’s rubber duckie *gasp*! Now please don’t blame me for this act of pilfering. One look at Capt. Kris and you can see why someone as nice as your gentle narrator might feel compelled to turn to filching and tomfoolery!

“Yarr me scallawag, bilge rats! Scatter yourselves and take hostage every boat’s yellow-bellied Duckie! And be quick about it!”, he bellowed at us as he pointed at the other boats! Yes readers, Capt. Kris demanded that the ducks be snatched and held by us, the crew of the able vessel, “Kes Kat.” This, much to our (now corrupted) amusement, caused quite an uproar the next morning at the Captain’s meeting.

Confronted with the reality of this rubber duckie raid everyone wanted their boat’s duck back so the crew of Seatrek decided to hold the first “Seatrek Games” ever. The games were hosted by “Kes Kat” and a fierce competition commenced between all boats. The first place winner of each game would win their duck back!

The games were announced in the morning and the first event of the day was a swift kayaking race. The muscles of the paddlers rippled in the sun as they trenched the water with their lightcraft- each fighting for repossession of their Rubber Duck. Later in the day we held a swimming race that would have made gold medalist, Michael Phelps tremble. Yes, Mr. Phelps is swift but let’s be honest, he splashes around in a tame swimming pool while SeaTrek swimmers slice the ocean over reefs, sea creatures and waves! Finally there was the dinghy race. The small but mighty engines roared as our water sports boats sped over the surf and raced for the finish line! It was all so much fun, even Capt. Kris cracked a smile.

The best part about the games was not seeing who won but seeing all the students come together and show their pride for the boat they had been living on. Students gathered to cheer on their crew as they raced to win the prize. Some students even made up cheers that they chanted before and during the races. It was a wonderful day and it warmed my heart to see the smile on every student’s face.