7/13/00 Day 1
I awoke this morning bright and early at 3:30 A.M., day 1 of my Broadreach adventure. I had not gotten much sleep, thanks in part to staying up extremely late. Maybe it was due to the anxiety, excitement, or just not knowing what to expect next, but I had trouble sleeping. So, after a very tedious ride to the airport, I departed my parents and departed New York at 7:15 A.M. After a rather uneventful flight to San Juan, I met several other Broadreachers who shared the same feelings I did. I met Jake and Jeff of UDA23. Then, we departed for the beautiful island of St. Maarten. When we arrived, the first person we met was our leader Lindsay. We took a taxi to Oyster Pond “the pond” and were able to swim at the beach there. The translucent blue water was incredible as I began to get accustomed to my new surroundings. It felt good to get back into that warm, blue water and to sit on the pristine, sandy white beach. Finally, we were able to get aboard our new home for the next 3 weeks, Sagitepa. We also met our two other leaders, Motts the dive instructor and Happy the skipper. We were treated to a feast of pasta pesto by Happy as other members of UDA23 arrived. Finally, when the entire group arrived, I was able to truly get used to my group for the next 3 weeks. Jake, Rob, Happy, Motts, Lindsay, Carter, Sarah, Crystal, Heather, Jeff, TJ, Rachel and of course “diggety Dan” as Motts liked to call me. Some feelings of anxiety still remained, but those feelings were slowly dissipating and being replaced by feelings of excitement. Finally, that night, I was able to sleep in the cockpit on those comfortable blue cushions, watching an endless field of stars in the clear Caribbean sky as the cool breeze blew. It was truly incredible!
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