Land ho! The age old shout given by the first sailor to see the port of call was heard around the Spirit since 11 p.m. on Thursday. We didn't step on land until 3 p.m. on Friday.

When land is sighted the accompanying onboard behaviour is known as the "Channels", when sailors let bygones be bygones and start dreaming up their first land excursions with crew-members they have fought with throughout the voyage.

Another symptom of the Channels is that people start to go a little loopy. The excitement that things they have been denied while at sea — such as Koolaid and ice cream — is so close, it becomes too much.

On the Spirit this means that every blink or large wave becomes land in the minds of crew. In fact, a party nearly broke out on the bow Thursday evening when one young sailor swore he saw land. Indeed he did see a large span of lights, so he ran below deck and woke those that had been eagerly awaiting the feeling of firm ground under their feet.

So half a dozen young men congregated late in the evening and one went to grab the binoculars. Unfortunately for them, the eagle-eyed watchman had seen the lights of a large cruise ship and not Turks and Caicos. Despite this false start, the "Land ho" call continued every hour until we actually saw it.

But sailing into Grand Turk brought a screeching stop to some of the sailors' elaborate plans.

To say this place is small is an understatement. It makes Bermuda look palatial. The island is eight square miles. The local population, known as "Belongers", is 5,000. When the cruise ships come in it swells the population to 15,000.

Port security pedal around on bicycles and people rarely move fast for anything. All that changed when the boys from Bermuda came to town.

Near where the ship is berthed they stumbled upon a golf cart rental company. Those who were 16 or older rented one and have been chauffeuring everyone else around and exploring the small island. People can hear them coming before they see them due to all the laughing and singing.

They spent the days zipping around the small island but that is not to say they have been terrorising the locals. In fact two young men volunteered to chauffeur some older women to church on Sunday because the heat was unbearable.

The only thing that has required some adjustment is punctuality.

The professional crew on board has drilled into the students the importance of being on time and the ship is generally running like clockwork. As for the people of Turks and Caicos, well let's just say they bring a whole new meaning to the term 'island time'. Nothing the crew has participated in has started until an hour-and-a-half after it was scheduled to begin — at the earliest.