Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Day 18 started off with yet again a very early morning sail at 6 am from Great Harbor Peter to the Beta Reck, a tugboat sunk artificially to become a local tourist attraction just off the southern end of Cooper Island. Nico and Lucas got our cereal out underway shortly before arriving at Cooper Island. Trey, Rhiannon, Rooks, and Shay got straight to work after arriving, and just afterward, we started setting up dive gear. Matt had to hop in earlier before to set up the site for Neptune Students to do their final wreck dive, so we waited until getting the Lift Bag’s signal to jump in.
After the dive, we packed up our gear and quickly motored just a few boat lengths away to a farther mooring ball and began some last-minute studying before our exams were only a few hours away. Several people napped, and others continued studying for the next hour or so. Mac and Cheese were prepared for lunch, and the dishes again cleaned up shortly after. All of a sudden, just after cleanup, we heard a faint voice coming from the port side of the boat, and everyone darted up to see what was happening. Sure enough, we were beginning our second scenario. For this scenario, the Soul Rebel Instructors were the victims, one of which was a tired diver asking for help finding her lost buddies who were out doing a fun dive in 15-20 feet of water before losing sight of one another and drifting apart. Everyone quickly sprang into action. Mireille, Rooks, and Shay were the first snorkels to dive in and began assisting the Tired Diver, who quickly alerted us that there were still two divers missing. I was the first to spot the divers from the hardtop while taking notes on the whole scenario to simulate relaying information to the Divers Assistance Network, otherwise known as DAN for short. Rooks took the initiative and swam nearly two boat lengths off our bow in search of bubbles from the missing divers and spotted both of the unconscious divers underwater. Lucas, Andrew, and Alicia jumped in with dive gear and started making their way over to the unconscious divers. Shortly after descending down, the divers were surfaced and transported to the back of the boat to begin Primary Assessments and CPR. The divers were pulled out of the water, and shortly after beginning CPR, Matt cut the scene, and we began the debrief. Since the last scenario, we improved significantly, having more experience with actually handling the divers out of the water as we were not trained in the actual de-escalation of panicked divers as that’s every diver is different in how they may panic and what causes them to become panicked.
After the debrief, the divers jumped back in for the final dive of the day, diving Blue Chromis Reef. After the dive, Matt requested that everyone put on their PFDs while de-kitting so we could begin our motor back to Great Harbor Peter for the evening. Underway most people slept after a very action-packed afternoon. We arrived in GHP after about a 45-minute motor, and within minutes of Anchoring, a second Dive Side boat by the name of Good Times motored into the anchorage and pulled up right next to us; we rafted together for the evening and did some swimming with Good Times’s shipmates. That evening, dinner, or should I say breakfast, began. Breakfast for dinner consisted of Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage, and Beans. Shortly after dinner began, we were informed that Mike (Director of AQ) was going to be joining us for dinner. We were thrilled to have another guest joining us, so we all put on our nice clothes and prepared the boat for our guests. Mike arrived shortly after dinner was served, and we all had a great time. After dinner, cleanup began, and afterward, we began our exams and then went to bed. Overall it was a great, action-packed day. All the shipmates are starting to get somewhat sentimental as we round the bend into our last few days of ActionQuest 2023, it’s been a great trip up to this point, and we’re excited about what the last few days have to offer.