Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Graytful had a very busy day of rotations! Josh kindly volunteered to help the chefs make breakfast burritos this morning while Anzie baked some delicious blueberry muffins. Once everyone was nice and fed, we loaded our dive bags and EFR books onto the dingy and made our way to Iles et Ailes (shoutout to my parents and our lovely time on it last summer <3). Our mission for today was to guide the open water students on their first real dive here at Mountain Point!!!!!! Kai, Sedona, and Anzie acted as our guinea pigs and were the first to give official dive briefs and lead the groups. Unfortunately, Sedona was feeling congested and had to follow her students from above (she still got great feedback from her instructor, obviously).
Meanwhile, Daisy, David, and I improved our surface skills working with India and Stich. Daisy pointed out a giant southern stingray that swam up next to us in the middle of my kit removal and replacement, which was awesome. We were next to lead the dives and it was sooooo fun to watch the students’ reactions to the wildlife! I was reminded of my first dive and how exciting everything felt. My group saw lots of parrotfish, angelfish, and a super cool cowfish! Everyone took a quick break for ramen before heading out for another four-hour rotation. During lunch, David made a new pelican friend named Kevin. We were split between Sail A and Sail B, and despite some new-diver difficulties, everyone killed it this afternoon. Sally was thrilled that she got to help her friend Meghan instruct her students. Jake and I got a ride back home in the super dingy and helped David start dinner while Josh (who’s in the process of recovering from reverse sinus squeeze) and Daisy relaxed for a bit. Also, on the way back from Meow or Never, Player saved everyone from a stalled engine on Holland. Dinner was tortellini, garlic bread, and salad, and it was INCREDIBLE!! After dinner, Mackenzie and Emma showed up to our boat and asked for our skipper (me), Mrs. Filbert’s fake butter, and a piece of bread. They gave me hand sanitizer and had me scoop butter using my bare hands into our container. It was such a weird sensation. There was also lots of studying today as we have our emergency first responder test tonight—wish us luck!!!
Lots of love,
Claire