Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Today started at 7:30 with some relaxing spa music, which didn’t really do the job waking us up but we eventually all got up and moving. We were leaving Sandy Spit and were on our way to West End, where we would ultimately end our trip in a gut-wrenching four days later. We arrived hoping to go on shore as fast as possible but were then stopped to clean the whole boat before being able to explore. Once we finally got the okay after approximately 45 minutes of washing and sweeping, we were able to get bagels and breakfast sandwiches at a cafe I forgot the name of. It was a long wait at the cafe, but it was worth it, especially because of the cat that inhabited the front of the cafe. We all ended up at the grocery store at some point during the time ashore and got some food to snack on the remaining few days. After we were taken on a dingy back to Aloha, we set sail for Dead Chest, an optional fun dive. We recently got more bread, so we had peanut butter and jellies for lunch underway. Asa, Gabi, Lanie, Lilly, JJ, Wiley, and Lila had gone into the choppy water for a dive while Shane, Ellery, Riley, Logan, and I had our eyes set on studying for our Recuse exam, which is tomorrow. Instead of studying, the 5 of us who chose not to go were happily surprised to be able to clean the boat further.
The five of us were very happy when we found another unopened red hot. We soft scrubbed everything we could and washed every dish in hopes of being able to finish early. It paid off when we had some remaining time to study our EFR (Emergency First Response) booklets. When all the divers surfaced, we greeted them with a sparkling clean cockpit, galley, and salon. The divers quickly took their kits off and packed them away with a choppy sail ahead of us to Great Harbor Peter Island. Asa sadly took out his braids and beads during this sail, so you will no longer be seeing photos of his cornrows. The sail to GHP was nice and windy, while Lanie brought Fruit Loops to the roof for us to eat.
We approached GHP when Shane and Gabi volunteered to drop the secondary anchor with Ri. While they took the dingy to do so, Lanie, Riley, Wiey, Asa, and I got into a heated game of Uno that we stopped abruptly because we had the chance to shower. We all showered and rinsed while Ellery and JJ started to make breakfast for dinner. During our shower time, Riley had pushed Logan into the water as a harmless joke, however Logan had fallen while trying to catch himself… on our soap basket. All of our conditioner, shampoo, and body wash had gone flying into the ocean below. Logan swam quickly, locating all the shower essentials and throwing them back to the boat’s platform as he reached each. Thankfully, all was recovered. Lanie had brought out her deck of cards and we explained the game Egyptian Rat Slap to those who didn’t know the game. Everyone learned very quickly as they got very into the game. Very shortly after the game, dinner was ready. Dinner was very good as we almost finished all of the food. Tonight, during the squeeze, the question was, What Disney character would you be? To finish off the squeeze, we all agreed to throw JJ into the water.
We had all gathered around JJ to throw him off the side, but after lifting him up and prepping to throw, Tommy had warned us that doing it from the port side of the bow might’ve been dangerous. We quickly relocated to the starboard platform, where he pushed Ellery in with him. Since we hadn’t been thrown in, we unanimously decided that he would need to be properly thrown in. Asa took his arm, Gabi took the other, and Shane and I had his legs. On the count of three, he soared across the platform into the waves. Dishy pit was then set up, and more cleaning commenced. Once all was done, we studied all of our booklets and rewrote our Emergency Action Plans. We are now turning down for bed and are finishing getting ready for exams tomorrow.