Location: Vixen Point, Gorda Sound
Day 6 started out with a bang (and some crashing) when we were all awoken at 6:30 to a boat’s wake opening our cabinets and attacking our microwave. After that shock, we all decided on 30 more minutes of sleep before starting our sleepy morning. With some quick cereal and caffeine, we jumped right into rotation day and dinghy school, during which our dive masters learned to drive the dinghies for tank runs, and our Vegases went out for some paddleboard fun! After dinghy school, we dive masters made our way back to Nacho to learn about dive briefings and practice giving our own briefings, while the Vegases learned how to use RDP tables to plan for dives. As Aggie, Lily, Juliette, and Ali rolled back to Nacho for a quick break, lunch of mac n cheese was made for us by Lila yummyyy! After filling up, we all hopped into dinghies and made our way over to the mangroves so our Vega students could enjoy some snorkeling led by Tyler. Lila got to lead her own separate Vega group, whilst Mackenzie and Annika were super awesome students for Hayden, Avi, Jaden, Wylie, and Alex as they rotated through leading the snorkel. After looking at some cool fish, we all once again made our way back to Nacho so Ali, Lily, Juliette, and Aggie could pit stop and split off to Nomada for some waterski fun. While the girls were enjoying themselves, we divemasters got to do our rescue 7, soooo fun, after which Tyler, Hayden, Jaden, Alex, and Wylie did a quick 20-minute dive to retrieve Wylie’s lost snorkel and have spoon sword fights at 40 feet. Following this, Tyler, Jaden, and Avi hopped into a boat to use their new dinghy skills for a tank run going to under-pressure(our tank refill boat). Somehow this turned into Hayden, Wylie, and Alex also hopping in a dinghy to go retrieve the other dinghy users as they were stranded on another boat and bring them back to Nacho for some super good veggie burgers, mashed potatoes, and beans made for us by Ayden, Lila, and Juliette. After filling up and having a post-dinner roof rave, our Vega participated in a dive chat and did some testing to finish off their night as the DM’s went to the hardtop to finish some more chapters in their dive books, wrapping up our day with our usual group hangouts. Now we are prepping for another rotation day and a BBQ day 7, in which we will also get our phones for a bit to make some calls home, check in, and share stories. Signing off,
-Hayden
P.S. Hayden still really misses you, Ava<3