Location: Great Harbor, Jost van Dyke
I woke up early to get a good start on the day; everyone else was asleep, so I laid in my hammock and took in everything around me until everybody was ready to start breakfast. Breakfast was simple but delicious cereal. We got ready and applied sunscreen before we went to a brief about the start of our adventures. This meeting told us all we needed to know about safety concerns that were possible when traveling on a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands, and though that may have seemed troubling to us, Mike, our briefer, assured us that as long as we were being safe and conscious of our actions, that we would have a wonderful time.
Afterward, we returned to our boat to discuss PFD use and get ready for our departure from the dock, which we had arrived at the previous day.
With our questions answered and ourselves prepared, we unhitched the vessel and steered away from the marina. We noticed right away that the winds were high. While on our way, we stood on the bow trampoline we waited for the catamaran to jump high along the waves; some would jump as the vessel would do the same to catch air-time.
We soon arrived at our the 1st location of the day, where we learned to moor a boat. This location is referred to as the caves for obvious reasons. Before we left the marina, we fit our snorkel masks, and now, at the caves, we fitted our flippers. Then Nicholas, Ian, and I set out on a dinghy to the caves. When we arrived, we exited the boat in what Nicholas referred to as “Seal Team Six Style”, And flipped our way over to the entrance of the cave, where the rest of our group, Ari, Aidan, and Mark, soon met us with the dive instructor on Meow or Never, Sela.
After we had our group together, we and the rest of the other Minerva crew from the second boat (Meow) entered the first small cave, which had many small and large fish alike darting around in the dim light. We moved on to the second cave, which was certainly the most exciting. The cave was dark and was headed far enough into the cliff to see nothing but black in certain places. Looking out, you could see the bright and vibrant light of the outside on either end of the cave. We Got back on the dinghy and headed back to the Mary Lee to depart to our final anchoring. On the way to the final anchorage for the night, Margaux and Davis taught us how to raise the main sail and tack the boat. When we got to Great Harbor, Peter Island, we showered, ate dinner, and I came to write this Blog. We are ending the night with our first sail chat and some time to bond with each other.