Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Helloooo! My name is Amelia (hi, Ima and Aba), and I am today’s skipper! As you could maybe tell by the title, today we had a rotation day in Mountain Point. Our rotations consisted of skiing, diving, zesting/paddle boarding, and ship systems. To start the day off, we had bagels and yogurt for breakfast. After breakfast and clean up, we made our way over to a boat called Oryx to water ski/wakeboard/knee board. Personally, I just chilled on the top of the boat because all the water sports from the past couple of rotation days, while very fun, had tired me out; I needed a break. As for my peers, Sasha, Emily, and Stella all wakeboarded, and Stella got up for the first time! Grayson and Aaron went kneeboarding. The rest of us stayed back and got to spend time and talk to some of the girls from Oryx, which was super fun getting to know the other boats. Next up, we had more confined water dive training off of Hope (our dive boat). The last time we dove, there was a general consensus of some discomfort/not enjoying the dive. However, I think I can speak for many when I say this dive was a lot of fun, besides the chilly water. In my dive group, which is Aleda, Bailey, and I, we worked through a lot of skills including going a minute without a mask, buoyancy, sharing air, emergency ascents, and procedures for running out of air. I’m not completely sure what the other dive groups did, but they probably did similar things to mine. After all that diving, we were starved. Luckily, it was lunch time! We made our way back to Aioli (aka Eole) to where Riley had cheffed up some grilled cheeses for us, they were fire! After some serious sunscreen reapplication, we started our next rotation, which was actually off of our boat: zesting and paddleboarding. While that was the activity, I don’t think anyone actually went due to the pretty harsh winds. Teddy, Paige, Bailey, Aleda, Bella, and I all were hanging out on the top of the boat tanning and talking, some girls from Oryx were also on our boat hanging out with us. Sasha, Grayson, and Emily read; Stella and Aaron swam. After that, we had a ship systems rotation. Riley gave us a rundown on how all the things on the boat work, including the engines, helm, and plumbing systems. Marg showed us some charts, and we had to figure them out, then create and plan an imaginary passage from Mountain Point to Cruise Bay. We then took our beloved saltwater showers (gonna miss these). As Sasha and Emily prepared dinner, Mexican night, we had a little visit from Mike! Mike showed us how to use these weird can openers; he was very enthusiastic about them. Max, Aaron, and Grayson reallllyyyy enjoyed this, Max even sharing it as his appreciation of the day at the squeeze. Dinner was AMAZING. It was like Chipotle and Taco Bell had a majestic baby, and we ate it on a boat. Phenomenal, I know. There was ground beef, chicken, rice, refried beans, black beans, salsa, sour cream, cheese, and tortillas. Sasha and Emily did great. We also had a very special guest at dinner tonight, James!!!!!!!! He runs the boat called Under Pressure, where all the dive tanks live and are pumped. We are now cleaning, and I am writing this blog. Later tonight, we have a dive chat with Nat where we will be reviewing for our final exam. Last night, Teddy, Aleda, Sasha, Bailey, and I started to watch Maze Runner, which we will hopefully continue tonight. Today was a great day, and looking forward to the next. Byeeeeeee