Location: Cane Garden Bay, Tortola
On a dark and stormy night -in the BVIs for about 15 minutes- danger struck Oryx for the first time in 14 days. Awake Chloe at 1:20 in the morning, running inside from the rain. Safe to say our day started bright and early in the best way! Most of us were trying to wait it out for about a minute, till out of the corner of our eyes, we saw Chloe running with blankets everywhere. I – Bella- your skipper today was sleeping on the trampoline next to Elin, Chole, Ada, and Kellan after we all fell back asleep – either on the blue lagoon or for me and Chloe with Grace in the bed-shout out GRACE for letting us sleep three to a bed when we were soaking. Turns out this morning, bright and early, before many of us were awake, we disconnected from another boat to move to our old spot and redraft with another monohaul. I have no memory because I was asleep, but I hear it was a peaceful ride with no tunes. Then we rafted to “Harbor House Out”, their students informed us today was called “chaos day”, spoiler alert, we had a blast. Starting the morning with oatmeal has shockingly become a fan favorite, today Kellen mentioned she would be copping the buy at home. After we all debated which flavor is the best: apple, pumpkin, or brown sugar, I convinced Margo to come to the dark side and try apple- she LOVED it! After a very filling breakfast, we went outside to find our favorite…ZESTs! Ada,Sam, and Kellan, Elin quickly got on two, but then we were told we would be going scuba diving next and needed to “get in the dinghy”. When we got to Nacho Dinghy- the Dive Master Boat, we all immediately started putting together scuba diving gear to get in for our FINAL DIVE till we get certified! Safe to say, Oryx was running around more after than ever. With a no-skills dive and just for fun, we all had a blast. Ada, Margo, and I all took our fins off at the bottom and did some backflips and played sword fights with our fins on our hands for a little while with our dive master, Luke. Elin, George, Molly, and Chloe all got back to the boat, talking about some very cool, small, flat fish. Kellan, Sam, and Grace ended scoring big and seeing an EEL! After becoming scuba pros, we got back to our boat to make lunch. QUESADILLAS! They tasted even better from the love Kellan and Chloe put into them! Thanks, chefs!
Meanwhile, Elin, Margo, Ada, Sam, and I all made some new friends from the boat next to us and some extra boats! We talked about all the books we have read and rotated through, and the newest, hottest life updates. Then we all got on paddle boards. Sam and Kellan played king of the hill on one, while Margo, Chloe, Elin, Ada, and I all tanned. We even swam over to the other boat and did the boom swing! Elin, Ada, and I had a blast, and Elin even tried to blackflip off the swig. After our new friends left, we had an ocean shower at 1:30!
Such a change of pace, but we had to look our best for Mike since we were going to restock on water and would see him on the dock. While we were underway, Sam, Molly, and I made bracelets up top and watched Sam spill chocolate milk while trying to get up on the top deck…we were dying laughing. Chloe and George both took a FAT nap, and Jake did tons of sailing and nailed docking! Elin and Kellan listened to Lord’s new album, and Elin finished her third book. After we arrived at King Garden Bay, we ate dinner, made by Kellan and Jake- it was the best we’ve ever had… I guess as the days go on, more love goes into the food? Since we’ve all been so full, we’ve been chilling. Kellan drew a wonderful tree on George’s back. She’s currently adding a butterfly. Chloe has almost fallen asleep 10 plus times. Molly has become a bracelet-making machine…so far, she’s made one for Luke, Chloe, Kellan, Ada, and is currently working on one for Siena. The worst part about our day was thinking about our last piece of our little Oryx puzzle, Maci:(Unfortunately, she had to leave early this morning, and most of us didn’t get to say goodbye. Just know, Maci, we all miss youuuuu and can’t wait to call/ text you once we get our phones back!