Location: Savanna Bay, Virgin Gorda
The day started off around 7:00 am when we were all woken up by the blasting music. Soon after, the chefs, Parker and Lexi, prepared the delicious breakfast of bagels, with your choice of cream cheese, peanut butter, Nutella, or jam, along with some yogurt. Once everything was cleaned up and put away, we all got on our PFD for a long sail over to Cooper Island. While underway, we began work on both the navigation and Rescue courses. We completed two knowledge checks consisting of questions on the ways to use a compass, tips on making your way around a dive site, recognizing an emergency, and response.
Additionally, we all set up our gear for a dive on the beautiful Blue Chromis reef. Once the work was done, we enjoyed hanging out in the salon and getting splashed by the waves on the trampoline. Finally, we made it to Cooper Island, where Lordy hooked the mooring ball, and Nathan and I pulled the ropes through and tied it up to the boat. After a dive briefing, we were ready to get in the water and set off on our dive. With Rachel leading the way and Siena making sure there were no stragglers, we completed a 39-minute dive. On this dive, we saw beautiful coral, lionfish, trumpet fish, parrot fish, and thousands of blue chromis. Once we surfaced, we stayed in the water for a quick lesson/review on releasing a leg cramp while diving on yourself and your buddy and how to orally inflate your BC. Back on the boat, we got all the gear put away and debriefed our dive. Next, it was lunchtime! Our chefs set out bread, lunch meat, peanut butter, Nutella, and jelly to make sandwiches, as well as any leftovers from the past day. Then, the dishwashers and decks were cleaned up while Ri filled the tanks back up in preparation for our sail to Savannah Bay. On the way, I drove the boat while Huddy, Parker, and Lexi lay on the roof, and the rest sat on the trampoline. Once we arrived in the anchorage, we attempted to set an anchor. That was when Jake’s Neptune boat showed up, saw our struggles to find a good spot, and offered to raft. So we tied up next to them and set our anchor, then all of a sudden, we had drifted 180 degrees and had gotten our anchors twisted together, so Jake jumped in to direct us in untangling them. Finally, we settled in and set off on the dinghy to do water sports. The first group went consisting of Eve, Tyler, Parker, Lexi and I where Eve, Tyler and I knee boarded. After about 45 minutes we headed back to the boat while the next group went. Eve, Tyler, and I decided to hop onto the other boat where we quickly became friends with the other campers. We each took our turns jumping in the water, and then we all swam around. All exhausted, we took our ocean showers right before a delicious mega dinner with the other boat of Alfredo and hot dogs. Finally, Tyler, Wesley, Tate, Nathan, and Eve did all the dishes, and Catalina and Huddy cleaned the deck before we settled in for the night.