Location: Great Harbor, Peter Island
Hello again! I can’t believe we only have two days left. There are so many mixed emotions, but it’s safe to say that we’ve all been having a blast. We started off the day with a nice bowl of cereal, and everyone quickly prepared for our last dive on the Rhone shipwreck. The Rhone sank over a hundred years ago after a captain wrecked into sharp rocks during a category four hurricane. We prepared our heavy tanks and stepped off the back of the boat into the wavy, chilly water below. As we descended, the water visibility was so clear. We swam by the bow and saw all of the gorgeous, colorful corals and fish. Mackenzie and Adrien saw a huge angel fish. Eventually, we made our way back to the stern of the boat, although you couldn’t really tell that it was the stern because the wreckage was so scattered. After our dive, we hopped on a dinghy back to our boat. Nobody was excited to be back because we had to take our final sailing exams. The only thing that made the worrying at least a little tolerable was the steaming hot ramen noodles.
Zoe was also so sweet to make us banana bread. Also, while we were hiking in Cane Garden Bay a few days before, we found fresh mangoes hanging from the trees. Today we decided to cut one open, and it was DISGUSTING. It was so sour and definitely not ripe yet. Fin, Mackenzie, Ani, Amelia, Skye, and I all had puckered lips and squinted eyes after trying a bite. In an attempt to salvage the unripe mango, I minced it up, added chocolate, and melted it in the sun. It tasted wayyyy better that way. Besides comfort eating, we all anxiously prepared for our tests and crammed in some last-minute study time. Soon, they gave us our exams, and we got to work for about an hour or so.
Fin, Mackenzie, and Adrien all took their written Basic Sailing exam, and the rest of us took our written Advanced Sailing exam and our written VHF exam. It was a relief to have gotten it out of the way, but we were still so worried about our results. Luckily, we had some free time, which we spent tanning, napping, and listening to good music. River and Adrien spent part of that time doing back flips and free diving with their snorkel masks. After our free period, we motored over to Peter Island and immediately took ocean showers. There were sulfur rocks near the shore, so you can imagine that it smelled pretty terrible when we arrived. Adrien, Fin, and River were doing funny-looking dives off the transom, and I went swimming and free diving while Amelia and Ani had a shave party. Zoe and Adrien cooked up Mexican Night, and we all dug in. James, one of the other staff, came to join us for dinner. The burritos and rice bowls were absolutely delicious, and we all stuffed ourselves. Later, we had a squeeze, and I asked, “What is an embarrassing/funny story or strange thing that you do/habit that you have that people would normally judge you for?”
The answers were absolutely hilarious, and everyone was cracking up. After dinner, we attempted to do a super-fast cleanup so that we could form a raft with all of the boats on the sail side. We also got our test results back, and almost everyone passed the sailing ones, but every single advanced sailor failed the written VHF exam, so we will have to retake that tomorrow. Oops. Anyways, everyone went out to socialize with the other boats while we had to study again for our practical VHF exam. It took almost two hours, but everyone passed this time. Now we are all sitting in the salon, Fin is passed out sleeping in her room, Amelia is peacefully reading her massive book, Ani is sleeping behind me, and Adrien, River, and Mackenzie are all learning a new card game. Goodnight everyone! Love you, Mom, Dad, Rosie, Webb, and Ellerbe! See you guys in a bit!