Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Day 8 started with a painful wake-up; everyone was tired from the previous night’s barbecue. Once all had changed into a swimsuit with a swim shirt, the chefs of the day (Robert and Ada) brought out a bag of oatmeal with a boiled kettle of water. The oatmeal was left for some gnarly dishes, which was worsened when it was decided to put them off till lunch. We had been informed the previous night that today would be a rotation day, starting with snorkeling in mangroves. Everyone was rushed onto a dingy, where we were dropped off at Meow or Never to collect snorkeling gear. All were ecstatic about the upcoming snorkeling, and Tony (our diving instructor) warned us about the shallowness of the mangroves and asked us to make it a point not to step on the organisms who call it their home. Upon arrival at the mangroves, everyone fell into the water back first and sat down. Many animals were seen, most juvenile. The mangroves are helpful for protecting the young and small of the ocean, which was made obvious following our snorkeling. Once finished snorkeling, we dropped the snorkeling gear off back at Meow or Never. The adventurous activity was followed by an educational talk about the importance of coral reefs. We were given free time following the conversation, were most decided to take a short nap. After a restful nap, our group was off again to separate water sports groups. Ada, Ani, and I had all water skied while Jade had knee-boarded. For lunch, we enjoyed some deliciously toasty grilled cheese made by our dive instructor, Tony. Though he had made some questionable Mac-n-cheese yesterday, he redeemed himself with today’s grilled cheese. Though many ate more than one grilled cheese, there was an abundance of leftovers. I felt bad about throwing away the food into the ocean, but it was another great day of feeding the fish with our leftovers. The dishes that had been left over from breakfast and lunch were all done, with the washers putting up the usual complaint of disgust that comes with the job. The oatmeal, at that point, had stuck onto the bowls and was incredibly difficult to scrub off. Oatmeal also gets messy on the deck, which gives the deckies and the washers an important and hard job. After the cleanup jobs were completed, we took another dinghy to the beach. Given the option to water ski once again, I took the opportunity. I was on a boat with two other girls from a different boat, but they were incredibly friendly and welcoming. Surprisingly, however, many were unenthusiastic about the idea and opted to hang out on the beach or paddle board. Some other girls took some extra time to knee board more later on. Soon, we were all back at the boat to take our freshwater showers, and we sailed for about forty-five minutes to our next destination, which was two days ago Mountain Point. Many took more time to nap for the trip, while some decided to stay inside and talk. We then ate some Risotto and chicken Caesar salad for dinner. The dishes were finished in record time for this boat, which was followed by a sail talk with Nat, our skipper. We talked about collision protocols and lights while reviewing anchoring, docking, and mooring. After that, we are given free time to get ready for bed and talk. Tomorrow is suspected to be a very exciting day, starting with zesting, skiing, lunch, hiking, and diving!