Location: Peter Island
We began day 13 of our trip with a sail back to the origin of our voyage, the AQ dock in West End. Those of us who had slept on deck were woken up at around six so that LJs ( Life jackets) could be procured and donned. The trip took roughly 30 minutes, during which time some of us observed a nascent sun continue to rise over the beauty of the BVI while others drifted back into a peaceful slumber. Shortly after we docked in West End, phones were distributed along with assorted spending money so that we could be released on “shore time”. Our cabal of telephone worshippers made our way to Omars Coffee House, where we indulged in smoothies, assorted iced coffees, and various breakfast dishes. After a lovely breakfast, our group split up to go spend our parent’s money on various mementos, candies, and drinks. As the end of our shore time approached, the crew of Event Horizon stood on the dock waiting for Shaka (Our Super Dinghy). We proudly held new shirts, bathing suits, shorts, and jewelry, as well as over 40 Capri-suns, two cases of Coke, and two more of Sprite.
After Matt and Tommy had shuttled all 12 of us and our assets back to Event Horizon, we returned the LJs to our bodies and set sail towards the wreck of Willy T for fun dive. After our gear was set up, Tommy sat us down to explain to us the story behind the wreck: As many of you may know, Hurricane Irma ravaged the Caribbean in 2017, destroyed homes, businesses, and nature, and it took 129 lives. One of the businesses destroyed by the storm was the Willy T. The Willie T A boat that had been docked and used for “various night activities” (🍾🍻🥂🎆🎇🪩🕺💃). Unfortunately, when she struck the islands, Irma sank the Willy T. As part of the rebuilding, the ship was raised from the ocean floor and moved to its final resting place, where we were able to dive it. When it was sunk for the second time, artists chose to build pirate skeletons out of rebar, a sight that, while initially scary, ultimately added to the experience. One might say that our Timbers were thoroughly shivered ☠️🏴☠️. Cool dive sights such as this one typically cost money to see. However, there was no charge for the Willy, instead a simple request on the mooring. If you dive and are able, please contribute $5 to Beyond the Reef, a charity that works to preserve the underwater beauty of the BVI. I assume that Action Quest makes the contribution, but I would still encourage all of you to explore the website and donate to the program should you feel so inclined https://1beyondthereef.com/. After we freed ourselves from the mooring, we sailed back to GHP, a cove where we had anchored earlier in the trip. There, we ate our Mexican night dinner, reviewed the usage of emergency Oxygen, and generally kept our heads on the swivel for another possible surprise scenario (the paranoia was real). As I’m writing this, we are starting our 13th squeeze ritual and bringing an epic day to a close. We have four more days, and every person on this boat will make the most of it. I can’t wait for all the fun we are going to have!
~Owen