Location: Mountain Point, Virgin Gorda
Hello everybody!! It’s so crazy that we’re already almost halfway through our trip, but it’s safe to say that we’re making the absolute best of our short time together. We woke up this morning to a yummy breakfast of yogurt and cream cheese bagels. I feel like everyone started off today pretty tired with all of the jam-packed days we’ve been having. To add to the excitement, we had another rotation day today! Our first rotation was zesting and paddleboarding. Everyone rushed to put on sunscreen and fill our water bottles before we all piled into the dinghy. Today we were challenged to tackle an obstacle course made of inflatable markers in our zests. Adrien and Mackenzie made me laugh so much because they kept capsizing over and over, but I was proud because they were much better than last time. Amelia and Skye are the queens of the zests. They’re just natural sailors, and they fly on those things. Ani and I were just goofing around with no real goals, and we may or may not have capsized a few times.
After zesting, we met back up with Fin on the boat, and we were all talking, tanning, and having a good time. Bode, Adrien, and River were all hanging out inside the boat, and they seemed to be laughing hysterically. The next rotation was back on our home boat. Here we learned about all of the boat systems aboard, such as the gas tanks, bilge pumps, generator, water maker, steering, and power systems. Aiden and Skyler also pulled out a chart of the USVIs and the BVIs. It was so interesting to study, and we probably spent about 45 minutes alone just observing the chart. Those who weren’t observing the chart got to take a much-needed nap. Poor Amelia, Adrian, Skye, and Mackenzie were completely out cold. Skyler and Zoe were kind enough to make us crispy grilled cheeses for lunch, which we happily devoured.
After lunch, we grabbed our dive gear and headed to the dive boat. Tyler and Luke took us on a shallow dive where we focused on buoyancy and hovering skills. I was laughing underwater because everyone looked so funny trying to hover upside down. Next, we headed back to our boat for water sports. Skye, River, Amelia, and Adrian went kneeboarding and wakeboarding. Ani, Fin, Mackenzie, and I all had a shaving party on the stern, and Bode took a nap. When everyone got back, we took ocean showers and prepared to have Mike, the head of AQ, visit us for dinner. We quickly started preparing food for Mexican night.
We had a really fun dinner, and it was great to sit and talk with Mike about all the crazy experiences he’s had at AQ. The dinner was also amazing, and I’m pretty sure that no part of the meal was spared. After dinner, we did squeeze and I asked, “What is your happy place or places, and who is your happy person or people?” There were so many good answers, and I loved hearing about all of the places and people that are most important to everyone. After the squeeze, Mike played a game with us called the Black-And-White Postcards. Everyone had to choose three images: one that represented a quality you like about yourself, one that represented a quality you dislike about yourself, and one that represents a quality of a good friend. It was such a neat exercise that helped us get to know each other a lot more than before. After a successful dinner with Mike, we started the dreadful dishy pit in the aftermath of our extremely messy meal. We soon got through it with the help of some music and a dance party put on by Ani, River, and Adrien while aggressively shaking around their deckie brooms. We ended the day with a dive chat, and now everyone is frantically scrambling to put all of their nasty clothes into laundry bags for laundry pick-up tomorrow. We’re having the best time, and I can’t wait for tomorrow. Love you, Mom, Dad, Rosie, Webb, and Ellerbe! Can’t wait to see you guys again!