Location: Peter Island, BVIs
Woo Wee!!!! I started the day dazed and confused, not realizing I was skipper until nearly lunchtime. This is my third time being Skipper. This signifies that we have officially been through the job wheel two complete times. The day started at midnight with the 11-hour night voyage we were on. Luckily at that time, I was sleeping. The night sky was something out of a fairy tale, embellishing. The Milky Way could be seen as what appeared to be a fluffy cloud spanning the sky. The stars were so plentiful that they all looked interconnected and lit up the sky. It definitely reminded me of Lion King when Simba is looking up at the sky, talking to his father, who is made in the stars. It was a gay sight that we all wish to see again. The voyage went by quickly, though, and we arrived at Spanishtown in the BVIs, finally back. Good or bad? Hard to say. Coming into the harbor, we decided to sail onto the anchor. This basically means we anchored with no engine help whatsoever. Pulling up to where we wanted to anchor, we dropped sails and anchors simultaneously. Flawless, the anchor was dropped and held. We all rejoiced; this was the first time we had done this maneuver. Once anchored, Ocean Star received BA (boat appreciation). The staff and crew were worn out, but we banded together and gave ol’ Ocean Star a good buff, spic, and span, ready for the show.
After Kevin got back from clearing us into the country, we headed off to Salt Island. After a short motor over, we got ready to dive. Our dive site; HMS Rhone. It is a shipwreck from the 1800s that had wrecked during a storm on a rock called The Can Opener. The ship was on a mission to bring Queen Elizabeth salt from Salt Island. During the sinking, the locals from the island saved the crew and were awarded by being granted sovereignty over their island. Very interesting history there. Anyways, the wreck dive was spectacular. I was in a dive group that was efficient with their air, so we got around the whole ship. Being well preserved, we could make out things like the mast and parts of the cockpit. We saw a couple of rays and a turtle! I would highly recommend the dive. It was a weird feeling before and during the dive, knowing that it was our last dive and the trip was nearing an end. We had a blast with it, though. After both groups went, we ate dinner. My squeeze question was, “If you could be woken up anyway on Ocean Star, what/how would it be?” This was a good question because people have been woken up in so many interesting ways and in such interesting moods. There were great responses. One of the best was Sully’s. He said he would wake up to Kevin, who dragged him out of bed on deck because they were stuck. Suck in a sea of orange jello…My response was: I wanted to wake up to a flute playing Concerning Hobbits. When I awoke to the flute, I would be in the shire, but only for 10 minutes. Dinner was a success. After that, we motored over to Great Harbor Peter, the same place we were on day 2 when I was the first skipper…Wow, crazy memories. I reminisced with some friends about the ice-breaking conversations we had on that 2nd day. We just motored over there without sails since we had already dropped sails. To our luck, we sailed straight into a warm sunset accented by a silhouette of mountains. Once at GHP, we had a sailing class and then study time. I had a night watch at 1 am, so I just stayed up till then. I got a hammock set up and ready, then crashed in it right after watch. Nothing beats a boat hammock.
Today was a marker that the trip was nearing the end. It was a full day with little sleep. A day we will always remember. Our morning was filled with our final passage, which definitely was one for the books. Everyone loved it; we couldn’t stop scouting for shooting stars and pondering life. The teamwork was unbelievable. Comradery has definitely accumulated on this trip. The day wrapped up with a sunset that reminded me of a desktop background you would see on a computer for sale at Best Buy. S/Y Ocean Star. Forever…