Location: Galleon Beach, Antigua
Howdy, folks, this is Gavin, and I’ll be updating you on our amazing journey today. We started the day around seven today per usual and had some delicious breakfast burritos/tacos made by our head chef for the day, Amanda. After finishing cleaning up from breakfast, those on the boat who are working to obtain their open water certifications (Kat, Cameron, Rohan, Aidan, Ripley, Evan, Taylor) start grinding out their confined dives. Kacy also joined to help guide them as she works towards her divemaster certification. A group of us that are already certified–Q, Lauren, Elling, Toby, and I–decided to go on this awesome hike to the tallest point in the area we’re anchored in. Before the hike, Lauren led us in some yoga, which we were all grateful for because the hike up was insanely steep, and at some points, it felt more like climbing than hiking, but the view we got of the bay made all of the sweat and tears worth it. There was also a local bar where we got a local drink called Tings, a carbonated grapefruit juice, and Toby even got a delicious-looking smoothie.
On our way back, we decided to take a long way back so we could stop by the Mermaid Pools that we visited yesterday and cool off. The path we took to the mermaid pools had even more breathtaking views, and we all agreed once we got back to the dock to get picked up by the dingy. The only downside is that we were told that there would be goats on the hike, but we didn’t see a SINGLE goat :(. When we got back to the dock, where they were also working on their confined dives, we found out the craziest thing. They saw not only a green sea turtle but also an octopus and squid. On a confined dive!!!! We then had lunch, and we used to eat all the leftovers that had been starting the build-up over the last four days. After that, we had our oceanography course as well as practiced some seamanship skills like tying different knots and learning how to sweat and tailing. We then took a snorkel trip to a nearby shipwreck, and on the way, I saw an eel! We also saw plenty of other types of fish, all very colorful and cool, as well as a good number of green sea turtles who were snacking on the seagrass. By the time we got back to Ocean Star, Joey–our final crewmate–arrived. We took the opportunity to show off our newly learned front and back flip skills (thanks, Steph) to him. Since he came late, he had to complete his swim test, but some of the crew decided to do it with him in solidarity. We are all very excited to start to get to know Joey and fully incorporate him into our crew. We took the time before dinner to just chill out and relax. Dinner was some delicious pulled pork, kale salad, sweet potatoes with spicy mayo for choice as sauce, and tofu for those of us who are vegetarian. I’m writing this blog with still plenty of time left in the day, but I’m sure we will have our nightly story time and just overall hang-out time.
My question of the day that I posed for the crew, and now for you guys back at home, was: If you could bring back one dead celebrity/historical figure for one day to hang out with, who would you bring back.