Location: English Harbour, Antigua
Another day began here in Antigua. The day began bright and early at seven am. A selection of bagels was available, along with some gluten-free options. Although some of the group was rather tired after long travel windows and the uncertainty of what the days to come were to hold. After our first meal of the day, we jumped right into a policy meeting where the expectations were laid to put us in a group setting. While this meeting definitely was not the highlight of the day, it was nice to understand the rules and why those had been put into place. Afterward, we jumped into a plethora of smaller meetings as well as our first-class onboard Ocean Star. Captain Hedrick was more than willing to get right into our seamanship class. He was quite animated in his explanations of various pieces of equipment and navigation charts. What could be more exciting? We continued to move along with our day getting into some PADI scuba diving classes. We watched an exhilarating video that showed the ins and outs of different pieces of equipment, hand signals to communicate, and some more safety information. This may not have been a hands-on part of the day, but everyone was very excited to get the ball moving on scuba. We continued to chug along, getting into swim tests. The dinghy was in the water and was used to shuttle crew members back and forth from the swim location-just around the bend to Galleon beach. All students that were able to participate passed with flying colors. So concludes another day here on Ocean Star. The group is excited to get the anchor up and set sail to our next location in the coming days.
(Picture one shows some excited group members cleaning after a meal. The next two images show our gorgeous vessel. Our certified divers chatting with Ash about scuba stories on the chart house roof. Some open water students watching the PADI videos. Brett arriving and taking his COVID test hiding from the rain with Amanda. )