Location: Princess Margaret Bay, Bequia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Waking up at 6:30 to my alarm, I had one thought on my mind. What song do I play to wake everyone up with? Well, I decided to start with “Follow the Sun” by Xavier Rudd for the Focsl’e (forward compartment), where Teagan, Amelia, and Kris were sleeping. Then for the rest of the crew sleeping in the main compartment, I decided to go with “Won’t let you down,” the restrung version by Hilltop Hoods. Both my choices were Australian artists but from different genres.
While all this was going on, the Galley Crew, comprising Graham and Marley, were already busy cooking up breakfast. Graham, as head chef, had decided to make us all bacon and egg muffins with cream cheese! Yum! Once breakfast was done and we had finished clean up, the crew jumped into an Oceanography lab with Sam, talking about and using different scientific equipment that they can use in their upcoming research projects. These included pieces of equipment for measuring the salinity of the water, the water clarity, and the microscopes to analyze (Marles is 12 years old) water content.
Next up was a class with Smash on Seamanship and navigation using charts for their Nav Master certification. The main focus of today’s class was DR’s or Dead Reckoning. Meanwhile, the Galley Crew had started on lunch which turned out to quesadillas with a fantastic salad and veggies. Once everyone was full, and clean-up was done, we went through some of the Knowledge Reviews for the Advanced Open Water certification. The area of focus was on Fish Identification for an upcoming dive where they will need to identify at least 5 fish within their buddy teams.
After this, the group moved on to have a lecture for Oceanography, and then everyone got ready to head over to the reef site known as Devil’s Table for some snorkeling. This allowed the research groups to collect data for their projects using some of the techniques learned just this morning.
Upon arrival back at OceanStar, one group showed off their backflipping skillz from the dinghy. Pictured is Teagan, Cleo, and Jaden. Then it was time for jump-in showers whilst the Galley Crew finished preparing an epic dinner of homemade fries and burgers! For our squeeze question at the end of the meal, I asked, “if you had your own boat, what type would it be, what would you call it, and the names of any dinghies?” The best response goes to Jaden as he wants to name one of his dinghies “Winnie, after Pooh” because he loves honey so much. The problem is, Sam and Smash heard him say, “Winnie. I have to poo.” Which caused them to be completely in hysterics for the rest of the squeeze.
Well, everyone, it’s been a blast, but I must go.
After Pooh.