Location: Marina Cay, British Virgin Islands
This morning started with a breakfast of Eggs, Baked Beans, and Homemade Bread Loaves from Ben! It was delicious. We then headed ashore to The Baths in Virgin Gorda. The Baths are a geological formation of rocks and caves, with beautiful clear water swim-throughs and pools connecting various sections of the maze-like structure. We explored the caves here, swam, cliff jumped, and hung out on the beach. There’s one big rock at the Baths that is hollow on the inside and can be accessed through a short dive down through some coral and up into the inside of the rock, which we call the Mermaid Pool because it reminds us of the cave in the show H2o. Nadia, Katherine, Jaxson, Zoe, Rhianna, Will, Chloe, Claire, and I all swam into it and then had an impromptu choir session. Because of the bell shape of the hollow inside of the rock, the sound vibrates and echoes like crazy inside. What started off as harmonizing every time descended into laughter or whale noises, hissing from Chloe, or a very unexpected throat singing from Jaxson. After our ears were ringing and ringing, we headed back to the beach and then back to the boat.
We moved over to a dive site called “The Aquarium” nearby, named for the many little fish that inhabit the reef and area. We had lunch there and got in the water shortly after for a dive! There was a strong current, which made the dive feel a bit like “an underwater treadmill simulator,” according to Robert, but it was nice to be back breathing underwater. After the dive, a few final students took the NavMaster exam, and we headed over to Marina Cay. After a lovely dinner of Lentil Curry from Ben, we had a squeeze where we found out what everyone’s anti-dream job would be – with answers ranging from Math Teacher to Human Resources, Daycare employee, and horse slaughterer alike. To end squeeze, we challenged ourselves to see how many people could fit inside Nick’s cabin – much to Nick’s dismay, it is 14. Photo evidence included. Then, we headed ashore to Scrub Island for a sign-out night. Students got snacks and drinks at the pool bar and had fun swimming in the various pools connected by a water slide. It was a nice change of pace from the boat and a chance to be on dry land.