Location: Deep Bay, Antigua
Hello everyone, and welcome to my last blog of Sea|mester fall 2025 on Argo! Just like with all of my previous blogs, I want to open with an update on our distance and location. After 84 days in our new home, we have gone 6296 nautical miles and made our way from Cape Town, South Africa, to Deep Bay, Antigua. As is usual, we woke up to a beautiful sunrise. Last night was the night of the hammocks, with almost half the crew sleeping on the bow. It was so crowded that Ben and I opted to sleep suspended off the bowsprit underneath the bow.
Once I climbed out of my waterside hammock, everyone was mustered for a quick breakfast before a full day of beach games and diving! After breakfast cleanup, we threw on our fins, masks, bathing suits, and grabbed all the balls we could find. Then we dove in and swam to the closest beach, seeing eels, nudibranchs, and at least three rays along the way. When we got to the beach, we started an entire morning of beach games. We started of with a classic game of beach volleyball volleys and some swimming and wrestling in the surf. Once everyone was ready for more structured games, we started some sharks and minnows, snorkel gear spinning relays, and most importantly, the hotly contested synchronized swimming contest.
After about 40 days of our second set of watch teams, everyone returned to their original watch teams to create the best synchronized swimming performance to their chosen song. Watch team 2, my watch team, chose moana and won with two tosses: a flip for Darien and a still pose for Talia, thron by Eli and I. After our structured games were over, we ran around the peninsula and checked out the other beaches we could get to. While some explored, five of us, including, of course, both Brits, stayed on the original beach for some quick games of football.
After another swim full of nudis and rays, we made it back to Argo and set up for lunch. Just as we were about to start, provisions arrived, so we quickly packed away our last new set of food, ate, and put together the dive kits. Once everyone was ready, we set off for another group swim, this time in dive gear, in the direction of a wreck in the middle of the bay. We got to explore the interesting shallow water wreck as a big group and look at all of the interesting coral and fish that have made that artificial reef their home.
After our dives, we wound down our time till dinner with an ocean shower and some free time. During their free time, everyone chooses anything from tanning to swimming to making bleach art. Sylver, Olympus, and I made shirts for the first round with Ben and Nicole rarring to go for tomorrows bleach party! Some students also chose to write their postcards to each other, a sad but exciting activity. Finally, we are ending our day with a viewing of Seaspiracy.
It has been such a fun exercise writing these blogs for everyone at home, and I cant believe how far weve come. I fondly remember our first day and our first blog in Cape Town, and now 80 days later, I am signing off with a mix of excitement for the future and sadness at what is winding to a close
-Kiki