Location: Dominica
Day 14 aboard Argo began with a 7:30 breakfast, followed by my briefing of the crew on what the plan of attack was for the day. On paper, the day seemed pretty simple and laid back. At 9:00, the first batch of newly certified scuba divers would go out and dive until 1 pm, followed by a switch aboard Argo so us group 2 could go and dive. While one group would dive, the other group would get some shore time to explore and grab a bite to eat. Well, breakfast ran late for unforeseen reasons, and shore time got suspended until the heads were unclogged. So, as the first group arrived on the docks for diving at exactly 9:00, group 2 was well at work cleaning the ship. Group 1 started out at a popular dive spot known as “Witch’s Point.” We saw sea turtles, an octopus, brightly colored parrotfish, and other exotic species mostly found in the Caribbean. We surfaced and took a 45-minute surface interval until our next dive and then motored to a second spot named Soufriere. On this second dive, the coral was breathtaking. We saw similar species on the second dive, with the exception of a seahorse and two abnormally large frogfish, Dominica’s national fish. When we arrived back on Argo, the transition went smoothly. Group 1 went ashore, and Group 2 went diving. As the day drew to an end, the crew of Argo couldn’t help but smile ear to ear, while the anticipation of what was still to come only made us smile more.