Location: Isle Fourchue, St. Barthélemy
It’s raining it pouring. Elle was snoring ( not actually.. she’s the best roomie ever).
The refreshing morning rain didn’t last long before it was another hot day in the Caribbean. Already toasty at 8 in the morning, Devi and I decided to put on our dive masks and jump in to scrub the side of the boat to keep us looking spiffy for when we went to watch the racers later on. While Devi and I scrubbed off milk, toothpaste, and other miscellaneous things from the side of the boat, the rest of the group cleaned up the deck of Ocean Star. After I scrubbed the boat, Will and Hunter taught me how to properly check oil/coolant in the engine, along with a few other things. I may not know how to fill the oil in my car, but don’t worry. I can now fill oil in a boat’s engine! We proceeded by hauling up both of our anchors and moved our boat to what seemed like the middle of the regatta! There were so many sailboats with bright-colored sails racing past us at significant speeds ( soon to be us). We admired the racers for a few hours as we continued to move toward our destination of Isle Fourche, a little Island off of St. Barts. Once at the island, some of us set up our SCUBA gear and hopped overboard to go check out the reef along the island. Lucy, Elle, and Olivia continued with their Christmas tree worm research during their scuba dive, and Peyton, Devi, and I swam on ahead where we frolicked with a friendly sea turtle, a stingray, and LOTS of BIG barracudas.
After returning to the boat, Steve went MISSING! Good thing Peyton, Devi, and I are rescue divers in training! (90 % of the way to being certified). Devi and Peyton quickly put back on their tanks and jumped in to search for Steve; they found him at the bottom of the anchor “unconscious.” Meanwhile, I set up the O2 tank on deck in preparation to give Steve oxygen. Ian M also panicked and jumped overboard when he realized Steve was missing. Hauling an unconscious person through the water while being attacked by a panicked person who is trying to crawl all over you and drown you is no EASY task. No worries, though. We saved both Steve and Ian M (don’t freak out. This was just a drill).
Dinner may have tricked many of us into thinking today was actually Thanksgiving. Steve and Elle went above and beyond with their chef duties and prepared a full-on feast!