Location: Roseau, Dominica
Today started out good as we woke up to Captain – shine bright, like Ben – Diamond making us a hearty breakfast of over-easy eggs with half baguettes. After clean-up, we started OCB. After class, our dive gear for the two dives is scheduled with Dive Dominica. The first was a wall dive. We descended slowly after giant-striding into the crystal clear waters. Then we dove down 60 feet along a coral wall, where we saw many awesome creatures and reef fish. That included an unidentified crab hiding inside of a Barrel Sponge; I pointed out to the rest. There were also multiple eels and a huge lionfish that got close to one of the shipmates to get a better look at him. The next dive was exciting as well.
We saw a lot of bubbles rising from the rocks from different tiny geothermal vents proving the volcanic origin of the island. Joe, our most experienced diver, said that in all his years of diving, he had never seen that many eels in one dive. Eels, flounder, and bubbles made for an awesome dive. After that, we headed back to the harbor and passed by multiple spots where the filming of Pirates of the Caribbean Two took place. We returned to Ocean Star to a delicious lunch of pasta and garlic bread cooked by Alex Mines, our crewmember always eager to help as a chef on Ocean Star. After lunch, a group of people, including me, stripped the caprails (of their old oil and stains from the heavy rains) to make them look good and protect them from the elements. It was definitely my favorite part of the day. It reminded me of waxing my car back home. We also went ashore for a little while for some nice and well-deserved shore time. Upon returning to Ocean Star, the crew showered, swam around and looked for the green flash. After everyone was fresh, we went ashore for a delicious meal of chicken, pork, fish, delicious bread, and an amazing toffee cake for dessert. After enjoying dinner and lingering at the restaurant for a while, we returned to Ocean Star to sleep under the stars again. I hope I will not be awoken by rain or roosters tonight. However, it’s the end of the rainy season, so the odds are I’ll be getting wet.