Location: Green Island, Antigua
Today, our first day outside the confines of English Harbor, we motored to an anchorage inside the reef of Green Island, which lies just off the coast of Antigua. After Captain Steve navigated out of the narrow entrance of English Harbor, he handed the helm of Argo over to the students, Becca, Mark, and Jack, to steer us on the two-hour passage to Green Island. Almost as soon as we cleared the harbor, we encountered the first of many rain squalls we would encounter during the day, and with the increased winds and waves, there was a noticeable change in the mood of the crew as stomachs began to turn. Despite a few donations of today’s breakfast back to the sea, we made it through the treacherous channel through the reef to Green Islands anchorage. As we began to enter the channel, visibility was reduced by another approaching squall, and Captain Steve decided not to risk the boat and crew by entering under less than ideal conditions. After jogging into the wind while the storm passed, we made our way through the winding channel, and Captain Steve’s precautions were proven valid as we passed a smaller sailboat wrecked on the reef. Once anchored, the majority of the students took the dingy into the beach for diving lessons. After the lessons, we enjoyed another great dinner. After dinner, we had our first class of the trip, which was Oceanography.