Location: Barbados
Barbados hasn’t been too bad for us on Argo. Each day is action-packed with dives and activities, and today was another one of those days. To start the day off and most of the morning. It was absolutely chucking it down. But some lovely breakfast from Shane fuelled us up and we continued to go on our endeavours. Which, after a speedy clean up, consisted of the student divers going in for a morning dive where they actually went into the open ocean! From what I’ve heard, they had a great time, and Nini and Talia said it was a lot more comforting going diving today after having done it yesterday, so I believe it all went swimmingly… Anyways, whilst all the new divers were in the water having a ball, we already qualified divers cracked on with some bits and bobs. Kiki did some work and some cheeky games as well. Whilst Maddy and I were with the lovely Eli. (Unfortunately, not diving today) But all the better for us three to crack on with our research project! Exciting stuff, we basically spent about 3 hours testing a load of water samples. Truly thrilling. Meanwhile, Kara started on some Master’s practice but was shortly taken away by Darien to go and grab a coffee at the yacht club. After Eli, Maddy, and I finished up with our samples, we joined them and all ate some breakfast French toast all around!
It was impeccable, just this fluffy, full-of-sugar plate of food that is a luxury we miss. Before food arrived me and Eli had a quick game of cornhole in the pouring rain which was certainly a vibe. After smoking him (I lost), we all devoured our food and went back to Argo when we were joined by the divers. During all this, Isaac, the poor chap, was at the doctor’s due to his unfortunate ear infection, but I believe the doctor helped him out, and we all hope he has a speedy recovery so he can also get in the water. With everyone now reunited for lunch, we munched up and had a super speedy clean up, cause now it was time for the big dogs to go diving (us that are certified). We set up our kit and all got in to get going BUT just as Darien entered the water, her regulator started throwing a fit and couldn’t be stopped, so a quick change of regs and we were off. During this dive Kara and Darien were practicing peak performance buoyancy (PPB) whilst Kiki, Maddy and myself got to swim around the area. I was personally trying to perfect my underwater Os, which are certainly improving, and we all spent the rest of the time swimming about. After wrapping up PPB we head back to the boat as we were soon to leave the dock and head back out to a mooring ball in the bay. So we do just that, drop all our lines and motor out to the open water once again, and stop at a nearby mooring ball. Once threaded by the dream team of Kackie, Benny, Isaac, and Sylver, the lines
were through, and we were on. Water level support was provided by Nicole and Olympus, who helped out where we couldn’t reach. Finally, it was time to wind down. We all had a lovely ocean shower before an early dinner, followed by an exam from Ben. Thanks Ben! But after all that, everyone had plenty of time to do what they wanted and use it wisely. Whether sleeping like Cecily or doing some work like Nini – smart cookies. But overall, everyone had plenty of time to do whatever. Which made for a nice end to the day and the start of anchor watches. In a bit, blog readers! Side note to the Haydon’s – Love you all and miss you so much. Lexi, I hope you enjoyed my blog, and I’ll see you soon-ish. P.S. from Isaac: Happy Birthday, Mom!! Hope you’re having a wonderful day up in the snow!