Location: Salt Island to Sandy Spit, BVI
This morning, everyone woke up knowing it was going to be a great day. We had The Rhone dive and our last day of sailing. Some of us also worked on group projects and practiced navigation using real landmarks instead of our practice chart, which is off the coast of Rhode Island. I like the real thing much better. During breakfast, Brit told us the history of The Rhone Dive. It is a shipwreck that took place in the 1860s involving a huge cargo/passenger ship. It sunk during a hurricane, and to keep the passengers in order, they strapped them to their bunks (which we learned was very common back then). However, the dive was amazing. The first group saw an octopus, and the second group got to go through two parts of the wreck.
I will never forget the vibrant, almost electric blue color of the fish and coral surrounding us. The jellyfish added some excitement also, reminding me of the scene from Finding Nemo. Okay, so there weren’t hundreds of jellyfish, but there were about ten, and that was enough to excite me! After the dive, we sailed from Salt Island to Sandy Spit. We all mustered in the cockpit, ready to raise the sails for the last time. It was a bittersweet feeling knowing it would be the last time, but feel so accomplished knowing how far we had come since day one. We sailed wing on the wing on the run, which is a pretty advanced sail maneuver but also very fun. We definitely felt extra proud today to be the crew of Ocean Star. We are now anchored near all of the ActionQuest boats, and even though this isn’t my home, it feels oddly familiar and somewhat comforting to be back in the BVI. Four days are left, and we are all anxious to go home and tell stories to our friends and family about life on an 88-foot schooner, but at the same time, we want to live these last four days to the fullest. I can not wait to see what is in store as this trip comes to an end!