Location: Salt Island BVI
Hi blog readers 🙂 Today started in an extra special way with birthday songs for Nora’s birthday; everyone sends happy wishes her way! Then, as always, we had an *incredible* breakfast with the morning specialty consisting of chia pudding with granola, Nutella, peanut butter, and lots of fruit. After breakfast and jobs, those of us working towards our Advanced Open Water certification listened to a briefing for our first deep dive. This meant learning how colors fade underwater, how our wetsuits would feel denser, and other safety things to be aware of. Next, the dinghies were loaded with kits, personal dive gear, and students, and we were on our way.
We did our deep dive at the wreck of the RMS (Royal Mail Service) Rhone and reached 80+ feet! One dive group even saw a shark (though they somehow didn’t see the wreck of the rather large boat…but hey, at least they got something!). After our deep dive, which marked our “low” altitude for the day, we were treated to a lunch of chicken curry that we all ate in the salon due to impending rain before another briefing for our AOW wreck dive. The wreck dive was done at the same site, and we learned all about the history of the ship, such as how there is a lucky porthole- it didn’t break when the ship sunk- that divers will rub for good fortune. Over the course of today’s two dives, we saw pufferfish, parrotfish, lots of fun coral, and many other marine animals, the names of which I am still learning.
After the wreck dive, we quickly took apart our dive gear since that was our last AOW dive (!!!), and we had to stow everything for passage soon. Once it was all properly washed, we loaded back into the dinghy for a trip on shore for a quick hike on Salt Island, getting to our “high” altitude for today. There, we saw tons of hermit crabs (let it be known that Joey’s hermit crab won the race), some goats, different birds, and we were able to get a beautiful view of Vela from shore. After some well-deserved free time spent wandering the island, we returned to Vela for a dinner of black bean burgers with Nora’s birthday cake for dessert. The day finished with lots of (slightly off-pitch) singing and dishwashing, storing the SCUBA gear for passage, and beginning some work for our first Leadership paper that is due right before we leave for the Atlantic crossing.
Sending so much love to MA, VA, NY, and AUS <3