Location: Antigua
Today started better than any day yet because, on shore, I got to get tea, which makes the mornings much more enjoyable. Had a great breakfast and started getting ready for the first open water dive, so great to not be in 2 meters of silty sandy water. I had an awesome dive with some simple skills, which everyone thought was great. Once the group was done with that we came back to the boat surprised to see the sails for the first time, the certified divers had removed them, shows progress towards sailing!! I had a great chicken fajita lunch, thanks, Ben, and then did the daily cleanup run around, lots of people running into and squeezing by each other. Shortly after lunch, we gathered in the cockpit for a great sunburn session, waiting to do our safety drills, man overboard, and fire drills. Throughout the entirety of watching Ben rescue Jay, there were lots of laughs and great pictures being taken. Mac then got the firehose out, and we all got to spray it off the stern of the boat, not without several people getting soaked. I learned a valuable lesson not to look down the hose when Mac is switching pumps; I didnt lose my sunglasses, though! Once that excitement was over, we were walked through the basics of tying lines off and our general roles for tomorrow, our first passage. I had a great dinner of spaghetti bolognese with some slightly sticky noodles. It was great anyway. The music and post-dinner cleaning started with plenty of singing to go along. Mom, I hope Lyla is doing well. Thanks for the smarties!