Location: St. Eustatius
Huge boat, turtles, barracuda, 100 feet down, and a shark all before 10:00 AM? That equals an awesome dive of the Charlie Brown here in Statia! As the quick and efficient crew of Ocean Star, we were on the dock and ready to load up the charter boat bright and early. Once again, we had the open space of a dive boat as we cruised across the choppy seas to our dive location. After learning about the Charlie Brown, a 150-foot old cable laying ship that was sold to Statia for one dollar, we hopped in and descended down. The visibility was so good that despite the fact that the Starboard side of the ship was at 60feet, we could see it from the just below the surface. We immediately did a swim through of the old ship, swimming almost the entire length through a wide, but ominous corridor.
Towards the end, I saw the guide give the signal for shark, and I quickly swam out to see a Caribbean Reef Shark swimming toward the wreck from the ocean blue! I was super excited, and looking around at my companions, I could tell they were too. We moved around to the giant propellers at the back of the boat, then swam back along the top side of the Charlie Brown. Upon looking under one rail, we saw a huge barracuda, menacing-looking with its teeth peering out at us. Just a few moments later, a Hawksbill Sea Turtle swam in to say hello. So chill and at peace with the life that I had to move out of his way. We swam with him for a while and enjoyed the rest of the wreck before ascending back up the line for our three-minute safety stop. What a great morning! The rest of the day was spent being studious, we all worked on some MTE, and planned our fully student-led passage tomorrow for Saba. Not to be overstressed by schoolwork. However, we spent the evening along the beach, enjoying an excellent BBQ, bonfire, and beach games that Brandon created for his leadership activity. It was nice to spend the evening along the beach as we once again reveled at where we are, watching the sun go down on the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean.