Location: Young Island, St. Vincent
Today started out slow and easy for many on board, with an impromptu meditation and stretch session on deck for several students as they enjoyed the sunrise. Then the soothing tones of Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds could be heard up and down the corridor when the 0700 wakeup time rolled around. That was quickly followed by some upbeat Disney tunes as the chefs put the finishing touches on their crumb cake for breakfast. After a sunny breakfast of scrumptious crumb cake and yogurt, we hustled off to touch land for the SECOND time this trip in the form of getting covid tests. We got to walk through some grass and enjoy the feel of the grass beneath our feet. Several students commented on how nice it was to touch plants and see green things up close. We got our brains tickled in a timely manner, and then it was right back to Argo for some more Advanced Open Water diving. On the docket today was the Peak Performance Buoyancy dive. During this dive, we did a thorough weight check, fin pivots, practiced swimming through a hula hoop (the advanced version) and a large diamond (intermediate version), frog kicking, hovering, and several other buoyancy drills and games. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, despite a bit of a current and thus a cardio workout. It is so amazing to see how far these divers have come in just 18 days. Many of our students had never been diving before they arrived onboard Argo, and now they are swimming circles around me (literally – they referred to me as their trainer today, as if they were dogs or horses learning tricks).
For lunch, we had a hearty and homey minestrone soup, followed by the peak performance buoyancy dive for the other half of the group. After, the students had a seamanship class with Elle as they prepare for their International Crew certification exam that’s coming up. Refreshing ocean showers cooled everybody down before dinner, and we had a tasty meal of chicken a la vodka cooked by Riley and his chef team. After squeeze and cleanup, we had our first ID quiz in Marine Biology. Then bedtime for everyone! Expect the rotating anchor watch who keeps us safe for an hour each all through the nightanother fun, challenging, and beautiful day on Argo.
Pictured:
Morning stretch sesh with Una, Ezra, Elie, and Mac
Enjoying standing on stable group while we waited for our covid tests
Peak Performance Buoyancy fun! (Underwater photos from Trevor)