Location: Great Harbor Peter, Peter Island, BVI
Grey skies and a strong breeze greeted us this morning as we enjoyed breakfast. We then endeavored into the second lecture for our Research Dive specialty course, where we discussed the procedure for measuring the success of different types of corals with depth. Afterward, a recently certified diver, Noah, jumped in the dinghy with me and helped me set up the transect and quadrants we would utilize for the dive. Everyone had great success as their first dives with only their buddies to rely on, and some very insightful graphs revealed our hypothesized trends as expected branching corals were found most abundant in the shallow waters. In contrast, boulder-like coral dominated the deeper areas. We arrived back to the boat and had quesadillas and got into MTE in which we practiced tying a variety of knots and furthered our knowledge of O-star’s rigging and procedures for underway passage. During shower time, an old friend of Ocean Star’s stopped by, Deliverance. This boat is a local favorite as they bring candies, ice cream, sodas, ice, and smiles, among other things. The windsurfer was also assembled and taken out for a test run. Dinner clean up has commenced, and the students eagerly anticipate an evening learning about seamanship back in the day, according to the legendary Irving and Exy Johnson, as they ‘Round Cape Horn,’ which our dinghies are affectionately named after.