Location: English Harbour, Antigua
The day started with a healthy breakfast and then OCB class. We were lucky to have class at the local hotel in Nelson’s Dockyard, which is one of the historical buildings. We sat around and drank coffee while learning about intertidal ecology. After class, we dinghied over to a nearby beach where we took a short, and when compared to some of the other hikes, we did a fairly easy walk. We hiked to the other side of the bay to enjoy the view. We could see the Pillars of Hercules from the top of the cliffs and also take a look at some of the intertidal communities we had talked about in class. After the hike, we had lunch and gathered at the dock, right outside of the boat. We were surprised by our instructors when they told us we were about to partake in SeaMester’s biannual Amazing Race. The race paired us up in even teams of two. We were to run and find places around the Dockyard with the help of hints that we found along the path. It even involved diving at some point to find one of the clues, which included using our knowledge from our Navigation Dive. After that, more members of our crew are officially certified as PADI Advanced Divers! Jenny and I won the race (no surprise (-; ), and we won a big bag of candy. After the race, we got ready for a special dinner at a local beach. We had a great time barbecuing tasty burgers and hotdogs. Overall, one of the best days of the trip.