Location: Slipway, Antigua
*Warning: Filled with sarcasm and some fictional aspects for comical effect*
Oh, the day we had on O Star today was quite the day. Today wake up was at 6 45 – which means I had to wake up even earlier, the struggles of being skipper – and we had breakfast at 7. Breakfast for the 2nd to last chef one was Sarah’s Famous Sconies with lemon sauce to top it with. After breakfast, everyone rushed to full fill their roles today – oh so enthusiastically, like always. A couple of us – me, Sarah, Alex, Rae, and Amanda – went on the first dinghy ride. We had a long dinghy ride, and so, being the prepared skipper I am, I brought myself an extra pair of clothes and a towel. However, I for once didn’t need them as this was the very, very first dinghy ride no one got wet on, and so we finally enjoyed a fast-paced dinghy ride to the dock. The first group then had time to go and sit at a cafe and order drinks while we waited. Once everyone arrived, we walked to the taxi, and we passed this insanely cool abandoned casino. The taxi was right on time, and then we were off to zip lining.
Now we have Isaac and Brett (aka Hawk), who are terrified of heights. However, we kept reminding them that if they’ve jumped off a 40-foot waterfall and have been cliff diving, they could do this. That seemed to help as they both did the first line no problem – pros at it. Until the 6th line, the recorded line, where things took a turn for the worse (not really). Isaac’s turn was up, and he jumped off the platform like a pro, but he began to slow down too soon, and he ended up sliding further from the landing platform. He went to turn himself around and pull himself back like a natural, but Alex then yelled, “Look down!”
Unfortunately, Isaac listened to Alex and froze from fear of the height. However, never fear as Brett – the other one afraid of heights – jumped off to save the day because he’s a certified rescue diver who knows exactly what to do. Brett reaches Isaac and is able to calm him down, but the tree below shakes, and a bird shoots out, causing Brett to look down and become parlayed with fear. Not sure why he went out in the first place, must be the hawk instincts in him and the need to save someone being a rescue diver and all. However, all is good as Brett is able to snap Isaac out of his trance. Isaac, now in rescue mode and having dealt with many wild animals on the trip, sighed and gave his best evil glare to the bird that was terrorizing Brett still. The bird squawked and quickly flew away. Isaac then was able to get Brett out of his own trance of fear, and they both pulled themselves to the next platform. The guides then told them that never would have happened had they organized the lads better.
Everything went smoothly after that, until the ropes course. Where the previous terrible duo, Alex and Sierra, struck again. I was concentrating on staying on the tight rope when Alex jumped on and began shaking and bouncing it as much as he could. And then, as we went further onto the course, Sierra joined in. My own thought was to get off the course, and since I was in front of them, I was able to exact some revenge by getting the guides to shake the last bridge for them excessively. Oh, sweet revenge.
After zipping, we headed back to the boat and had another fairly dry dinghy ride; some of us went for our last ocean swim to the beach close by. We then picked up anchor quickly because we are obviously sooo good at boat stuff now after 78 days, even with the anchors getting twisted – Sam quickly jumped in, like a good rescue diver, and untangled us, freeing us. Then we enjoyed our last sunset cruise, some spaghetti with chopsticks and icing, last docking, and some extremely pink strawberry cake.
To wrap up the night, the squeeze question was, what challenges do you give everyone for when they get back. Everyone gave really sappy and sentimental responses, and I just challenged everyone to go to the theater by themselves – I was expecting more random ones.
And that wraps up day 78 on Star Ship.