Bravo 1, Charlie 1, Delta 1, Foxtrot 1, Sierra 1, Day 8: The Bight (Part 2) and the 4th of July!

Written By: Henry Joslin-Davis

Day 8

We woke up bright and early at 7am and got a breakfast buffet going. Cereal and bagels went fast, and we started the day well fed. Divers vying for their open water certifications left shortly afterwards at 8am to begin their confined water diving. The rest of the crew who weren’t divers met up for a spectacular snorkeling trip to the Indians. The Indians are one of the most beautiful snorkeling sights the BVI has to offer. A forrest of coral species such as  sea-whips, sea fans, and brain corals make up the neighborhoods for many fish species residing at the Indians. Sea-life spotted on our snorkel include: rainbow parrot fish, a school of blue tang, a foureye butterflyfish, a sea egg, and many sea urchins. But perhaps the greatest spots of the day were a turtle and a moray eel!

All snorkeled out, our divers rejoined us and we all reconvened back on the mooring ball at Norman Island for a filling lunch of pizza bagels. Then, the Open Water divers left again to continue their underwater training, and those already certified went for a fun dive at Black Forest Reef.

Those remaining onboard spent the afternoon enjoying water sports like tubing and wakeboarding, or small boat sailing aboard one of the Colgates. Anybody who didn’t want to participate in the water sports or small boat sailing enjoyed a relaxing afternoon on shore swimming, playing volleyball, or simply hanging out with other boats.

Then, around 5:30 everyone made it back to the boats for a quick boat shower before turning around and heading right back to shore for a special 4th of July dinner! Any and all food preferences were taken into account by the wonderful staff of the Pirates Bight. They payed out a stupendous array of burgers, hotdogs, grilled chicken, veggies burgers, mahi mahi, fresh fruit, french fries, and of course any condiment you could think of. After a very delicious meal there was an opportunity to order refreshing virgin piña coladas or daiquiris of various fruit favors like strawberry or mango. And for desert… ice cream bars!

The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the other boats company for the first time since getting out of quarantine, which everyone was excited about. Then around 9pm everyone was back to boats for a boat meeting and power down after a long but wonderful day.