Bravo 1 & Charlie 1 2015 – Day 7

written by Photography mate, Erin Wildermuth, Brought to you by the crew of Rioja

Today, it was too early for long goodbyes when the Charlie team boarded Galilee and Galilee’s Bravo participants were shuttled to Rioja and Fermi. The divers completed a myriad of courses including the Nitrox course, in which Avery particularly excelled.

While Team Charlie breathed various mixtures of man-made oxygen and nitrogen at the bottom of the ocean, Team Bravo were completing the longest and most complicated sail of their program. From the Bight to the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor is just under 30 kilometers of upwind sailing. In today’s heavy winds, this amounted to a four-hour sail with multiple tacks, a workout for those students who opted to share the duty of helmsman and heavy navigation needs.

Charlie – the person – was Rioja’s designated skipper of the day and he successfully dropped the ball at the Bight and organized the raising of the sails. Since it was such a long and challenging sail, Isabelle stepped in midway to organize lowering of sails and dock the boat.

The Charlie Team met up with Team Bravo at the docks via dive boat. As today was our re-provisioning day on docks, each boat was able to have any remaining leftovers of yumminess remaining on the boat in addition to our set lunch of macaroni and cheese with broccoli and tuna fish. It’s pretty clear, teenagers like peanut butter.

After lunch, it was Team Bravo’s turn to dive, while their Charlie cohorts were able to relax and visit the many small shops the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor has to offer. Adrianna, Jade, James and Nic all completed their open water diver certifications! They are still finalizing who will continue on with the advanced open water course and who will choose to fun dive for the rest of program. Adam, as one of our fun divers, snagged some amazing up-close underwater photos!

Docks have the advantage of hot, fresh water showers which student and staff alike were thankful for after seven days at sea. On Rioja, Jules and Parker gifted their peers with a freshly baked batch of brownies before turning in for the night.

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