Bravo 2, Charlie 2, Foxtrot 2 & Sierra 2, Day 10: Turtling at Dead Man's

Written by Melissa Pollard

Edited by Meredith Evridge

This morning, we were lucky enough to sleep in until 7:30am! And then…all the fun began again. A delicious breakfast of French toast was cooked up to fuel the crew for a full day in the Caribbean sun and seas. After breakfast, we said goodbye to the clear waters of Lee Bay on Great Camanoe, and up-anchored to raise our sails for a breezy downwind sail towards Dead Man’s Bay on Peter Island! On the sail, our crew learned about the right of way rules between boats, and continued to work on the sailing maneuvers that are starting to become second nature to them. One boat was lucky enough to have a dolphin swim up to their boat while sailing!

Once anchored at Dead Man’s, it was time for a well deserved lunch of couscous salad. After all tummies were full, our rescue divers went to complete their final skills tests for their course. All that is left before they’re officially rescue certified is a written test! Our Dive Master in Training also went with the rescue divers as part of his course. The remainder of the crew went onto Parsifal (one of the Foxtrot boats) to have a turtle session! This turtle tagging session, we had some guests from the local YEP program (Youth Empowerment Program) join us and learn from our students and staff the importance of the data we are collecting. To everyone’s delight, two turtles were caught! They were both juvenile turtles, and had not been caught before so we tagged both of them and took measurements of their width, length and head. While this was being documented, photos were also taken and logged for future reference. All students were quiet and calm so the turtles didn’t feel uncomfortable. After just a short time out of the water, both turtles were both happily released back into the bay.

Once the turtling was over, our divers came back and it was time for boat showers and dinner prep. A healthy helping of sloppy joes was dished up, and then the students booked for the night dive headed out. Upon their return, we ended our full day with a boat meeting. We sat on the bow looking up at the stars…and down at our Oreos.