EARLIES Day 4
Written by Mer M; Mate & Dive Instructor
Hi! This is your mate and scuba instructor Mer reporting from Beau Budd.
We had a spread-apart day today, with divers in different places, non-divers on their own adventures, and even some boats combining crews for a fun sail, but it was all so much fun!
We kicked off bright and early at 6:45 AM, with Skipper Landon leading the charge and Navigator Ellie keeping us on track for the day. A tasty breakfast buffet gave everyone the energy needed for what turned out to be an exciting and action-packed day. The weather started out cloudy while sailing, and we even had one squall pass through, but the rest of the day was sunny with a UV index of 6—classic island weather!
Our four Open Water students and two Advanced divers went ashore at Cooper Island with help from Mate Reece from FLX, where they met the dive staff and jumped into their training dives. The Open Water students spent the day learning essential dive skills and experienced breathing underwater for the first time! They were treated to sightings of an octopus, a baby turtle, starfish, and some moon jellies in the sea grass. After a productive morning, they took a well-deserved lunch break on the beach.
Meanwhile, the Advanced Open Water students stayed on the boat and completed three dives—fish ID, deep, and wreck. During their two-hour lunch break, they hung out on FLX with other students, relaxing and making new friends before heading out for their final dive of the day.
At 4 PM, the entire dive group was picked up by the awesome Sail Caribbean Divers staff at Cooper Island and taken to Great Harbour on Peter Island to reunite with the rest of the fleet, who had their own big day.
While the divers were off doing their thing, the DSDs and non-divers spent the morning exploring Cooper Island’s beach and resort shops. Later, they jumped into watersports like tubing and sailing on the Colgates. Because of the wind, the Colgates couldn’t go far at first, but later a group of students successfully sailed them from Cooper Island to Peter Island—braving two squalls on the 23ft monohulls!
Four students from Beau Budd teamed up with FLX and LGB for lunch, swimming, and lots of laughs in the clear blue waters of Machionee Bay. At 1 PM, our blended crew set sail downwind toward Great Harbour, Peter Island. With Skipper Landon at the helm, Navigator Ellie on course duty, and Mate Reece helping the team, we worked together to raise and drop sails, including during a big squall at the end of the passage. Everyone handled it like pros!
Once anchored in Great Harbour, we finally reunited as the full Beau Budd crew. After some much-needed showers, we sat down for a delicious dinner of burgers and ended the day with some relaxing bonding time on the bow.
P.S. A very special LGB member turned 12 today and had a delicious chocolate cake!
Happy, happy birthday Ryder!
To see more photos of our campers’ adventures in the BVI, download the Campanion App and follow us on Instagram @sailcaribbean.
