Foxtrot 1 & Sierra 1 Day 7: Snorkeling, Diving and Turtling!
July 1, 2016
Soxtrot’s day started with the Foxtrot program heading out to tag some turtles while Sierra went to Cistern Point for a project snorkel. The Foxtrot kids all got together on Moselle and went turtling for the morning. They unfortunately didn’t catch any turtles this time, but there were many sightings and will be plenty of opportunities to get them next time!
Sierra students laid out a 30 meter transact at Cistern Point and placed quadrants every 1 meter to analyze percent coral coverage. It was great to get the project data collection started! After snorkeling and turtling, everyone went to shore. Cooper Island is a favorite spot for campers, especially because of the smoothies! Students were thrilled to have another chance to grab some in all different flavors. Some students relaxed or played games on the beach while others took advantage of our standup paddle boards, kayaks and sailing on Opal Bella.
All of our fun divers anxiously awaited the arrival of our Sail Caribbean dive boat which they would be boarding to spend the rest of the afternoon diving. Everyone else went back to their home boats for lunch and to get ready to leave Cooper for the last time and head to Mountain Point.
During the sail, students learned about right of way on the water (“Rules of the Road”) and how to anchor their vessel. Several tacks were completed; a few were even timed to really test how skilled everyone is becoming! The fleet arrived at Mountain Point and began showers and dinner preparation. Our divers returned absolutely beaming about the dives they had just done and what they had seen. A few people saw a nurse shark and some saw a huge moray eel! Dinner was a delicious meal of Caribbean jerk chicken. Tomorrow is Bitter End day, so everyone conceded to hit the hay a little early knowing they had a very full day ahead of them. The boys on Spyglass set up their hammocks in the cockpit creating quite the fun maze to maneuver and everyone settled into bed for the night.
