Written by Katie P, Mate/Dive Instructor on Graytful
An early start for the crew today. Alarms went off at 6am to make sure we made it to Cooper Island in time for a full day of water sports action.
Breakfast was a buffet spread of bagels, yoghurt, frozen berries, and cereal. Tired faces all round, but everyone pulled together for pre-departure checks, and our skipper Emily did a fantastic job de-docking and taking the helm for the sail across.
There’s something special about an early morning passage. The sound of the waves, the boat coming alive beneath you, the gentle nudge it gives you to wake up. By the time we arrived, everyone was ready.
On Graytful, everyone is a certified diver, so we all piled into the dinghy and headed to shore. The fun divers went out on the boat for their dive, while Orly, Emily, Isla, and Arthur completed their very first ocean dives as Open Water students. A huge milestone. Elizabeth added her own highlight to the day with a Discover Scuba dive, getting her first ever look at the underwater world.
Back on the boat, Grant hosted a grilled cheese masterclass while the fun divers headed out for a second dive. Everyone else either chilled on deck or had a go at wakeboarding and tubing.
KP and Azra then ran a Fish ID lesson that turned into a Fish ID Pictionary. Teams battled it out to prove who’d really been paying attention. It was competitive. It was chaotic. It was brilliant.
Dinner was pasta and chicken, followed by a raucous game of Wavelength that had everyone making all sorts of noises trying to get the person in the hot seat to complete tasks around the boat.
We wrapped up with the daily boat clean, a chilled crew meeting to go over tomorrow’s plans, and an early night. Another big day of diving and water sports is waiting for us.
