From the Valenza Trip Journal: Day 5

After another beautiful day in the Caribbean, the group is preparing to be rocked to sleep by the waves. Thinking back on the day, each crewmember had their favorite parts of the day... We woke up to delicious pancakes prepared by Logan and Peter and then motored over to Gustavia on St. Barths. Everyone sat on the bow and with "Big Joe's" help we learned the parts of the sails and boat terms. Once anchored in Gustavia, we set up our gear and dove on a wreck on the northeast side of Gros Ilets in Gustavia harbor. Emma loved it because she got to revisit the site where she did her first dive; she did Underwater Discoveries last summer. We then got the chance to relax in the sun and have lunch. After the tanks were filled, we all set off for another dive. The deep dive (80 feet) on Pain Du Sucre was a highlight for everyone. Sarah saw a tarpon and was fascinated by the school of tiny silverbacks. Natalie loved spotting the juvenile trunkfish, but Jordan, one of our dive instructors, was even more stoked about her rare find. Logan and Ben saw a huge lobster, and Joe, as usual, was all over the reef. On the ride back to the boat, Ellie had a great time flying over the waves in Jordan's dinghy. After the dive, Tiffany gave us a night diving lecture to prepare us for the upcoming dive. While the chefs cooked Alfredo, the rest of the boat had some much appreciated chill time. Trevor got comfortable in the boom, and Ben slept in the hammock while Maggie slept on the trampoline. Scott is our biggest fan of snack/nap time. Everyone was more than satisfied by dinner. After clean-up, we set up our tanks and headed out with glowsticks and lights for our second night dive which was on the wreck we dove in the morning. Miriam loved the dive, despite the somewhat challenging current. We did "out & back" reciprocal navigation before our tour of the wreck. We are all still in awe of the bioluminescence that is so cool to play with in the dark with the dive lights off. Everyone is looking forward to the day in town tomorrow and another awesome day of diving. Our quote of the day: "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards." Emma