13
Location: Sommer's Beach, Tortola
The morning began at around 7:00, which most people were happy about. Almost immediately, at 8:00, we set sail from Muskmelon Bay to the island Great Camano. Before we left, the girls from Quest joined us for our day of turtle tagging. The ride was smooth and didn’t last long at all. In fact it was the longest motor of the day. Once we got there it was time to get down to business. We grabbed all of our snorkel gear, hopped in Smoke and Scarface (Azul wasn’t here today), and hopped into the water of Lee Bay, hoping to find some turtles. It was very difficult to see anything, because when we went away from the rocks, the water was deep, but when we went close to the rocks we had to swivel back and forth to avoid hitting them. After a long time, the group that was in Smoke had already gone back empty-handed, and we were preparing to do the same. But on the way back Dara spotted something. It was a Hawksbill turtle and everyone was eager to catch it. Everyone was soon in the water, but I couldn’t go because earlier that day I had accidentally stepped on and broke my mask. The chase wasn’t that long, but it seemed to go on forever. The turtle was slippery, and whenever someone had their hands on it, it got away easily. It even started swimming directly under people so they couldn’t catch him. Eventually, Tarm was able to successfully hold onto the turtle and get him into the boat. We raced back quickly to the boat to examine him. It was really easy because the turtle had already been tagged. We took our measurements and returned him to where we found him short after. Soon after, we had lunch and set sail back for Guana Island. It was only a short break from the water, because before we knew it, we were back in. The reef was really beautiful, and full of jellyfish. After about an hour and a half, we gave up. We had to do a short motor across the bay to Sommer’s Bay, where there was a beach barbeque with ActionQuest. The dinghies weren’t able to get close to the beach so we had to jump out and carry our shirts above our heads. We all ate, hung out, and before we knew it, it was time to go back. Everyone who had spent the entire barbeque drying had to get back into the water again and climb into the boat. I enjoyed the showers, because it was dark and you couldn’t see anything. Everyone appears to be pretty exhausted after a busy day, and very ready to go to bed. I’m not sure they’re going to enjoy the early wake up tomorrow.