5
Location: Cooper Island
Today we had an optional early wake up at 6 this morning. Right away we set sail towards Road Town in Tortola, the B.V.I. the capital city. Once anchored we went ashore in our faithful dingy Smoke. Most of the group went to a Mangrove site to monitor and plant Mangroves. Ricky, Torin, and myself stayed at the dock and helped the Rotary International group build and decorate their float. The float consisted of boat trailer with a plywood floor, PVC pipe frame and a painted gold hitch and was pulled by a white Nissan truck. Piled on top of the plywood were 6 3ft speakers, a DJ, coolers full of drinks, and boxes full of candy.
Once everything was all ready to roll, we managed to get the trailer stuck between a boat and a fence. Using every person we had available we pushed the boat out of the way giving us just enough room to squeeze through. Once in place our float was number 30 out of 45 to 50 floats. The parade was scheduled to start at 12 but ended up starting at 2. We waited in the scorching heat listening to the ear-blowing speakers. Once finally on our way we had people dancing in the streets behind the float and people on the float throwing candy and drinks to spectators. About halfway through the parade we had to leave the party behind and head back to our ship Catalinaville. But once back we pulled up the anchor right away and set sail to Copper Island. Finally we arrived around 7:30 and had a delightful dinner of pasta with biscuits which completed our 13 and a half hour nonstop day. After finishing dinner we were able to take our first fully fresh water shower. Giving us a refreshing surprise to end our day.