Today I awoke with many mixed emotions knowing that it was my last day in the British Virgin Islands but also that I would get to see my family soon. At breakfast we were treated to donuts the size of my face; it was hard to eat two of them. Today was our service work day, so after breakfast we headed to the Dive BVI office. We then had a short walk and a long snorkel to a shipwreck that had happened three weeks earlier. There, and on the beach after, I learned to work together and enjoy your time with your brothers. It was a very rocky terrain where the large remaining pieces of the boat were and Jeff and Casey needed a few people to haul in the barge we would load up the trash. Doc, Gordon, and I swam out and brought it in, then had to stabilize it while being thrashed into the rocks by massive waves, stung by fire coral all over the place, and having the floaters of the barge fall off from hitting the rocks itself. We first put the floaters back under the barge and stabilized it by tying it down and using the anchor. After this we began to form an assembly line, passive pieces down to be put on the barge. This was no easy task for those in the water because the waves often caused a loss of balance, which meant getting stung by fire coral that lied on the rocks below. However, we all worked together and got the task done in a couple of hours. Then were treated to gatorades provided by Jeff. After a lunch of a hot dog and fries, we were given time to shop before hours of free time which seemed to be endless. We were all playing frisbee together on the beach and the rule was that if you dropped an easy catch or made a bad throw you had to swim roughly 100 to a rock and then back. Let’s just say I made quite a few trips to the rock, but it didn’t matter because everybody was having fun bonding together. After showering up and putting on collared shirts and nice shorts, we headed to Mermaid’s for our farewell dinner. The food was dreamy. Each of us receiving a few ribs, chicken, rice and beans, macaroni and cheese, and coleslaw or salad. After eating what seemed to be an endless buffet of food, we all watched a video Casey had made from clips of the week. My big moment in the video came when a picture flashed on the screen of my sleeping face with my mouth wide open, I was out cold. A few people stood up to say thank you to everyone who made this trip possible and how it wouldn’t have been the same if it wasn’t with Dive BVI. Casey began to tear up and that made me realize my trip was quickly coming to an end, which mad me sad. My last night to the trip went exactly as it should have been, my three cabin mates and I sitting around a table talking while playing cards. I would like to thank my parents and the school as well as Dive BVI for allowing me to go on this trip, it was one to remember.
