DAY 1: Today is the day we set sail. Our troop enjoyed a wonderful French toast breakfast. We then spent the next hour in the pool refreshing our scuba skills. The group packed up our stuff and loaded the vans to set out for the dock. The boat that I boarded on was called the Endeavor, and was sailed by Captain Kelly, and her husband led the other boat, Silent Harmony. Our first dive was at a site called Hens n’ Chicks, the coral site was named after the formation, which resembled a hen being followed by its chicks. Our depth for the dive was a round 25 feet. It had very low visibility and little marine activity. The second dive was at the same site and the outcome was no different. For dinner, Mr. Magnani, made us bratwurst and mac n’ cheese. For sleeping arrangements, I slept on the bow deck of the boat, while both Chris and Mr. Magnani and Chris Miller slept in the cockpit. Brian and Owen slept in the sleeping quarters below deck.

DAY 2: As the crew of the Endeavor slowly woke up we were all noticeably drowsy, due to the Bonnie we all had taken the previous night. For Breakfast, we had cereal, Pop Tarts and Fruit. The first dive sight was called Pickles after the cargo of a ship that was lost here. Our depth ranged from 6 feet to 30 feet. Visibility was perfect and tropical fish were in abundance. On the second dive the site was called “French”. Depth was 15-30 feet deep. One of our weights had fallen into a trench underneath the boat and was irretrievable. Some notable fish were eels as well as Balloon fish. The third dive was at a site named the “Benwood” after a ship that had sunken there. Our depth was 30-45 feet deep. The highlight of the dive was that Chris and I spotted a 7-foot long eel roaming about the deck. For dinner that night we had hamburgers with some mac n’ cheese. We then did a night dive on the same site and Chris and I spotted Goliath Grouper, which lucky for us, was asleep.

DAY 3: Waking up around 8:15 made our crew almost not have time for breakfast, but we enjoyed eggs with ham and pop tarts. Our first activity was a snorkeling adventure, in which we saw a ray as well as a nurse shark.  Our first dive site of the day was called “Conch Reef “at a depth of 10 to 30 feet. The highlights of the dive included seeing a nurse shark, ray and large sea Turtle. Our second dive at a site called  “Davy Crockers” at a depth of 20 to 40 feet, which was a big coarl head with fish in abundance. The last dive of the day was at a site called “Buddha”, at a depth of 25 feet, named after a memorial statue that was sunken their. A small fish named “Sparky” guards the statue and if your hand gets too close to the statue, he will nibble it.  That night, we docked on shore and had a great dinner at a nearby restaurant called “Chille-Willies” which had great food and fun games. We all had to sleep below deck to avoid getting eaten by all the bugs on shore.

DAY 4: Today was the one-day that we were all able to sleep in and it felt great. For breakfast we had sausages and pancakes. Everyone showered and we sailed back out to sea. We dove at site “Davis”, with a depth of 20 feet, which was over populated with small fish and Buddha, which the entire dive we spent messing with sparky the fish. The last day dive of the day was a site called “Rocky Top”, at a depth of 15 feet, which was similar to the others. Then on the boat when did something called “Fender Rodeo” which you jump in the water from the boat with a fender between your legs and see if you can balance it. Keith made it look easy but it was hard. That night we night dove at “Rocky Top” and spotted some big Hermit Crabs. It was so dark people tended to bunch up and people kept knocking other peoples regulators out of their mouths.

DAY 6: Today for breakfast, we enjoyed good tasting breakfast burritos and pop tarts. Today is the Fourth of July and our captain was acting very festive. Our first dive was at a site called “Aquarium”, at a depth of 20 feet, which had a big spotted eagle ray. The crew of my boat decided to skip the second dive to get some much-needed rest. The third dive of the day was at a site called “Grumpy Captain” at a shallow depth of 15 feet, which had some blow fish and an eel. We then came close to shore and went under a raising bridge to stop for the night and watch the fireworks.

DAY 7: Today is the last day of diving for the trip. We went back out to sea and dove the site pickles again, which had a very large sea turtle swimming around. The last dive of the day was at Hens n’ Chicks, which was murky as before, and Keith handed us our Seabase Badges to us underwater. We then hopped back on the boat, docked on shore, unloaded, took showers and loaded up the vans that brought us back to Seabase. That night, our troop took part in a competitive game of volleyball against a troop from Texas, in which we won. We all went to bed marking the end of a great trip.