Winter Ambassador (Day 6)

St. John, USVI

1/1/25

Written by students Aliyu, Daniel, Henry, Veda

Happy New Year!!!

Last night we set fishing lines, hand and rod. We caught five bluerunners, four snappers (two of which were keepers), as well as three jacks and a tarpon. We very nearly caught a shark, though it broke off at the very last second. We watched fireworks being set off on shore and drank kiddy champagne (aka sparkling juice). Several students learned how to gut fish from Capt. Terry, and we subsequently slept on a very fishy deck. 

This morning we woke late at 9:30 and enjoyed an incredible brunch by Jake. Afterwards we went ashore and hiked two miles to the Annaberg Plantation. There the staff kindly offered us Sorrel sweet tea and johnny cakes, as well as fresh sugarcane. We then took another long walk to a prime snorkeling site, and spent hours flippering around. We spotted two sea turtles, beautiful schools of fish, a white sea urchin, a queen parrot fish, and an incredibly shy octopus. We did not climb around on the rocks because that's against the rules. We respect rules. We then hiked back, and had sea showers upon our return. We jumped off and climbed back on the ship in odd ways until everyone was adequately salty, then enjoyed a great dinner of jerk chicken by Jake. Tonight we plan to do more fishing.

More pictures to come later!