Aboard the Morning Star

Unfortunately, we have had lousy weather so far – wind, clouds, rain. The first day aboard was my birthday. We were a bit delayed leaving because one guy’s bags didn’t arrive and he had to go shopping for a few things and get fitted for rental gear. Once we got going, we did manage to sneak in one dive on the south side of Grand Bahama before dinner. I was buddied with a guy named Niels from Toronto. We saw a few sharks and a turtle – not a bad start to the dive week. After diving, we managed to eat a proper dinner on deck, I even got a cupcake with a candle, and a round of “Happy Birthday” before the wind/rain got too out of hand. Shortly thereafter though, the majority of people went to bed. It ended up just being myself and an English guy named Martin up and enjoying Taylor’s (dive master) rum punch for hours after everyone else, except the crew who were driving us south to the Berry Islands overnight, had gone to bed.

I had read that the Blackbeard's trips are sort of like camping at sea... and they are. This is definitely not the same standard of liveaboard that I have been on before! It is very cramped and there is essentially no privacy. Just a curtain to separate your bunk from everyone else. Here is the layout of the boat. There is a reason they advertise themselves as Twice the Fun... Half the Cost!