From the Valenza Trip Journal:

Day 10

Today was quite eventful. We woke up particularly early due to our scheduled sail to Saba. At around 7:30 we began our voyage to Saba, making a quick stop in Anse Marcel, St. Maarten for water and gas. We finally embarked upon our journey as the main sail was hoisted by 9:00. Our sail was extremely long, but totally worth it. The water was a beautiful blue and the waves dazzled the sea. The sun was shining in the sky like a phoenix. What more could we ask for? It was an absolute perfect day. After about six hours of sailing among the Leeward Islands, Saba appeared into the horizon. Saba seems like a gigantic stone that perches above the water. It sticks out of the water so high that a portion of it remains in the clouds. Everyone sat on the bow in awe of this outstanding island. It became very apparent that the diving was going to magnificent. Joe, the skipper of the Valenza, tied our boat to a mooring, which fully concluded our sail to Saba. Scott and Joe brought the main sail down while Ben and Sarah rolled up the jib. We were ready for our first dive in Saba! Jordan and Tiffany gave us the dive plan and other information regarding the dive site. The entire crew was very anxious to dive. We geared up as quickly as we could and jumped into the water. Steve, the underwater photographer, immediately spotted a nurse shark as we descended deep into our dive. Fortunately, nurse sharks are very friendly and do not pose a threat to scuba divers. Sarah, who had once been petrified of all sharks, was now mesmerized by the beauty of this creature. Soon after, a little turtle bumped into Natalie's mask, which was surprising at first, but even more exciting. Then, Peter spotted a moray eel with its mouth wide open. It was a spectacular sight! At the end of the dive, Logan helped put away the tanks with Trevor. Once our equipment was put away, all of had about an hour of chill time before dinner. Ellie, Miriam and Joe watched the sun set and Peter, Ben and Sarah reflected upon the trip. Finally dinner was served around 7:00, which was beautifully prepared by Trevor, Logan, Sarah and Scott. After we devoured our dinner like a pack of wolves, we suited up for the night dive. Before we entered the water, Jordan noticed that there was a tarpon swimming near the port side of the boat. Some of us were a little scared, but we knew what an awesome experience it would be. Each diver jumped into the water, filled with excitement. Then we noticed there were a few box jellyfish on the surface, nasty little creatures that were only put on this planet to ruin night dives. Natalie got stung on each of her ankles and decided to head out before they started the dive. Maggie also got stung, but decided to stay in. When we reached the bottom we practiced our underwater navigation skills at night. All of us passed this skill, which was quite satisfying. For the rest of the dive we swam around with our instructors and buddies, observing underwater life at night. Jordan pointed out a big, red crab that stood among one of Saba's finest reefs. The entire night dive was one great success until we reached the surface again where we had a few more problems with the box jellyfish. Aside from the jellyfish incident, today was just another great day in paradise.