Urgency overtakes our small boat when Aaron starts instructing Miguel and Vanessa where to drop anchor. Suddenly, the three of them all seem to be yelling, while the rest of us stare at them, open-mouthed. They move in unison, calling out commands I don’t understand, and gently our boat lurches to a stop. Waves rock us gently up and down.

We stopped seeing other boats about a half-hour ago. Now I can barely make out specks on the horizon, it’s just us and the open ocean. Millie will be happy to hear they really do deliver on their promise and get to the most remote reef entry points possible. As soon as the anchor is dropped, Aaron plops happily back into his chair, and Vanessa starts rolling up the sails, barking at everyone to start preparing for our first dive. Miguel has given me a very comprehensive briefing on the equipment, and I’m feeling infinitely more confident than I did when we set sail.

I go below deck to change, which turns into a flexibility challenge, given how little room I have in our cabin to wrangle my clothes off and my suit on. Hugh’s stuff isn’t on a bunk bed yet, and I wonder if he decided he would get more rest sleeping under the stars. I pop on my bikini, which is a collection of simple black triangles that cover me up as much as a bikini can. I wonder if I should have brought a one-piece instead, but as soon as I see Pippa and Natalie my worry fades. Pippa’s in a flowery bikini with a stylish square neck and high-waisted bottoms. I make a mental note to ask her where she got it. She’s also sporting a cute straw hat. Natalie’s in a strappy one-piece that criss-crosses across her chest and around her waist, pulling her in and pushing her up in all the right places. I stare at her, wondering how on earth she managed to get that on in the tiny cabins we have to change in.

‘She’s like Harry Houdini,’ I imagine quipping to Millie. I’m desperately trying to remember everything that happens so that I can tell her when I return, even jotting some notes down in the journal she left with me, but I already know I’ll forget things. I can’t wait to tell her Hugh Harris was on the boat. I don’t know if she’ll be mad or manically happy – probably both, and probably dependent on whether or not I spot the butterfly wrasse.