Windjammer Journal
Day Four:
Wednesday, July 1 1998
Side Trip: Snorkel Safari
The boat for the Snorkel Safari was oddly familiar. I recognized it as the same boat which had picked up the scuba divers yesterdau on Nevis; and those same scuba tanks lined the middle of the boat, in between two benches. Soon I was back on open waters again, going farther out than this morning, and circling around beyond a rise of land to the left. We roared along the side of the island, passing an intriguing stretch of land which appeared to be no more than a boulevard of palm trees, joining two hills. We could see the hills grow rougher and steeper, grassy and open. I was surprised at how little populated this part of the island was, though it did not appear all that inhospitable. It was steep, but it was still ocean-front property.
Our first stop was shallow and rocky. Some buoys had already tied off, so we instructed to stay between these, and as far out as a few hundred yards to some rocks, upon which seagulls stood. Once again it was a bit of a shock drop into the water and see not the steady unbroken blue of a pool liner but a landscape of crusty rocks, tubes of coral and globes of brain coral, and small fish. I found myself surrounded by tiny fish, but they seemed more spooked than I: spasming as one to left or right, avoiding me better than I avoided them.
Once more in the boat we headed back the way we'd come for a short while. This next stop offered explorations of two shipwrecks. One was a tugboat which had run aground about twenty years ago. It was amazing how much wreckage was strewn about, from giant chunks of hull to scraps of metal sheeting.
The second shipwreck was around two hundred years old. All that remained was some deck planking and perhaps four encrusted cannon. Although the ocean floor was only around seven or eight feet away, I had great trouble diving down to get a good snapshot. The buoyancy of the salt water kept sending me back up.
On our way back we made a final stop. The water was deeper here but still clear. A few people saw a manta ray, a few others a sea turtle. I unfortunately did not. Austin jumped in to join us. He found a puffer fish under a boulder and showed it around. It had already defensively swelled up to the size of a melon. He dove back down to replace the creature, and I was amazed how long he stayed under, fitting the fish back under its boulder.
On my way back to the boat's ladder I encountered a jellyfish, calmly undulating nearby. I heroically tried to protect the other returning swimmers by shooing it away with a flippered foot (which also kept sending me further from the ladder) -- only to hear from Austin how the bigger jellyfish are the harmless ones.
Completed August 27 1998.
Designed for 800x600 viewing.
