On Tuesday, one of the local guys had offered to give us a tour of the island in his mom's car. We waited on the beach at 11, when he said he'd meet us, and he never showed up. A little miffed at being stood up (or maybe he couldn't let his mom to lend him her brand new car...?) we sat on the beach and contemplated whether to nap, swim, or eat a smoothie as our first activity of the day.
As we sat there in our states of lethargy (and for Robyn and Danielle, states of hangovers induced by caribbean rum) enjoying the sun, we saw our buddy Ty walk by, so we shouted at him and asked what he was doing. He shrugged nothing and asked if we wanted to be taken out to a shipwreck to go snorkeling? We had our snorkel gear on hand and said of course. He needed to fuel up first, and we needed to fuel up on Smoothies, but 20 minutes later we were speeding and weaving through reefs on his little boat, with his buddy Ernie. We zoomed up the island about 12km and there, about 1km out from shore, was a big rusty heap.
Danielle was skeptical because she hates Groupers, those huge ugly fish with big lips. Completely harmless, but annoying, she says. I was skeptical because it was a big rusty heap, and we were so far out from shore. The water was really choppy and Ty said to keep our eyes out for a black buoy. We circled and circled again, looking for it. And after a few tries he said said we'd have to tie the boat to a rock. Now, as a seasoned boater (okay, well I've been on a boat at least) my sailor's instincts told me that tying a 15 foot boat to a rock under water in choppy weather is not a good idea. The water was completely clear and only 10 feet deep, and eventually I saw something that looked like a rope, about a foot beneath the water. We were still circling, trying to find the best rock to tie the boat to, but when I pointed out the rope I saw, that was anchored to the bottom, Ty dove down and got it. Apparently the buoy had come loose, but it was the right rope. I have a feeling my trained sailor's eyes finding that rope saved us from losing the boat.
Before hopping in the water I needed some reassurance. "Hey Ty, what's the protocol if we see a shark?"
"No sharks here." He said in his easy-going Creole way.
"Promise?!!!"
Ty, laughing: "Yeah, promise."
I hopped in the water, feeling slightly relieved.
It was the most beautiful, colorful, radiant place I've ever seen. Stretches and stretches of pristine, lively coral reefs. Hard to believe that below that choppy surface, and below the rusty tops of that shipwreck was a magnificent (and I don't usually use that word) world, so serene and calm and clear and blue. I spotted a little squid or cuttlefish with huge eyes who fluttered curiously around us. Ty pointed out an ugly barracuda moving past us, and beneath him, a huge sting-ray gliding along the sand. We saw a turtle dart away from us (I had no idea they were so fast! So fast I didn't have time to snap a picture) And eventually we were so far from the boat we had to make our way back after an hour and a half.
As we sat there in our states of lethargy (and for Robyn and Danielle, states of hangovers induced by caribbean rum) enjoying the sun, we saw our buddy Ty walk by, so we shouted at him and asked what he was doing. He shrugged nothing and asked if we wanted to be taken out to a shipwreck to go snorkeling? We had our snorkel gear on hand and said of course. He needed to fuel up first, and we needed to fuel up on Smoothies, but 20 minutes later we were speeding and weaving through reefs on his little boat, with his buddy Ernie. We zoomed up the island about 12km and there, about 1km out from shore, was a big rusty heap.
Danielle was skeptical because she hates Groupers, those huge ugly fish with big lips. Completely harmless, but annoying, she says. I was skeptical because it was a big rusty heap, and we were so far out from shore. The water was really choppy and Ty said to keep our eyes out for a black buoy. We circled and circled again, looking for it. And after a few tries he said said we'd have to tie the boat to a rock. Now, as a seasoned boater (okay, well I've been on a boat at least) my sailor's instincts told me that tying a 15 foot boat to a rock under water in choppy weather is not a good idea. The water was completely clear and only 10 feet deep, and eventually I saw something that looked like a rope, about a foot beneath the water. We were still circling, trying to find the best rock to tie the boat to, but when I pointed out the rope I saw, that was anchored to the bottom, Ty dove down and got it. Apparently the buoy had come loose, but it was the right rope. I have a feeling my trained sailor's eyes finding that rope saved us from losing the boat.
Before hopping in the water I needed some reassurance. "Hey Ty, what's the protocol if we see a shark?"
"No sharks here." He said in his easy-going Creole way.
"Promise?!!!"
Ty, laughing: "Yeah, promise."
I hopped in the water, feeling slightly relieved.
It was the most beautiful, colorful, radiant place I've ever seen. Stretches and stretches of pristine, lively coral reefs. Hard to believe that below that choppy surface, and below the rusty tops of that shipwreck was a magnificent (and I don't usually use that word) world, so serene and calm and clear and blue. I spotted a little squid or cuttlefish with huge eyes who fluttered curiously around us. Ty pointed out an ugly barracuda moving past us, and beneath him, a huge sting-ray gliding along the sand. We saw a turtle dart away from us (I had no idea they were so fast! So fast I didn't have time to snap a picture) And eventually we were so far from the boat we had to make our way back after an hour and a half.
We hopped out of the water and thanked Ty for sharing that beautiful place with us. He shrugged, grinning, and said "Yeah it's too bad I couldn't find the nurse shark I was looking for." "You promised there were no sharks!!"
"It was a NURSE shark! Harmless."
Having been so far from shore, and so far from the boat, in only 10 feet of water, and having been promised there were no sharks, I can only imagine the ensuing panic had he successfully found a nurse shark to show us, harmless or not.
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