Camera went on strike:(
Sorry everyone. Sadly our camera has gone on strike. 🙁 Perhaps it was feeling overworked the past few days? Hopefully pics like the following will be OK from now on.
We went to the beach.
We went snorkeling and saw some fish.
I know you are all wondering just how I got to be so multi-talented. I will just say that it is a tough cross to bear. 🙂
Seriously, we had a big day in the water yesterday. We left The Bight on Norman Island and made our way to The Indians, a fantastic snorkeling spot just off Pelican Island (see chart below to find these places, and the others I’ll mention). This is a popular stopping point for boats and there are convenient moorings surrounding the snorkel sight that you can pick up and use while there, We filmed a ton of video and after working hard, I was able to pare it down to a 9 min. clip. Once we acquire a decent internet connection I’ll do my best to upload it to YouTube.
From The Indians, we traveled to the far north-eastern anchorage on Peter Island, Deadman’s Bay. Our PDQ friends Eric and Bonnie, recommended that we stop there and do some snorkeling and we’re glad we did. The edge of the bay is largely sand and grass but when we swam around the point of the island, we found some great rocks, coral and fish. I honestly don’t think the pics and video that we have been taking come close to showing just how cool it is to be completely surrounded by hundreds of thousands of tiny fish. They were literally all around us!
Deadman’s Bay is said to often be a bit rolly but we had hoped that the predicted south-east winds might prevent that. Unfortunately that was not to be the case and at about 4:00 PM, we decided to move back down the island to Little Harbor to avoid the swell. The guide books warn that Little Harbor is deep in the center and because it is small, boats often anchor close to the shore and place two anchors out to avoid swinging. Well, we arrived there late enough that many of the prime spots were taken. So, with the constant attention of literally the entire sundowner-drinking anchorage, Rebecca and I set out to do another first, drop an anchor and then tie a stern line to shore. About the only thing we had going for us here was that the wind was almost non-exisistent. It was crowded though and after 2 botched attempts, we finally settled on a spot. Anchor one was dropped close to the only boat in the place who did not put a stern anchor out. I smiled and yelled to the concerned captain to relax, promising to move safely away from his boat. After backing away from our anchor, paying out rode, I jumped in the water and swam a line to shore, securing it to a large rock. Rebecca stayed on board, first paying out the rode and then winching it in tight to limit our swinging. This process was complicated further in my eyes by the four foot barracuda that seemed just a bit too interested in what I was doing!
All’s well that ends well though and our method worked sufficiently for the night. Our boat stayed put even as multiple rain squalls (with thunder and lightning) passed over us. If we were going to stay like this any longer though, which we aren’t, I would use some chain around that rock, or at least some chafe gear on the line. As it stands now I would be afraid that, given more time in this position, the line would chafe through. Next time.