Different strokes
In order to give my legs a day of rest from Thursday’s hike, I suggested to Rebecca that, instead of trying to go ashore yesterday, we do a bit of dinghy exploration. The spot where we’re anchored, Round Bay, is just outside of the marine park. Within view of our boat though are the numerous coves which make up the park area known as Hurricane Hole.
After making sure that our dinghy was sufficiently fueled up, we grabbed our snorkel gear, water bottles, portable depth sounder and handheld VHF radio. In addition to that, for a change I suggested that we bring along our handheld GPS unit. As we have all of the charts for the area already installed on that device, having it with us would allow us to properly determine which of the many bays that we were in at any one time.
For quite some time we followed the coastline, exploring the mangrove lined shores. We were both amazed at the clarity of the water in the Hurricane Hole bays. Most areas with that type of foliage tend to have silty water but here, when the sun was unobstructed by a cloud, we could see right to the bottom in 20 feet of water.
The bays are amazingly protected which explains why they are favored hiding spots during storms. Given that the park has control over the area, there are now numerous rules in place governing its usage. While the park has provided some free mooring balls designated for day usage only, spending the night on them is not permitted nor is there any anchoring allowed during normal weather. For boats that wish to use the bay as a safe haven when storms threaten, I understand that they need to book a spot in advance. Once in there, they are also forbidden to tie off to any rocks or trees along the shore, common practice for many boats hiding out in mangrove bays. The accepted method of securing the boat is, instead, to use substantial bow and stern anchors. Do people do this? From what we found, yes. We saw numerous little floats paralleling the shoreline in the bays and when we inspected them to see what they were attached to, we found lengths of huge chain with enormous shackles and swivels. I suspect that they would do the trick!
When we returned to ZTC, after having our fill of exploring and snorkeling, we were surprised at how much time had elapsed. Even more surprising was how much distance we had covered. According to the handheld GPS that we had running during our trip, we had travelled 10.3 miles!
We very much enjoy exploring like this and thus, having an utterly reliable planing dinghy is very important to us. To contrast this though, just prior to setting out on that trip, we stopped off at our neighbors’ boat, Aldeberon, which is run by a Polish couple, Chris and Goshia. They had their dinghy secured up on their bow, not being used. Instead of that, they told us that they have been using their two kayaks for transport and have at times, gone up to two months without ever using their dinghy. Different strokes, right?
After the post in 2011 on the perfect dinghy….Would you now make any other recommendations or go with a different kind?
No, not a thing. In fact, now that we have had our 9.9 tweaked to make it a 15, I would say that I am even more positive about my suggestions.
Wer are heading down to St. John next month and I feel it’s time to upgrade my Cannon D10. I want to go with the Cannon D20 or the GoPro black edition. We do a lot of sailing, snorkeling and kayaking. What camera do you use most for diving and hiking trips. Your opinion would help make up my mind.
Without question I would go with the D20. The GoPro is a specialty camera. It does not compare to a normal point and shoot. We use it 1% of the time and the Canon 99% of the time. If you’re going to purchase from Amazon, please consider using the links on our site to do so.
http://amzn.to/RQ9UR1
If you ignore that and choose to go the other way and get a GoPro, make sure you buy the separate Dive Housing (not the normal housing it comes with) if you plan to use it for underwater photography. These can both also be ordered from Amazon through our site.
I loved my D10. Served me well and took a lot of abuse. I like the go pro mounting
assessories and think it would be nice for the rail of the boat or on the kayak. The
hero 3 now has a flat lens on the housing for underwater shooting. But for an all around
point and shoot waterproof camera I think I will take your advice and go with the D20.
If it works as well as the D10 I will be very happy. I will be sure to use your site link.
Thanks for the advice on photoshop, my underwater shots look a lot better.
You’re welcome. The Canon will serve you well. I didn’t know about the hero having a flat lens. I will have to look into that, not that I’m planning on buying another one.
Hi Mike,
We missed you the day you headed into the USVI, we’re up in the BVI at the moment and would love to meet up with you if you are coming back up this way. We’ll be heading back to St. Thomas by the end of the week but otherwise are free agents. I’m assuming you can see my email from this posting but if not let me know where to send a PM and maybe our paths can cross?
Catherine
sv Mowzer.
We’ll be evading back to the BVIs tomorrow (Monday). You can call us on the VHF. We have it on channel 16 almost all the time we’re on board.
So I’m curious, seeing how active inclined and fit you are, would two kayaks be somewhat acceptable for you two (with a small, lightweight pvc dinghy and 2HP honda for those infrequent times when bulk transport is needed)?
What would you consider the glaring drawbacks to such an arrangement?
No, never. To me, that’s like comparing a bike and a car. While riding a bike around the neighborhood is fun and good exercise, a car is needed to travel to the city.