Just another lovely Monday

Today was our first full day of diving, three scheduled and kept dives.  I had hoped for an early morning dive, but that was not to be, sadly.  Oh well, there are more days in the dive trip ahead of us, so I can expect that have at least one or two sunrise dives.

I woke up to the smell of bacon in the air - always a good thing first thing in the morning!  Our breakfast buffet presented us with some scrambled eggs, done with a goat cheese and some tomatoes.  And good Irish cut steel oatmeal.  I have to see if there is any peanut butter on board!

Our first dive was at just before 10 am, we were guided by Philippa at Angelfish Rock.  Theoretically, we should have seen a number of angelfish there, and we did see some French angelfish and rock beauties.  Not nearly as many or as varied as I would have expected.  We also saw a spotted moray and a chain moray, adult and juvenile blue tang, a small number of flamingo tongues, and BIG bugs everywhere.  Taking just one would feed about half the guests onboard ship.  There was a lot of current, and we swam right into it, so we definitely worked off breakfast, and were on our way to working off lunch.

Dive 2 was at Wayne’s self professed favorite dive site from his first visit here: Indians.  We set out on a self guided tour of the rocks, giving wide berth to the larger group diving in front of us.  We were happy to be given that much leeway in setting up our dive, and we were treated to more flamingo tongues, syphyraena barracuda (what we would call a Heller’s barracuda in Hawaii), horned helmets, conch (although I later learned that conch and horned helmets are synonymous down here), scrawled cowfish, rock beauty angelfish, lizardfish, and glassy sweepers.  I even found a cleaner shrimp to give me a manicure!  

Our third dive of the day was sort of self guided; we followed significantly behind the larger group once again.  We saw many beautiful french angelfish, another chain moray, a ghost crab, several jellyfish, and lots of bugs.    And one unidentified nudibranch that actually was a sea slug (a lettuce sea slug to be precise).

Wayne wanted to do some kayaking between the first and second dive, but I begged off because of the amount of direct sunlight.  

As of the writing of this blog, I haven’t logged any of the first four dives yet since we arrived!  I will do so shortly.  We spent the night (with the super moon) outside Pirate’s Bight on Norman Island.  I have some great memories from our trip here in January 2010, and shared a photo of the site on Facebook with Fern, Maria and Tracy.  Happy days.

Even at only 3 dives today, the day seems so full.  We are really enjoying this trip with Matt and Jodi, and Cuan Law.  Her crew is really customer service oriented, at least thus far.

Good night all!

Off to the Cuan Law

Matt and Jodi took off this morning on a hike in search of donkeys - and wound up going back to Caneel Bay, where there were donkeys galore, and in flagrante delecto - providing an expert lesson in the birds and the bees to anyone in the neighboring area.  To hear the conversation from Matt and Jodi’s perspective was very, very amusing.  :)

We ferried past said donkeys on our way to Tortola from St. John.  One was just having the greatest time of all, rolling around on the grass.  So our trip to St. John was totally successful and complete by the decree of Jodi!

Once we made it to Tortola, we were taxied to the port of debarkation for our journey.  We were not the first on board, nor the last, and we were very pleased by our accommodations.  The rooms on the trimaran were far more spacious than expected, and we had the great pleasure of setting under sail in order to do our checkout dive at Randy’s Reef.  We were set free to do a self guided tour (alas, the nitrox compressor exploded a few weeks prior, so there was a limited supply of nitrox) to make sure that our gear was working properly, and that there were no immediate difficulties noticed.  I was glad that we had arrived in St. John a few days prior in order to be fully accommodated to the heat and humidity of the BVI.  

The name Cuan Law reflects owners and designers, Duncan and Annie Muirhead's Scottish heritage. "Cuan" is the Scottish-Gaelic word for ocean and "Law" means mountain. Cuan Law with her towering white sails appears to be a snowy mountaintop rising from the ocean. The Cuan Law was built in Canada and she and her sister ship Lammer Law in the Galapagos Islands are the world's largest sailing trimarans.  Unfortunately, the Lammer Law is no longer fitted for diving in the Galapagos, and Annie and Duncan “sold out” that boat to their partners.  Annie will let you know that there was no money forthcoming on that deal!!

We got to watch the crew unfurl the sails as we set out in the Caribbean.  The feeling of the wind on our faces and the sheer power of the vessel was magnificent.  Our checkout dive wasn’t necessarily overwhelming, but we managed to get through it without too much difficulty.  The soft coral was as plentiful as i remembered it being, and there were a ton of painted and bluebell tunicates.  

We had a little challenge getting back to the Cuan Law, as the map on the board was not quite accurate to our position, but nothing that a little surface swim couldn’t take care of.  Although we are disappointed that there is no night dive tonight, we are still off to a good start, judging by the fringed filefish and bluebell tunicates below.

Dinner was a beautiful sit down meal outdoors and the stern deck.  All of our meals will be outdoors!  If the self serve buffet and dinner service are any indication of how we will be fed on this trip, I would say we are going to be in very good hands for the next 6 days.

So, a chicken walks into a barbecue joint...

No, seriously, a chicken really walks into a barbecue joint!

I woke up this morning before 4 am, suffering from rotten dreams that were more than a little disturbing.  Wayne, on the other hand, managed to sleep well for the first time in quite a while.  I was expecting to see Jodi downstairs this morning to watch the sunrise; however, I managed to be a little surprised :)  She and Matt slept in much the same way Wayne and I did yesterday.  SO, my early morning text with useful information went unseen for over an hour!!!  

We did meet up finally at breakfast, and decided on the morning’s events.  The plan was to go to Cinnamon Bay, rent kayaks, and do some kayaking and snorkeling.  And we did just that, taking one of the open air taxis over the hills to go begin our adventure.

The kayaking trip wasn’t very long (I have to say that the maps here are a bit out of proportion to the actual size of St. John), but we were into the wind and current the entire time over.  It took us about 23 minutes to get to the landing beach, after which we started snorkeling.  We saw lots of goat fish, purple fan corals, snapper, and a small nurse shark!

From there, we went to the closer in beach, in search of turtles in the sea grass.  No luck with the sea turtles, but there were sting rays, lots of what appeared to be sardine like fish, diving pelicans, small angel and butterflyfish, and a very large fish of about 4 1/2 to 5 feet length, stalking around the little bait fish.  Oh, and two sting rays!  I still haven’t figured out the big fish, but I will.

The ride back to Cinnamon Beach was probably less than 15 minutes, as we had the wind behind our backs.  Not a bad deal, and we got in over 2 miles of kayaking.  Woo hoo!  We also did get in our 10,000 steps for the day, by the way, something that pleased me a lot.  We won’t get in very much walking on a live aboard!  Jodi’s main regret this morning is that she wasn’t able to find any donkeys at Cinnamon Beach, simply donkey poo.  But she has seen all her other critters, to include here quasi elusive bananaquit.

We got an open air taxi back to Cruz Bay, and we went to the barbecue restaurant (well, joint) above, which apparently is nameless.  The BBQ not only go thumbs up from Wayne and me, but also from our Texans.  Success!  But now how do I figure out a joke about the chicken walking into the BBQ joint???  That will haunt me for a while. ;)

From there, it was time to clean up and rest a little before responding to the Zajac happy hour challenge.  We were to meet on the lanai at the hotel at 3 pm (they were late), and to go out.  Once all assembled, we started at Lime Inn, having our typical Limin’ Coconut.  Jodi and I went in window shopping to a wonderful shop right off the bar, and returned to close out our tab (2 drinks a piece, half off).

From there it was to the Terrace.  We went up and had pupus (oysters on the half shell for us, baked clams with bacon and gruyere for them), and “catch and keep,” a variation of a rum drink.  The view was pleasant, the breeze cool, and the bartender friendly.  We told her we were planning on going over to the Beach Bar to see the sun set, but we were a little concerned by the revelry.  It turned out that today was the annual “Bar Wars,” where bar workers competed against each other for a trophy made of Heineken bottles and one Jose Cuervo bottle.  The proceeds from the event were going to a local charity, the Family Resource Center.  The Banana Bar team won, but they seemed to be blitzed!

From there we were advised to go to Joe’s, which had $3 happy hour drinks.  We made the wise choice here to have some more food while we waited for the sun to set.  At about 5:40, we paid our tab, went out to the beach, and waited for the sun to set.  It was a beauty.  Tomorrow night brings the full moon, can’t wait to see it from on the Cuan Law.

Dinner was at Da Livio Ristorante. We all had oven fired pizza for dinner, swapping slices.  It was all fantastic, although I think we had just too much food.  Now that I am (well, Wayne and I are) in a food coma, we have adjourned to our room to read, write, and finish up preparations for our departure tomorrow.  I think tomorrow morning needs to bring at least a 3 mile walk before breakfast.  We shall see how hubby takes that news.  No worries if I need to do it solo, but it’s always nice to have company.

Night, all!

Happy bunny birthday!

Woke up this morning in the lovely Cruz Bay Boutique Hotel to see the news that Hurricane Iselle has pretty much spared Oahu, but the Big Island has a lot of flooding.  And there are still flood watches on Oahu, not to mention the other islands.  We are waiting to see what happens with Julio, which is now a Category 3 hurricane currently looking like it will be heading north of the islands.  Volcano, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea seemed to take some of the wind out the sails of Iselle, which was reduced to tropical storm level by the time it hit Hilo and Kona.

That doesn’t mean it wasn’t bad, it just means it was less than expected.  Yay!

Today was Wayne’s birthday, and we were originally going to get up before the sunrise to go hike a little bit and then come back for breakfast.  Well, he got up before the sun rose, and I continued to sleep.  I woke up briefly, just as he was beginning to fall back asleep.  We did not get up until about 6:30 am, far later than we had expected.  Oh well, sleeping in on vacation is a good thing.

We joined Matt and Jodi for our continental breakfast at close to 7:30, and then we geared up for the day.  First stop was the post office, where we mailed back a lot of unnecessary clothing.  Our bags are significantly lighter. 

From there we went to the National Park Visitor Center (fully 2/3 of St. John is a national park), where we got some options for hiking today.  The Park Ranger was really pushing an easy, exposed hike on the far side of the island (you get there by bus), but the word exposed sort of made me think it wasn’t a hike for mid to late morning.  Instead we headed out on the Lind Point trail, touted as a 1.1 mile trail connecting Cruz Bay with Honeymoon Beach at Caneel Bay.  Ostensibly, there was a scenic overlook at slightly less than 1/2 mile (obscured by overgrowth), and then down to Salomon beach.  From there we continued on the trail to Honeymoon beach, winding up at the Caneel Bay resort.  Allow me to say that the trail was slightly rocky, and there was a nearly 200 foot change in elevation, and there were cacti along the trail.  Just guess how I figured that one out.  We got to see deer, deer spoor, what may have been donkey spoor, and lots of lizards and loud birds.  While we were on route, my phone picked up the cell signal from the British Virgin Islands.  Looks like we can activate those SIM cards that we bought from Mr. Sim Card (online, of course).  I will tell you during the course of the next week whether it was a worthwhile investment or not.  We took a brief break at the resort, and then headed out towards the Caneel Hill and Caneel Hill Spur Trails.  In combination, those were about 2.2 miles long.  The Ranger trail guide listed the Caneel Hill Trail at 2.4 miles, and the Caneel Hill Spur Trail (which joins the Caneel Hill trail at about the 1/2 mile marker) as .8 miles.  We had a roughly 850 foot change in elevation, a lot of rocks, and steep ups and downs.  The views, again, when we reached them were spectacular, but it was HOT!!  We ran into two couples from Texas, one of which live very close to Matt and Jodi.  We had experienced a few sprinkles during the hike up, but as we looked out over the other Virgin Islands, we saw a squall coming our way, obscuring islands one at a time.

I will say that we got wet. Very wet.  And the trail got slick.  Wayne spent the better part of 1.5 miles being my brace as we walked down the hill.

Post rain and hike (which overall was between 5 and 5 1/2 miles), we went back and cleaned up and headed to Woody’s for lunch.  Conch fritters, and lots of other goodies abounded, but the menu itself was more than a little overwhelming.  

Shortly after lunch, Matt & Jodi went out shopping (and reserved stools for happy hour) and we went back to rest.  Wayne (power) napped for over an hour, and I read, catching up on email and other things.  

When birthday bunny was recovered sufficiently, we went to join Jodi & Matt at Lime Inn for happy hour - another set of yummy limein’ coconut drinks with oysters on the half shell.  As happy hour ended, we headed over to the Fish Trap (literally a fish market that supplies most of the fish to other restaurants on the island, as well as a restaurant), where we had more lovely, fresh seafood for dinner.  The staff brought out a slice of birthday cake and a candle for Wayne, and then we headed back.  On our way home, we heard familiar night sounds, reminiscent of Palau.  It sounded like a bunch of fruit bats (although not quite so many as Palau) having a good time.

Both sets of couples opted to not walk any further today, having reached a significant number of steps during the day today!

We shall see what the knee and ankle bring in the morning, but I think tomorrow may be a kayaking day for the Batzers.

Good night to all!  And happy birthday to Wayne!

Over the river and through the woods to St. John USVI we go

It was a fairly early morning today - up at 4:30, check in at the airport (well, check bags), hop to Newark, and the travel from Newark to St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.  We’ve been planning this trip for over a year now, expecting that it would be the only trip that I could take this summer.

We are very much looking forward to going on the Cuan Law this coming Sunday, and having the opportunity to fully unpack our bags (after mailing clothing no longer necessary back home) for 6-7 days.  Living out of a suitcase 2-3 days at a time is ok, but it does get tedious.

The flights were uneventful, and unlike last time, my dive gear made it here in one piece.  Which is good since our regulators are in our dive gear bags.

From the airport, we took a taxi with 8 other people across the island of St. Thomas towards the ferry to St. John.  We had to stop at a resort on the way, so we didn’t make the 2 pm ferry.  We did, however, make the 3 pm ferry, and were at our B&B by 3:30 pm.  Denise, our hostess, greeted us, got us signed in, and took us to our room (after carrying up my dive gear!).  We were given two drink tickets for the Lime Inn, so we freshened up, unpacked moderately, and headed out.  Let me just say yum.  We had a lime/coconut/rum concoction that was deceptively light, along with oysters on the half shell.  A mere whetting of the appetite, we needed to stay hungry because Jodi and Matt were on their way (hoping to catch the 5 pm ferry), and Jodi conveyed Matt was really hungry.  So was I.

We reviewed our dinner options, and then saw the menu special at Lime Inn.  Lime Inn it was!  Denise also gave us pointers on good hikes and snorkeling sites around the island.  Could be a good day!  Or three!

We discovered that we will be taking a ferry from a different location when we head to Tortola, so Wayne and I explored that while waiting to meet Jodi & Matt, who caught the 6 pm ferry as the 5 pm lifted its gates just as they arrived at the port.  We headed back to the waiting area, and saw the ferry as it pulled in.  It wasn’t too hard to see Matt and Jodi as they arrived, so we met them and brought them back to our lovely B&B.  We each have a fairly large room with balcony, but on different floors.

Dinner was indeed at the Lime Inn - just look at the menu, can you blame me?  Very, very satisfying.  Jodi conveyed during dinner that the Cuan Law’s nitrox system is down, and it doesn’t look like parts are on the way any time soon, so we will be diving air, and probably fewer than five dives per day (Wayne’s favorite pattern - mine too - when on a live aboard).

A small stroll after dinner helped me to make it to the obligatory 10,000 steps per day, and then we headed back to the hotel to clean up, let me blog, and go to bed.

A very successful day.