St. Thomas, Part 2...

During my life, I have been to many places, seen all kinds of things, and experienced so many things that have given me such a wealth of memories.  And each time I go somewhere new, either with my wife or back in my military days, I often find myself sitting somewhere saying "How do you suppose a little boy from Zanesville ever ended up here."  Most of the time, I end up just shaking my head and sit back taking in the sights and smells.
Well, that was the way it was when I was sitting on the deck of a catamaran in the Caribbean, taking in the sights of the beautifully blue water, waiting for the captain to drop anchor so we could begin our snorkel adventure at Buck Island (well, actually, they do not drop anchor out there -- the coral on the bottom would be destroyed if they did that, so there are maybe a half-dozed permanent tie-offs that the boats tie off to while people are diving and swimming there.).

Neither Pam or I has ever done any of this before, let alone where we were.  I have a friend, Dave, who was an accomplished scuba diver, and used to repair swimming pools as a side job.  But this was all new to us and what a great adventure it was.

Pam picked up a couple of underwater cameras before we left Ohio, and we got some pretty cool pictures.  None of them are gallery quality, but it sure was fun seeing those little pencil-nosed fish right in front of my diving mask, and the sea turtles and sting rays swimming a few yards away from us. At one point, I was trying to focus the camera on a turtle on the bottom, and looked to my right and saw one (the one in this picture) that was swimming right up toward me, going up for air and actually swam right below my feet.  I was only about a foot from it (no pun intended). This turtle was called "Greenie" and is a regular here.  They say they can tell it is Greenie because of the little triangle on it's back.
We used the motor on the boat on the way to the island, but were able to sail back to the dock, a distance of about 15-20 miles, give or take.  That was so refreshing, just sailing along, no motor noises, just the sound of the wind in the sails, and, of course, the people on board having fun, eating and drinking and getting to know each other.  We met a very nice couple on the boat who come from  the Youngstown area.  They too were escaping Ohio's last blast of winter.  They had two teenage daughters, one who was getting ready to graduate from high school and one who was a junior.  The dad said this was kinda like their last vacation trip for a long time (tuition bills !!).  It was easy to meet people and talk to them.  And most of them, like us, had never done anything like this before. 


What a great time.  We were both tired after this day.  Lots of sun, and plenty of swimming.  Hadn't done anything like this for a long time, and forgot how tired you can get after swimming. 

The name of the boat was the "Cat."  One of the things they do while you are on the trip is offer you one of those fake tatoos (they use it for advertising).   Pam and I both got one, and then took these pictures.  We sent them to all of our relatives and neighbors.  Told them we had had too much rum on the ship, got these tatoos and signed on as ship's crew and would be out to sea for a couple of years.  Lots of reaction from the family and friends!!

I have always said I would never want to take a cruise, but that was on the big ocean liners.  This "Cat" trip was just my style.

Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than those you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the wind in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.      

Mark Twain

Hooah