usvi-on-line
Oh what a (fort)night! October 2011 Trip Report Part IX
Oh what a (fort)night! October 2011 Trip Report Part IX
Link to Part I: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21721
Link to Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21727
Link to Part III: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21748
Link to Part IV: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21762
Link to Part V: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21283
Link to Part VI: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=21974
Link to Part VII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22574
Link to Part VIII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22575
Friday, October 14
Woke up to a cloudy and somewhat breezy morning. Leslie and I headed out by ourselves (giving Barb and Chet another shot at some alone time). On the way we stopped in town to visit our favorite store and to see the island's newest celebrity!
After visiting with Curly, Ruth, and Ron, we stopped by Cruz Bay Watersports to see if they had any lionfish markers since we'd already deployed the stash of them that were at the villa, but with no luck. We made a note to make up a supply of them before the next trip.
I had surmised that one of the spots least likely to be negatively impacted by the prevailing winds would be Francis Bay, so off we went!
We took the trail, which leads to the right end of the beach, found a spot to put our bag and towels (we were virtually alone!), got in the water. and slowly headed in the direction of Mary Point.
As usual, the life here was diverse and abundant, both below and above water.
We took our time (while we were out we had a couple of groups pass us, then come by us again as they were heading back in) and made it into a long snorkel - well beyond two hours for the round trip. We saw a octopi in a couple of areas, but they were too shy and hidden to photograph well. We also saw a surprising number of trunkfish.
As we neared the spot we had put in, we decided to stay a little further off shore in the grass beds to see if we could find a turtle, when we saw an amazing number of conch - it was reminiscent of the number of starfish you sometimes see near Waterlemon.
All of a sudden something caught my eye - this was indeed a good day, and Leslie's excitement level went through the roof - guess what?
This guy hung around the area we'd spotted (no pun intended!) him in, in about 15 feet of water, for about five minutes or so.
After he'd had enough of us and vacated the area, we headed back toward the beach when, lo and behold, what was it we were looking for again?
By this time we were getting very hungry. We hadn't been to Skinny Legs on this trip, and a burger sounded really good, so we made the short trek to Coral Bay,
...and had a satisfying lunch while we looked again and again, at the pictures and video we'd just taken, especially of the eagle ray!
After lunch we felt like getting wet again so we took North Shore Road toward town and decided to visit Hawksnest Bay.
Conditions were pretty good, and it was late enough in the afternoon that most of the crowds had left, so we found a spot down at the left end of the beach, finned up, and got in.
Although the reefs' best days here are sadly long gone, there are still some healthy sections and some residents therein.
Shortly after I took the picture of this porcupinefish my Olympus died! Not again!! At least (knock on wood) the Canon was still working.
Even though I was a little bummed about the camera (it never did come back to life, but a least all of the images on the memory card were intact) we weren't going to let that ruin our happy place. What would be a good way to put that behind us? Probably a number of good answers, but the one we landed on was a trip to The Tap Room! The AC and the drinks there were very refreshing, and after we 'd sufficiently cooled down and sated our thirst we headed back to the villa.
We decided to feature the growing pile of leftovers in tonight's meal, so an eclectic potluck it was!
Saturday, October 15
Today is the day that our friends Deb and Jay, who live on St. Thomas, had offered to take us out on their boat. We loaded up our snorkel and beach gear, packed the coolers with drinks, and headed to The Marketplace and waited for Sam and Jack's Deli to open. We'd never been there before. The ladies that were working there were incredibly nice, and the quality, selection, and value of the food there looked to be outstanding! We told her of our plans, and she recommended some particular sandwiches that would hold up well in the coolers until lunchtime, so we ordered, and they turned out to be huge!
I dropped the rest of the gang off outside of High Tide (and got dressed down by a cop that said I should have unloaded in the area in front of St. John Spice - whoops!), parked over by the car barge terminal, and rejoined everyone on the beach behind Bones. Ruth was outside upstairs, so we all got to visit/catch up with her while we waited on our ride. Before long we saw Deb waving at us from the approaching boat. After wading our gear to the back of the boat we were had Cruz Bay in our rearview mirror.
We motored across the sound, and dropped in to take a close up look of Lovango Cay.
Our first stop was between Lovango and Congo Cays.
We snorkeled along the back side of Lovango, in a rocky area. Not an abundance of coral here, but a good number of fish were about nonetheless.
Back on the boat, Deb and Jay said that our planned next stop was at an island named Hans Lolick. They said that it features prominently in the view from where they live, but despite looking at it every day, they had never yet been there - so off we went to "Gilligan's Island"!
Jay anchored the boat, and we took time to eat lunch and have some beverages just off of this beautiful island, before going ashore.
After lunch we swam/waded ashore, and spent some time exploring and enjoying this little slice of paradise.
Eventually we returned to the boat - here's Leslie and Deb enjoying a cookie - and a laugh!
I don't know if it's possible to be happier/more relaxed than this:
All too soon, it was time to go back to St. John (can you imagine uttering that statement?), since Deb and Jay still had to get the boat safely back home before dark.
We ended a wonderful day with a home cooked dinner of grilled chicken, rice, and salad, with those beautiful Allesandra sunsets providing the backdrop.
Link to Part II: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21727
Link to Part III: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21748
Link to Part IV: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21762
Link to Part V: http://www.virgin-islands-on-line.com/f ... hp?t=21283
Link to Part VI: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=21974
Link to Part VII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22574
Link to Part VIII: http://virgin-islands-on-line.com/forum ... hp?t=22575
Friday, October 14
Woke up to a cloudy and somewhat breezy morning. Leslie and I headed out by ourselves (giving Barb and Chet another shot at some alone time). On the way we stopped in town to visit our favorite store and to see the island's newest celebrity!
After visiting with Curly, Ruth, and Ron, we stopped by Cruz Bay Watersports to see if they had any lionfish markers since we'd already deployed the stash of them that were at the villa, but with no luck. We made a note to make up a supply of them before the next trip.
I had surmised that one of the spots least likely to be negatively impacted by the prevailing winds would be Francis Bay, so off we went!
We took the trail, which leads to the right end of the beach, found a spot to put our bag and towels (we were virtually alone!), got in the water. and slowly headed in the direction of Mary Point.
As usual, the life here was diverse and abundant, both below and above water.
We took our time (while we were out we had a couple of groups pass us, then come by us again as they were heading back in) and made it into a long snorkel - well beyond two hours for the round trip. We saw a octopi in a couple of areas, but they were too shy and hidden to photograph well. We also saw a surprising number of trunkfish.
As we neared the spot we had put in, we decided to stay a little further off shore in the grass beds to see if we could find a turtle, when we saw an amazing number of conch - it was reminiscent of the number of starfish you sometimes see near Waterlemon.
All of a sudden something caught my eye - this was indeed a good day, and Leslie's excitement level went through the roof - guess what?
This guy hung around the area we'd spotted (no pun intended!) him in, in about 15 feet of water, for about five minutes or so.
After he'd had enough of us and vacated the area, we headed back toward the beach when, lo and behold, what was it we were looking for again?
By this time we were getting very hungry. We hadn't been to Skinny Legs on this trip, and a burger sounded really good, so we made the short trek to Coral Bay,
...and had a satisfying lunch while we looked again and again, at the pictures and video we'd just taken, especially of the eagle ray!
After lunch we felt like getting wet again so we took North Shore Road toward town and decided to visit Hawksnest Bay.
Conditions were pretty good, and it was late enough in the afternoon that most of the crowds had left, so we found a spot down at the left end of the beach, finned up, and got in.
Although the reefs' best days here are sadly long gone, there are still some healthy sections and some residents therein.
Shortly after I took the picture of this porcupinefish my Olympus died! Not again!! At least (knock on wood) the Canon was still working.
Even though I was a little bummed about the camera (it never did come back to life, but a least all of the images on the memory card were intact) we weren't going to let that ruin our happy place. What would be a good way to put that behind us? Probably a number of good answers, but the one we landed on was a trip to The Tap Room! The AC and the drinks there were very refreshing, and after we 'd sufficiently cooled down and sated our thirst we headed back to the villa.
We decided to feature the growing pile of leftovers in tonight's meal, so an eclectic potluck it was!
Saturday, October 15
Today is the day that our friends Deb and Jay, who live on St. Thomas, had offered to take us out on their boat. We loaded up our snorkel and beach gear, packed the coolers with drinks, and headed to The Marketplace and waited for Sam and Jack's Deli to open. We'd never been there before. The ladies that were working there were incredibly nice, and the quality, selection, and value of the food there looked to be outstanding! We told her of our plans, and she recommended some particular sandwiches that would hold up well in the coolers until lunchtime, so we ordered, and they turned out to be huge!
I dropped the rest of the gang off outside of High Tide (and got dressed down by a cop that said I should have unloaded in the area in front of St. John Spice - whoops!), parked over by the car barge terminal, and rejoined everyone on the beach behind Bones. Ruth was outside upstairs, so we all got to visit/catch up with her while we waited on our ride. Before long we saw Deb waving at us from the approaching boat. After wading our gear to the back of the boat we were had Cruz Bay in our rearview mirror.
We motored across the sound, and dropped in to take a close up look of Lovango Cay.
Our first stop was between Lovango and Congo Cays.
We snorkeled along the back side of Lovango, in a rocky area. Not an abundance of coral here, but a good number of fish were about nonetheless.
Back on the boat, Deb and Jay said that our planned next stop was at an island named Hans Lolick. They said that it features prominently in the view from where they live, but despite looking at it every day, they had never yet been there - so off we went to "Gilligan's Island"!
Jay anchored the boat, and we took time to eat lunch and have some beverages just off of this beautiful island, before going ashore.
After lunch we swam/waded ashore, and spent some time exploring and enjoying this little slice of paradise.
Eventually we returned to the boat - here's Leslie and Deb enjoying a cookie - and a laugh!
I don't know if it's possible to be happier/more relaxed than this:
All too soon, it was time to go back to St. John (can you imagine uttering that statement?), since Deb and Jay still had to get the boat safely back home before dark.
We ended a wonderful day with a home cooked dinner of grilled chicken, rice, and salad, with those beautiful Allesandra sunsets providing the backdrop.
Come see us!
Just got back Augie and can relate, oh so much better. Only my second trip but can appreciate the veterans perspective on this forum. Found Francis Bay his trip and loved it...my underwater pics are not NEARLY as good as yours (and many here), but practice makes perfect, I hope!! Need to post a trip report and will soon, I promise. Always enjoy your reports (old or new) and your wife's appreciation for spotted rays...missed one this time...a good reason to go back 
all you have to do is smile, smile, smile
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ColumbiaSCTraveler
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Love the trip report and pics. Hans lollick is available for purchase if you're so inclined.
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/gre ... lollik.htm
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/gre ... lollik.htm
