Trip Report 10/29-11/5 2009 - Part III
Posted: Fri Nov 13, 2009 12:11 pm
Sunday, 11/1 - We started Sunday in the usual way - breakfast, pack up the snorkel gear, get the camera ready, pack the cooler with lunch and drinks, and head off somewhere - often not decided until we were on our way.
This particular morning we decided to do the Brown Bay hike/snorkel. This consists of a hike of about twenty minutes (unless you miss the path down to the water in which case it becomes a one hour hike to Waterlemon - we know because we did that last year!). We made it to the Bay, got our gear on and entered the water. We snorkeled the left side of the bay last year and were later advised that the right side was better so we headed off in that direction.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091802174/" title="stj09_74 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/409 ... b6bc22.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_74"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091802886/" title="stj09_75 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2508/409 ... f15b6d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_75"></a>
The combination of silted up water and largely overcast skies made the conditions less than ideal, but we didn't mind too much. We didn't see a whole lot that really impressed us along the right hand shore so after making our way out to the point we swam across the mouth of the bay and came back to shore on the other side.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091037881/" title="stj09_76 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/409 ... 5aba75.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_76"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091804456/" title="stj09_77 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/409 ... 5561d8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_77"></a>
After the hike back we met up with some of the other folks at Maho as we'd arranged to do. The forum was pretty well represented at Maho - in addition to those of us who had already hung out together on this trip (the two of us, RickG, NoTanLines, and their three newbies, Bug & Ed, captainjay & mrscaptainjay) we also saw, for the first time, Jorge & Barb, nascarfan59 & Becky, and shopper3 & Larry!
A little further down the beach we spotted most, if not all, of the SOTB III group! As well as getting to talk and hang out with some of their crew that I'd previously had the pleasure of meeting I met Jo Ann in VA and enjoyed chatting with her.
Leslie got a little restless and decided to snorkel a bit. She was on a mission. If you couldn't tell from the Halloween costume, she LOVES stingays! And although we've seen a lot of southern stingrays on our St. John trips, we've yet to see a spotted eagle ray down there - and those are her favorites - she even has a tattoo of one to prove it. She had shown it to some of our new friends, and while we were tooling around out near the point with Jim (one of Rick's crew) he started yelling for Leslie, asking her if she wanted to see an eagle ray! By the time she got to him it was gone, but he had pictures on his camera to prove that he had in fact seen one. She was so thrilled for him, but sorely disappointed to know that she had been that close, yet so far. I don't know if it helped when Jim told her that he wouldn't have known what to look for if he hadn't seen her tattoo!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091039329/" title="stj09_78 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/409 ... 027801.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_78"></a>
We had all been watching a storm to the north that looked more and more threatening, so we decided that we'd had enough of the beach for the day, and we all packed up and headed out to get cleaned up and ready for Sunday evening.
Sunday evening is, of course, one of the social highlights of the trip when there are forum folk on island, and tonight's was expected to be well attended!
We arrived to find Ruth (for brevity going forward I'm going to call St. John Ruth "Ruth" and Canadian Ruth "shopper"), Pia, and Ruth's new helper Larissa (1littleindian on the forum) by a table full of crackers, cheeses, dips, and other assorted appetizers. In short order others began filing in.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091040223/" title="stj09_80 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2580/409 ... fc5642.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="stj09_80"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091806412/" title="stj09_81 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2629/409 ... 4d5bb2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_81"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091806864/" title="stj09_82 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/409 ... 819f93.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_82"></a>
There were some that didn't make it due to mishaps (hope to see you next time coolbreeze) or due to logistics (sorry about that scary driveway SOTB ladies - hope you can catch an earlier ferry next time MrB and MrsB) , but we had a great crowd show up. I know that there was at least one couple that I didn't get a chance to meet, so if I leave you out of this list, that's why. In addition to the folks we'd already been hanging with (RickG, NoTanLines, Linda, Jim, Scott, Bug, Ed, Shopper, Larry, Nascarfan59, Becky, captainjay, mrscaptainjay) I also had the pleasure to meet and spend some time with Pianogirl and her husband Rpplano, from Houston, and Lprof and UFprof from Gainesville, Fl (Go Gators!).
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091807630/" title="stj09_84 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/409 ... db030a.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="stj09_84"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091808096/" title="stj09_85 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/409 ... dc66a2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_85"></a>
We were all herded over to the Spice Cam to try and get a group picture there, but if you saw the "Live from the beach Bar" thread you'll know that by the time we were able to get it together it was really too dark for a great picture.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091042719/" title="stj09_86 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/409 ... dcb6bb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_86"></a>
Before long the rain that we'd been watching over St. Thomas made its way across the sound, and that either provided folks a good reason to move on to whatever they had planned for the rest of the evening, or sent them scurrying to the Beach Bar proper for cover (not to mention libations and food!)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091809620/" title="stj09_89 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2574/409 ... 7d8072.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_89"></a>
We had a really great time, and it was the perfect ending to a long, but satisfying day. Almost the end - we still had to walk up the hill to Gallows Point, where we'd parked, and hope that the jeep was still there (it was) then drive back to our home on Ajax Peak. we managed to do so without incident, and another glorious day on St. John was in the books!
This particular morning we decided to do the Brown Bay hike/snorkel. This consists of a hike of about twenty minutes (unless you miss the path down to the water in which case it becomes a one hour hike to Waterlemon - we know because we did that last year!). We made it to the Bay, got our gear on and entered the water. We snorkeled the left side of the bay last year and were later advised that the right side was better so we headed off in that direction.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091802174/" title="stj09_74 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/409 ... b6bc22.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_74"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091802886/" title="stj09_75 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2508/409 ... f15b6d.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_75"></a>
The combination of silted up water and largely overcast skies made the conditions less than ideal, but we didn't mind too much. We didn't see a whole lot that really impressed us along the right hand shore so after making our way out to the point we swam across the mouth of the bay and came back to shore on the other side.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091037881/" title="stj09_76 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2752/409 ... 5aba75.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_76"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091804456/" title="stj09_77 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2663/409 ... 5561d8.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_77"></a>
After the hike back we met up with some of the other folks at Maho as we'd arranged to do. The forum was pretty well represented at Maho - in addition to those of us who had already hung out together on this trip (the two of us, RickG, NoTanLines, and their three newbies, Bug & Ed, captainjay & mrscaptainjay) we also saw, for the first time, Jorge & Barb, nascarfan59 & Becky, and shopper3 & Larry!
A little further down the beach we spotted most, if not all, of the SOTB III group! As well as getting to talk and hang out with some of their crew that I'd previously had the pleasure of meeting I met Jo Ann in VA and enjoyed chatting with her.
Leslie got a little restless and decided to snorkel a bit. She was on a mission. If you couldn't tell from the Halloween costume, she LOVES stingays! And although we've seen a lot of southern stingrays on our St. John trips, we've yet to see a spotted eagle ray down there - and those are her favorites - she even has a tattoo of one to prove it. She had shown it to some of our new friends, and while we were tooling around out near the point with Jim (one of Rick's crew) he started yelling for Leslie, asking her if she wanted to see an eagle ray! By the time she got to him it was gone, but he had pictures on his camera to prove that he had in fact seen one. She was so thrilled for him, but sorely disappointed to know that she had been that close, yet so far. I don't know if it helped when Jim told her that he wouldn't have known what to look for if he hadn't seen her tattoo!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091039329/" title="stj09_78 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/409 ... 027801.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_78"></a>
We had all been watching a storm to the north that looked more and more threatening, so we decided that we'd had enough of the beach for the day, and we all packed up and headed out to get cleaned up and ready for Sunday evening.
Sunday evening is, of course, one of the social highlights of the trip when there are forum folk on island, and tonight's was expected to be well attended!
We arrived to find Ruth (for brevity going forward I'm going to call St. John Ruth "Ruth" and Canadian Ruth "shopper"), Pia, and Ruth's new helper Larissa (1littleindian on the forum) by a table full of crackers, cheeses, dips, and other assorted appetizers. In short order others began filing in.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091040223/" title="stj09_80 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2580/409 ... fc5642.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="stj09_80"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091806412/" title="stj09_81 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2629/409 ... 4d5bb2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_81"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091806864/" title="stj09_82 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2633/409 ... 819f93.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_82"></a>
There were some that didn't make it due to mishaps (hope to see you next time coolbreeze) or due to logistics (sorry about that scary driveway SOTB ladies - hope you can catch an earlier ferry next time MrB and MrsB) , but we had a great crowd show up. I know that there was at least one couple that I didn't get a chance to meet, so if I leave you out of this list, that's why. In addition to the folks we'd already been hanging with (RickG, NoTanLines, Linda, Jim, Scott, Bug, Ed, Shopper, Larry, Nascarfan59, Becky, captainjay, mrscaptainjay) I also had the pleasure to meet and spend some time with Pianogirl and her husband Rpplano, from Houston, and Lprof and UFprof from Gainesville, Fl (Go Gators!).
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091807630/" title="stj09_84 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2799/409 ... db030a.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="stj09_84"></a>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091808096/" title="stj09_85 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2652/409 ... dc66a2.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_85"></a>
We were all herded over to the Spice Cam to try and get a group picture there, but if you saw the "Live from the beach Bar" thread you'll know that by the time we were able to get it together it was really too dark for a great picture.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091042719/" title="stj09_86 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2674/409 ... dcb6bb.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_86"></a>
Before long the rain that we'd been watching over St. Thomas made its way across the sound, and that either provided folks a good reason to move on to whatever they had planned for the rest of the evening, or sent them scurrying to the Beach Bar proper for cover (not to mention libations and food!)
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/10044245@N04/4091809620/" title="stj09_89 by augiegator, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2574/409 ... 7d8072.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="stj09_89"></a>
We had a really great time, and it was the perfect ending to a long, but satisfying day. Almost the end - we still had to walk up the hill to Gallows Point, where we'd parked, and hope that the jeep was still there (it was) then drive back to our home on Ajax Peak. we managed to do so without incident, and another glorious day on St. John was in the books!
Thanks for the Great TR's the uunderwater pics r beautiful ! enjoyed your 4m pics also 
Hopefully DW will c her spotted eagle ray next trip ! 
