The Much Anticipated Trip Report Octology, Part Three
Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:22 pm
Trip Report - Day 3
Sailing...Sailing... In the Caribbean Rain.. -or-
If this is Tuesday, you must be Captain Phil
Executive Summary
Tuesday was our day sail with Captain Phil. We met him outside of JJs at 9:45 and we were soon sailing out of Cruz Bay harbor towards Great St. James island. We were no more than 10 minutes into the trip and it started to rain. It rained fairly steadily for most of the day. Since we were going to be spending a lot of time in the water we really didn't cafe. Our first snorkeling stop was a cove on the opposite side of Great St. James (on the Little St. James side). The water was warm and clear and we saw a lot of different fish, including a school of 8 barracudas. Captain Phil showed us an Octopus' home, but the Octopus had apparently moved on. The wind was really blowing and there was a pretty strong current so we headed back to the boat for lunch. Lunch was homemade chicken salad sandwiches, cole slaw and honeydew melon. After lunch we went around Great St. James to Christmas Cove and Fish Cay. Snorkeling in this area was fantastic. Captain Phil led us through the "Canyon", a shallow crevice in the rocks, and around the Cay. We saw lots of fish, including a White-spotted Eagle Ray and a huge Mutton Snapper and an Octopus. After the trip we cleaned up and went to Wharfside Village and then picked up Uncle Joe's for dinner. Yum-O!
The details for the non-executive
Our plan for today was to go on a full-day sail with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor (www.waywardsailor.net). I had talked to Captain Phil the night before and we were set to meet him in front of JJ's Texas Coast (his favorite breakfast hangout) at 9:45AM so we dragged the girls out of bed at 8:15. We had a light breakfast and coffee at the villa and then headed into town. I deceded to park at Slimman's for simplicity so we pulled in there and paid our $10 and then walked to JJ's. Within a few minutes I saw Captain Phil coming out to meet us. Another couple from New York were joining us so we all did introductions before heading towards the dinghy. Capt. Phil has an inflatable dinghy that he uses to get to his boat. I had already read posts here and on some other sites about Capt. Phil's aversion to sand on his boat, so i was prepared when he asked us for our shoes. He knocked off most of the sand and placed them in his "Designer Shoe Bag" (a plastic garbage bag). The shoes stayed in the bag and in the dinghy for the rest of the trip. He then gave us instruction on how to get into the dinghy, including washing any sand off of our feet. I've been a boater on Lake Michigan for years and I have seen what sand can do to fiberglass, so I understand his concern. He was careful about it, but not overly obsessive. The dinghy was full with seven of us, but we made it to the boat without losing anyone
.
At the boat we were greeted by Tarn, Capt. Phil's Mate (yeah, Tarn, like the Scottish word for a mountain lake). Tarn is a very nice young lady who works for Capt. Phil, fills in at JJ's once in a while, and waitresses at La Tapa. She helped us into the boat and stowed our gear while Capt. Phil got things ready to sail. We motored out of the harbor and then the two of them set the sails and we were under sail very quickly. Then it started raining. It was mostly light rain, but there were a couple of periods that were much heavier. As we were sailing Captain Phil told us about the area and about the islands that we were passing. He also took the time to tell us about some of the fish and critters that we would hopefully see once we got into the water. After about 45 minutes of sailing we rounded Great St. James Island and could see Little St. James Island, which is privately owned. Tarn point out a rather large statue of a cow that the island owner has on display (?) We anchored in a small cove along the Great St. James shoreline and got into the water. Capt. Phil went to look for the Octopus right way but the den was empty. He showed us around the reef and pointed out a school of 8 Barracuda. We also saw a large Barracuda (about 4 feet long) laying in a gap in the rocks.
We also saw a lot of nice coral and a large variety of reef fish. After a while we noticed that the wind and the current had pushed us pretty far from the boat. We all started to head back and I noticed that Amy wasn't getting anywhere against the current. I swam over to her and grabbed her hand and towed her back to the boat. Once we were all back on board and toweled off Tarn served lunch. I don't think I mentioned this, but Amy and both girls don't eat *ANY* seafood (and I love it). Tarn had asked me the day before if anyone had any food allergies and I told her about the girls aversion to seafood so she skipped the usual seafood salad sammies and made a delicious chicken salad. She served it on freshly baked rolls and she had a great home made cole slaw on the side. She had honeydew melon for dessert. The lunch was very good. After lunch we motored to the other side of Great St. James to Christmas Cove and Fish Cay. We anchored in the sandy bottom away from the Cay and got into the water. The lady from New York (Jane) had gotten chilled from the rain so she and her husband (Doug) stayed on the boat. I was the first into the water and I immediately took some pictures of the huge starfish under the boat.
As I swam around the boat towards the Cay I looked down and saw a huge fish swimming under me. I thought I took a couple of pictures of it, but they didn't come out. From my description Capt. Phil thought it was a Mutton Snapper. It was at least 4 feet long and built like a grouper. After talking to Capt. Phil about the fish I turned around again and I saw this swimming by...
A white-spotted Eagle Ray. it was pretty deep so the pictures aren't are good as I wanted, but it was beautiful. Its tail was at least 6 feet long and its wingspan was about three feet. Unfortunately, I was the only one to see it.
Finally, the girls and Capt. Phil were in the water and we headed out. Amy was a little spooked by the current at the last stop so she came into the water with us but hung around the boat. Capt. Phil told us that we were going to go through "the Canyon" and he told us that it was fairly shallow and narrow and to keep our hands along our bodies. He then led us to a gap in the rocks and we swam through an area that was about three feet deep in places, about four feet wide and about 30 feet long that led to the outside of the Cay. On the outside the rocks dropped off quickly into very blue water. Here we saw a lot of beautiful coral and a huge variety of fish including two or three different angels. We circled the Cay and on the backside, closer to the boat Capt. Phil found an Octopus. It was hiding under a rock ledge protected by a couple of urchins, but we saw a couple of arms and the eyes. Very cool! The snorkeling around Fish Cay was probably the best we experienced on the trip. All in all we had a very nice day with Captain Phil. He entertained us and educated us and he got into the water and showed us the best spots on the reef.
Back on shore we went back to the villa to clean up. the rain had stopped so we went back into town to check out Wharfside Village. I went back to Slimman's and talked him into letting me re-park since we had just left. Amy and I walked around the various shops, including St. John Spice (No Ruth. She had left for the day.) Amy was getting ideas for things she wanted to buy and I was carrying the money
. The girls were tired and decided to stay at the villa and we were going to bring back dinner. After Amy tired of shopping we walked to Uncle Joe's and ordered three rib/chicken combos and drank a VI Pale Ale while we waited. We talked to an older gentleman for a while until his food was ready and then talked to a couple who lived out by Coral Bay. Nice people and a lot of fun to talk to. Once the food was ready we went back to the villa and ate (three combos was more than enough for four of us). Uncle Joes was very good. The girls then went in the hot tub and Amy and I relaxed and listened to the birds and crickets. We went to bed at around 11 and the girls talked until about 2AM.
Tomorrow: Parasailing and The Great Turtle Hunt
Complete STJ Photo Album
Sailing...Sailing... In the Caribbean Rain.. -or-
If this is Tuesday, you must be Captain Phil
Executive Summary
Tuesday was our day sail with Captain Phil. We met him outside of JJs at 9:45 and we were soon sailing out of Cruz Bay harbor towards Great St. James island. We were no more than 10 minutes into the trip and it started to rain. It rained fairly steadily for most of the day. Since we were going to be spending a lot of time in the water we really didn't cafe. Our first snorkeling stop was a cove on the opposite side of Great St. James (on the Little St. James side). The water was warm and clear and we saw a lot of different fish, including a school of 8 barracudas. Captain Phil showed us an Octopus' home, but the Octopus had apparently moved on. The wind was really blowing and there was a pretty strong current so we headed back to the boat for lunch. Lunch was homemade chicken salad sandwiches, cole slaw and honeydew melon. After lunch we went around Great St. James to Christmas Cove and Fish Cay. Snorkeling in this area was fantastic. Captain Phil led us through the "Canyon", a shallow crevice in the rocks, and around the Cay. We saw lots of fish, including a White-spotted Eagle Ray and a huge Mutton Snapper and an Octopus. After the trip we cleaned up and went to Wharfside Village and then picked up Uncle Joe's for dinner. Yum-O!
The details for the non-executive
Our plan for today was to go on a full-day sail with Captain Phil on the Wayward Sailor (www.waywardsailor.net). I had talked to Captain Phil the night before and we were set to meet him in front of JJ's Texas Coast (his favorite breakfast hangout) at 9:45AM so we dragged the girls out of bed at 8:15. We had a light breakfast and coffee at the villa and then headed into town. I deceded to park at Slimman's for simplicity so we pulled in there and paid our $10 and then walked to JJ's. Within a few minutes I saw Captain Phil coming out to meet us. Another couple from New York were joining us so we all did introductions before heading towards the dinghy. Capt. Phil has an inflatable dinghy that he uses to get to his boat. I had already read posts here and on some other sites about Capt. Phil's aversion to sand on his boat, so i was prepared when he asked us for our shoes. He knocked off most of the sand and placed them in his "Designer Shoe Bag" (a plastic garbage bag). The shoes stayed in the bag and in the dinghy for the rest of the trip. He then gave us instruction on how to get into the dinghy, including washing any sand off of our feet. I've been a boater on Lake Michigan for years and I have seen what sand can do to fiberglass, so I understand his concern. He was careful about it, but not overly obsessive. The dinghy was full with seven of us, but we made it to the boat without losing anyone
.At the boat we were greeted by Tarn, Capt. Phil's Mate (yeah, Tarn, like the Scottish word for a mountain lake). Tarn is a very nice young lady who works for Capt. Phil, fills in at JJ's once in a while, and waitresses at La Tapa. She helped us into the boat and stowed our gear while Capt. Phil got things ready to sail. We motored out of the harbor and then the two of them set the sails and we were under sail very quickly. Then it started raining. It was mostly light rain, but there were a couple of periods that were much heavier. As we were sailing Captain Phil told us about the area and about the islands that we were passing. He also took the time to tell us about some of the fish and critters that we would hopefully see once we got into the water. After about 45 minutes of sailing we rounded Great St. James Island and could see Little St. James Island, which is privately owned. Tarn point out a rather large statue of a cow that the island owner has on display (?) We anchored in a small cove along the Great St. James shoreline and got into the water. Capt. Phil went to look for the Octopus right way but the den was empty. He showed us around the reef and pointed out a school of 8 Barracuda. We also saw a large Barracuda (about 4 feet long) laying in a gap in the rocks.
We also saw a lot of nice coral and a large variety of reef fish. After a while we noticed that the wind and the current had pushed us pretty far from the boat. We all started to head back and I noticed that Amy wasn't getting anywhere against the current. I swam over to her and grabbed her hand and towed her back to the boat. Once we were all back on board and toweled off Tarn served lunch. I don't think I mentioned this, but Amy and both girls don't eat *ANY* seafood (and I love it). Tarn had asked me the day before if anyone had any food allergies and I told her about the girls aversion to seafood so she skipped the usual seafood salad sammies and made a delicious chicken salad. She served it on freshly baked rolls and she had a great home made cole slaw on the side. She had honeydew melon for dessert. The lunch was very good. After lunch we motored to the other side of Great St. James to Christmas Cove and Fish Cay. We anchored in the sandy bottom away from the Cay and got into the water. The lady from New York (Jane) had gotten chilled from the rain so she and her husband (Doug) stayed on the boat. I was the first into the water and I immediately took some pictures of the huge starfish under the boat.
As I swam around the boat towards the Cay I looked down and saw a huge fish swimming under me. I thought I took a couple of pictures of it, but they didn't come out. From my description Capt. Phil thought it was a Mutton Snapper. It was at least 4 feet long and built like a grouper. After talking to Capt. Phil about the fish I turned around again and I saw this swimming by...
A white-spotted Eagle Ray. it was pretty deep so the pictures aren't are good as I wanted, but it was beautiful. Its tail was at least 6 feet long and its wingspan was about three feet. Unfortunately, I was the only one to see it.
Finally, the girls and Capt. Phil were in the water and we headed out. Amy was a little spooked by the current at the last stop so she came into the water with us but hung around the boat. Capt. Phil told us that we were going to go through "the Canyon" and he told us that it was fairly shallow and narrow and to keep our hands along our bodies. He then led us to a gap in the rocks and we swam through an area that was about three feet deep in places, about four feet wide and about 30 feet long that led to the outside of the Cay. On the outside the rocks dropped off quickly into very blue water. Here we saw a lot of beautiful coral and a huge variety of fish including two or three different angels. We circled the Cay and on the backside, closer to the boat Capt. Phil found an Octopus. It was hiding under a rock ledge protected by a couple of urchins, but we saw a couple of arms and the eyes. Very cool! The snorkeling around Fish Cay was probably the best we experienced on the trip. All in all we had a very nice day with Captain Phil. He entertained us and educated us and he got into the water and showed us the best spots on the reef.
Back on shore we went back to the villa to clean up. the rain had stopped so we went back into town to check out Wharfside Village. I went back to Slimman's and talked him into letting me re-park since we had just left. Amy and I walked around the various shops, including St. John Spice (No Ruth. She had left for the day.) Amy was getting ideas for things she wanted to buy and I was carrying the money
. The girls were tired and decided to stay at the villa and we were going to bring back dinner. After Amy tired of shopping we walked to Uncle Joe's and ordered three rib/chicken combos and drank a VI Pale Ale while we waited. We talked to an older gentleman for a while until his food was ready and then talked to a couple who lived out by Coral Bay. Nice people and a lot of fun to talk to. Once the food was ready we went back to the villa and ate (three combos was more than enough for four of us). Uncle Joes was very good. The girls then went in the hot tub and Amy and I relaxed and listened to the birds and crickets. We went to bed at around 11 and the girls talked until about 2AM.Tomorrow: Parasailing and The Great Turtle Hunt
Complete STJ Photo Album
