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The Much Anticipated Trip Report Octology, Part Four
The Much Anticipated Trip Report Octology, Part Four
It's a quiet day today, so the trip report is a little early.
Trip Report - Day 4
Turtle, Turtle, who has the Turtle?
Executive Summary
Today was the day that Amy and the girls went parasailing and I went for a boat ride. We booked the parasailing with "the guy under the stairs" at Mongoose Junction. The boat came over from St. Thomas and met us at the National Park dock at 1PM. KK and KP went first and went up together. It was a beautiful day and they had a blast just floating around and looking out over the islands. When they came down the boat captain dunked them up to their shoulders before the parachute pulled them back up again. Amy went next. Parasailing was the number one thing on her list of things to do on the trip so I'm glad that we were able to work it in. She also had a great time and was dunked pretty good at the end. After parasailing we went to Maho for the afternoon. When we got there we met a mother and son who were gushing about the turtle that they had seen. They showed me where the turtle was and I took off with the camera. You'll have to read the details to find out what happened next
. After Maho we cleaned up and had an early dinner at the villa (someone had forgotten the cooler with the sandwiches in it earlier ). Then we went back into town and looked around at some of the shops at Wharfside, had a couple of drinks at the Beach Bar and a couple more at Woody's before meeting the girls to go back to the villa.
The details for the non-executive
Years ago Amy had gone skydiving with a girlfriend. She hurt her back on the landing so she will probably never go again, but she has great memories of the experience. She has always wanted to try parasailing so we decided to fit that into our trip to STJ. We mentioned it to the girls and they both thought they would try it. This surprised us a little bit since KK is afraid of heights. When we were at Mongoose on Monday we talked to Trevor, the famous "guy under the stairs" as mentioned here a few times. He set us up for 1PM on Wednesday. We met the boat at the National park dock after a lazy morning at the villa. The guys on the boat were very friendly and joked and talked with us as we headed out of the harbor. one of the guys helped Amy and the girls into their life jackets and harnesses while I took pictures. I don't know what the maximum weight is for parasailing, but i decided not to stress test their equipment 
. KK and KP went tandem and were up first. The guys deployed the parachute and checked all of the lines and then hooked up the girls and slowly let the up into the air. By the time the rope was fully out there was about 600 ft of rope and they were probably about 400 ft. above the water. We cruised around with them up there for about 10-15 minutes then they guys started the winch to pull them back in. When they were getting close to the boat the captain slowed the boat to let them slowly drop to the water. As their feet touched he sped up again. They were dunked up to their shoulders before the chute pulled them back up. once they were back on the boat the guys hooked Amy up and sent her up in the air. She was up there for quite a while and I was wondering when they were going to bring her back down when I noticed the captain on the radio. He was telling someone that the winch was stuck and he couldn't pull her down. The voice on the radio told him to try something and it worked and Amy started down. They dunked her as well and then brought her onto the boat. I decided not to tell her immediately that there had been a little problem. I told her later and reminded her that she was back on the ground and safe. She didn't freak out too badly
After parasailing our plan was to head to the North Shore beaches. We drove past Hawksnest and saw a full lot. The small lot for Jumbie was also full and so was Trunk. We found an alcove in the trees down near the far end of Maho and decided to spend the afternoon there. The whole morning and the time that we were on the parasailing boat the sun was out and it was beautiful. Five minutes after we got to Maho the sun disappeared behind the clouds and we didn't see it again the rest of the afternoon. The beach had people on it but it wasn't crowded (maybe it was by STJ terms, but the groups of people were 50 or so feet apart). There was a slight chop (less than a foot) on the water. We settled down and then we discovered that I had forgotten the backpack cooler without lunch! We had water in another cooler but no food. We decided that none of us would starve. I headed towards the water and saw a woman and her son coming out. They were talking about the turtle that they had just seen so I asked them where it was and headed out. One of the things I really wanted to do on the island was to see a turtle, so i was bound and determined to find this one. I snorkeled the grass beds for at least an hour with no luck. Amy and the girls were in limin' mode, so I was by myself so I didn't stray too far, but I was in the area that the woman had pointed to. I alternated between looking around underwater and looking across the surface to see if i could spot a turtle head but I didn't find a turtle. Visibility was fair to poor, but I did see other fish, but nothing remarkable. Finally, I looked up and Amy and the girls were waving at me to come in, so I set a course for them and put my head down. I was 3/4 of the way to the beach when I looked to my left and did a double take! There was a beautiful, huge Hawksbill turtle laying on the bottom munching on the grass. She had Remoras on her back and was only about 6 feet away. Her shell was at least three feet front to back. I took as many pictures as I could and swam with her for about 10 minutes before she took off.
I was pretty darned happy when I made it to shore. It's pretty funny that I cruised that area for so long only to find the turtle just 100 feet off shore, right in front of our gear
.
We left Maho at about 3:30 and went back to the villa. We were all starving so I grilled some chicken breasts and we finished the rest of the sides from Uncle Joe's and went back to town. Amy and I looked in the shops at Wharfside while the girls went back to Mongoose. The girls wanted to listen to some music after shopping so we agreed to meet at about 10 to see where we all were. Amy and I visited a few shops and I bought a Hook Ring (I'm not a bracelet guy) and Amy marked a hook bracelet and a ceramic dish for future consideration. Apparently there is something wrong with buying something that you like on the first trip to the store. We went back to one store three times before Amy bought the ceramic dish that she had liked two days earlier. We ended up at the Beach Bar for a couple of painkillers. While we were there we met an older lady who lives in town and a 20-something guy who cooks at the Banana Deck and had some nice conversations. Amy bought a Beach Bar t-shirt and I bought a Beach Bar hat that has a zipper pocket on the side for my mad money . Then we walked over to Woody's to sample their painkillers. At Woody's we met a couple from the east coast who we ran into two or three other times and a local named Ryan who was a carpenter and was working on STT building houses. We talked for a while when my cell phone rang and it was the girls. They were bored and were ready to go back to the villa! We met them at the car and drove back. As usual, Amy and I relaxed upstairs while the girls talked downstairs.
Tomorrow: Jost Van Dyck, New Found Bay and rain
[url=http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d172/ ... ?start=all]Complete STJ Photo Album[/url
Trip Report - Day 4
Turtle, Turtle, who has the Turtle?
Executive Summary
Today was the day that Amy and the girls went parasailing and I went for a boat ride. We booked the parasailing with "the guy under the stairs" at Mongoose Junction. The boat came over from St. Thomas and met us at the National Park dock at 1PM. KK and KP went first and went up together. It was a beautiful day and they had a blast just floating around and looking out over the islands. When they came down the boat captain dunked them up to their shoulders before the parachute pulled them back up again. Amy went next. Parasailing was the number one thing on her list of things to do on the trip so I'm glad that we were able to work it in. She also had a great time and was dunked pretty good at the end. After parasailing we went to Maho for the afternoon. When we got there we met a mother and son who were gushing about the turtle that they had seen. They showed me where the turtle was and I took off with the camera. You'll have to read the details to find out what happened next
. After Maho we cleaned up and had an early dinner at the villa (someone had forgotten the cooler with the sandwiches in it earlier ). Then we went back into town and looked around at some of the shops at Wharfside, had a couple of drinks at the Beach Bar and a couple more at Woody's before meeting the girls to go back to the villa.The details for the non-executive
Years ago Amy had gone skydiving with a girlfriend. She hurt her back on the landing so she will probably never go again, but she has great memories of the experience. She has always wanted to try parasailing so we decided to fit that into our trip to STJ. We mentioned it to the girls and they both thought they would try it. This surprised us a little bit since KK is afraid of heights. When we were at Mongoose on Monday we talked to Trevor, the famous "guy under the stairs" as mentioned here a few times
. He set us up for 1PM on Wednesday. We met the boat at the National park dock after a lazy morning at the villa. The guys on the boat were very friendly and joked and talked with us as we headed out of the harbor. one of the guys helped Amy and the girls into their life jackets and harnesses while I took pictures. I don't know what the maximum weight is for parasailing, but i decided not to stress test their equipment . KK and KP went tandem and were up first. The guys deployed the parachute and checked all of the lines and then hooked up the girls and slowly let the up into the air. By the time the rope was fully out there was about 600 ft of rope and they were probably about 400 ft. above the water. We cruised around with them up there for about 10-15 minutes then they guys started the winch to pull them back in. When they were getting close to the boat the captain slowed the boat to let them slowly drop to the water. As their feet touched he sped up again. They were dunked up to their shoulders before the chute pulled them back up. once they were back on the boat the guys hooked Amy up and sent her up in the air. She was up there for quite a while and I was wondering when they were going to bring her back down when I noticed the captain on the radio. He was telling someone that the winch was stuck and he couldn't pull her down. The voice on the radio told him to try something and it worked and Amy started down. They dunked her as well and then brought her onto the boat. I decided not to tell her immediately that there had been a little problem. I told her later and reminded her that she was back on the ground and safe. She didn't freak out too badly After parasailing our plan was to head to the North Shore beaches. We drove past Hawksnest and saw a full lot. The small lot for Jumbie was also full and so was Trunk. We found an alcove in the trees down near the far end of Maho and decided to spend the afternoon there. The whole morning and the time that we were on the parasailing boat the sun was out and it was beautiful. Five minutes after we got to Maho the sun disappeared behind the clouds and we didn't see it again the rest of the afternoon. The beach had people on it but it wasn't crowded (maybe it was by STJ terms, but the groups of people were 50 or so feet apart). There was a slight chop (less than a foot) on the water. We settled down and then we discovered that I had forgotten the backpack cooler without lunch! We had water in another cooler but no food. We decided that none of us would starve
. I headed towards the water and saw a woman and her son coming out. They were talking about the turtle that they had just seen so I asked them where it was and headed out. One of the things I really wanted to do on the island was to see a turtle, so i was bound and determined to find this one. I snorkeled the grass beds for at least an hour with no luck. Amy and the girls were in limin' mode, so I was by myself so I didn't stray too far, but I was in the area that the woman had pointed to. I alternated between looking around underwater and looking across the surface to see if i could spot a turtle head but I didn't find a turtle. Visibility was fair to poor, but I did see other fish, but nothing remarkable. Finally, I looked up and Amy and the girls were waving at me to come in, so I set a course for them and put my head down. I was 3/4 of the way to the beach when I looked to my left and did a double take! There was a beautiful, huge Hawksbill turtle laying on the bottom munching on the grass. She had Remoras on her back and was only about 6 feet away. Her shell was at least three feet front to back. I took as many pictures as I could and swam with her for about 10 minutes before she took off.I was pretty darned happy when I made it to shore. It's pretty funny that I cruised that area for so long only to find the turtle just 100 feet off shore, right in front of our gear
.We left Maho at about 3:30 and went back to the villa. We were all starving so I grilled some chicken breasts and we finished the rest of the sides from Uncle Joe's and went back to town. Amy and I looked in the shops at Wharfside while the girls went back to Mongoose. The girls wanted to listen to some music after shopping so we agreed to meet at about 10 to see where we all were. Amy and I visited a few shops and I bought a Hook Ring (I'm not a bracelet guy) and Amy marked a hook bracelet and a ceramic dish for future consideration. Apparently there is something wrong with buying something that you like on the first trip to the store. We went back to one store three times before Amy bought the ceramic dish that she had liked two days earlier
. We ended up at the Beach Bar for a couple of painkillers. While we were there we met an older lady who lives in town and a 20-something guy who cooks at the Banana Deck and had some nice conversations. Amy bought a Beach Bar t-shirt and I bought a Beach Bar hat that has a zipper pocket on the side for my mad money . Then we walked over to Woody's to sample their painkillers. At Woody's we met a couple from the east coast who we ran into two or three other times and a local named Ryan who was a carpenter and was working on STT building houses. We talked for a while when my cell phone rang and it was the girls. They were bored and were ready to go back to the villa! We met them at the car and drove back. As usual, Amy and I relaxed upstairs while the girls talked downstairs.Tomorrow: Jost Van Dyck, New Found Bay and rain
[url=http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d172/ ... ?start=all]Complete STJ Photo Album[/url
Last edited by Ron_L on Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
...ron
Time to start working on convincing the wife that we have to go back soon!
Time to start working on convincing the wife that we have to go back soon!
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StJohnRuth
- Posts: 1989
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:42 pm
- Location: St. John, VI
....mia