California Girl's Trip Report - Part 6 - Day of the Dolphin
Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 10:31 pm
Trip Report - Part Six, Day Of The Dolphin - Wednesday, May 9th
Wednesday was the day we'd been looking forward to! ScubaGirl (Sydney) and her husband, Keith invited us out on their catamaran. They were bareboating around the islands for 2 weeks and planned to be in "our neighborhood" during their 2nd week to pick up Keith's daughter, Jen and her husband, Phil who were staying at Maho.
As mentioned before, Sharon's not a big fan of boats, but we promised her we'd stay moored and not sail around (altho' I'm sure she'd have been fine in those waters on a catamaran). The plan was to park in the Annaberg parking lot, and Keith & Sydney would come to the shore in their dinghy and pick us up. How special did I feel when we had to say "excuse me, excuse me" as we wound our way through a group of people on some sort of National Park tour to go climb into the dinghy and be swept away to that beautiful catamaran waiting for us in Waterlemon Bay!
When Sydney and I first saw each other, again like with Jorge, it was like meeting an old friend for the first time. It was great! We all just took to each other right away! After we climbed aboard the cat from the dinghy and met Jen and Phil, Keith became an excellent host/bartender and it was rum all around (or soda, or whatever else anyone could ever want!) and we sat for a while and talked about where they had been (all through the BVI's!) and where they were headed. Sydney and I each gave each other bracelets we had made. (We're both into beading). I think she had a hint I was making one for her, but I was floored at the beautiful bracelet she made for me from hand-made glass beads a friend makes especially for her. I've gotten many compliments on it since, Sydney!
After some snacks, drinks and conversation it was into the water to snorkel! We were pretty close to the cay so off we went, around the cay counter clockwise. The deep water was a little cloudy (from all the rain I think) so it was difficult to see much, but we could make out a few starfish and a ray on the bottom.
Margo & Sydney
About 1/3 of the way around the cay, Phil shouted out there was a shark below, and sure enough, about 10 feet down, there was a Nurse Shark sitting on the bottom. I got the greatest picture of her! Too bad my camera had turned itself off! By the time I figured out what was going on with my camera, she was swimming away... oh well, at least I got to see her! Thus far in our trip, I have counted myself lucky for having seen an eel, a turtle, a ray and a shark (even though I didn't get pictures of most of them).
As I said, I'm pokey when it comes to snorkeling and before I knew it, everyone was way ahead of me, and by the time I got around to the other side of the cay, they were all farther over between the cay and the shore. I was getting tired, so I figured that it would be a wise decision for me to start back for the boat now, before I got too tired to get there! I saw another ray on the way back to the boat and by the time I got to the boat, I was really glad to have that ladder to hang on to!
Rick, who had gone back to the boat after snorkeling the left side of the cay, helped haul my sorry a$$ back on board and we hung out and watched the others having fun with "something" out there! As it turns out, they were hanging with a HUGE turtle! I guess he hangs out there frequently and people don't particularly bother him. Everyone was pretty excited to have seen this big guy and swim so close to him.
Once everyone was back on the boat, Sydney & Keith set to making a great lunch for us! And more rum, of course!
Sorry I caught you with your eyes closed, Sydney!
Margo, Jen, Phil & Sharon
Margo & Rick
Sydney
While we were eating, the conversation between Jen & Sharon turned to dolphins and how awesome it would be to ever be able to swim with a wild dolphin. We were almost done eating when Rick says, "Hey, what kind of big fish are out here?" and Keith says, "How big?" and Rick says, "Well I just saw a tail about this big (holding his hands about 3 feet apart)!" All of a sudden someone yells "DOLPHIN!" Was that you Sydney? Are you the one who saw it first after Rick?
Then the game was afoot! Sure enough, there's a dolphin swimming around our boat! And not just "around" but beneath it, between the pontoons and doing back flips over the mooring rope!
Sharon and Jen jumped into the water without a second thought! They went to where the dolphin was last spotted, and low and behold, she's still there! Like she was just waiting for some playmates! I didn't go in because I was having too much fun watching from the boat (plus, I was still tired from being out earlier). I don't think either of the girls had their fins on, but Phil jumped in and took Jen's mask to her, then he stayed out too.
The dolphin, who we learned later is a rogue dolphin fondly named "Splash" by the residents of St. John (great story - ask Ruth to tell you some day), shows up now and then, and then disappears for months at a time. We were the lucky ones she chose to play with that day. She swam around and around the boat, often disappearing completely for several minutes, only to pop up on the other side of the boat. Jen, Phil & Sharon said they couldn't see her until she was right in front of their faces, but from our lofty perch aboard the catamaran, we could spot her swimming here and there and coming up to surprise the swimmers from behind! Geezzzz.... I can't begin to tell you how much fun they were all having! All we could hear over and over from Jen was, "Oh my God!" "Oh - my - God!" "Oh - my - God... seriously!" It was hysterical! At one point, Sharon said she was looking all around for Splash and couldn't see her anywhere, then all of a sudden Splash came up right in front of her face, looked her in the eye and blew her blowhole on her!! Sharon said she never realized how hard those things can blow! But no one was hurt and Sharon has that in her book of memories now. ... and the playing continued. Splash got just close enough to let Jen & Sharon touch her with their fingertips, but never any closer.
We were being excitedly loud, when I looked over to the shore, and could see people who were trying to figure out what we were all yelling about. You knew they knew something was going on out there, but we were too far out to be able to tell them.
Some snorkelers that had moored a couple of dinghys off the cay figured it out and also swam over to play with Splash. I guess 3's company, but more's a crowd and Splash didn't hang around much longer after the new people joined. Or maybe she just got tired. Who knows?
You can just see Splash's dorsal fin in front of the two swimmers in the middle
It was three tired swimmers who climbed back aboard the boat that afternoon. Keeping up with a dolphin would be hard enough with fins on, but they were barefooted in that water for about 30 - 45 minutes! Jen was in tears of happiness, and Phil & Sharon were like they had just had a religious experience. It truly was an unforgettable experience for everyone, in the water or out! By now it was getting on past 3:00 and it was time to get going. We were all pretty tired and waterlogged and sunburned. Ahhhhhh.... the perfect day! We said thanks all around and hugged and Jen still had tears in her eyes. Keith took us back to Annaberg and dropped us off. Thanks again Sydney and Keith! Our day with you guys and the amazing things that we saw and experienced together has bumped my #1 best day ever into the #2 spot!
When we got back to the car, we headed to Cruz Bay because I had planned to marinate some tri-tip we brought from home, in St. John Spice Citrus marinade, and I had all the ingredients except..... you guessed it.... Cruz Bay Grill rub! So off we go to St. John Spice. I was ready at the counter with a jar of said spice in-hand, to pay for it. I planned to take a jar home anyway, so I was just going to go ahead and buy it now instead of just before we left, when Ron asked about what we were making and then gave me a "free sample" which was more than enough for the marinade that night! How cool is that!?! (I bought the jar a few days later, though!) Such nice people that Ruth and Ron! So off we went back to the villa where the tri tips marinated while we all took showers and looked at the dolphin pictures on our cameras over and over again. Rick braved the skeeters and fired up the grill and we had grilled St. John Spice tri tip, fresh asparagus (from Dolphin Market - yum!) and baked potatoes for dinner, while listening to my island playlist on my iPod. I have to say this was our best meal on-island so far. We fell into bed at 10:00 and were once again serenaded to sleep by the night critters.
Wednesday was the day we'd been looking forward to! ScubaGirl (Sydney) and her husband, Keith invited us out on their catamaran. They were bareboating around the islands for 2 weeks and planned to be in "our neighborhood" during their 2nd week to pick up Keith's daughter, Jen and her husband, Phil who were staying at Maho.
As mentioned before, Sharon's not a big fan of boats, but we promised her we'd stay moored and not sail around (altho' I'm sure she'd have been fine in those waters on a catamaran). The plan was to park in the Annaberg parking lot, and Keith & Sydney would come to the shore in their dinghy and pick us up. How special did I feel when we had to say "excuse me, excuse me" as we wound our way through a group of people on some sort of National Park tour to go climb into the dinghy and be swept away to that beautiful catamaran waiting for us in Waterlemon Bay!
When Sydney and I first saw each other, again like with Jorge, it was like meeting an old friend for the first time. It was great! We all just took to each other right away! After we climbed aboard the cat from the dinghy and met Jen and Phil, Keith became an excellent host/bartender and it was rum all around (or soda, or whatever else anyone could ever want!) and we sat for a while and talked about where they had been (all through the BVI's!) and where they were headed. Sydney and I each gave each other bracelets we had made. (We're both into beading). I think she had a hint I was making one for her, but I was floored at the beautiful bracelet she made for me from hand-made glass beads a friend makes especially for her. I've gotten many compliments on it since, Sydney!
After some snacks, drinks and conversation it was into the water to snorkel! We were pretty close to the cay so off we went, around the cay counter clockwise. The deep water was a little cloudy (from all the rain I think) so it was difficult to see much, but we could make out a few starfish and a ray on the bottom.
Margo & Sydney
About 1/3 of the way around the cay, Phil shouted out there was a shark below, and sure enough, about 10 feet down, there was a Nurse Shark sitting on the bottom. I got the greatest picture of her! Too bad my camera had turned itself off! By the time I figured out what was going on with my camera, she was swimming away... oh well, at least I got to see her! Thus far in our trip, I have counted myself lucky for having seen an eel, a turtle, a ray and a shark (even though I didn't get pictures of most of them).
As I said, I'm pokey when it comes to snorkeling and before I knew it, everyone was way ahead of me, and by the time I got around to the other side of the cay, they were all farther over between the cay and the shore. I was getting tired, so I figured that it would be a wise decision for me to start back for the boat now, before I got too tired to get there! I saw another ray on the way back to the boat and by the time I got to the boat, I was really glad to have that ladder to hang on to!
Rick, who had gone back to the boat after snorkeling the left side of the cay, helped haul my sorry a$$ back on board and we hung out and watched the others having fun with "something" out there! As it turns out, they were hanging with a HUGE turtle! I guess he hangs out there frequently and people don't particularly bother him. Everyone was pretty excited to have seen this big guy and swim so close to him.Once everyone was back on the boat, Sydney & Keith set to making a great lunch for us! And more rum, of course!
Sorry I caught you with your eyes closed, Sydney!
Margo, Jen, Phil & Sharon
Margo & Rick
Sydney
While we were eating, the conversation between Jen & Sharon turned to dolphins and how awesome it would be to ever be able to swim with a wild dolphin. We were almost done eating when Rick says, "Hey, what kind of big fish are out here?" and Keith says, "How big?" and Rick says, "Well I just saw a tail about this big (holding his hands about 3 feet apart)!" All of a sudden someone yells "DOLPHIN!" Was that you Sydney? Are you the one who saw it first after Rick?
Then the game was afoot! Sure enough, there's a dolphin swimming around our boat! And not just "around" but beneath it, between the pontoons and doing back flips over the mooring rope!
Sharon and Jen jumped into the water without a second thought! They went to where the dolphin was last spotted, and low and behold, she's still there! Like she was just waiting for some playmates! I didn't go in because I was having too much fun watching from the boat (plus, I was still tired from being out earlier). I don't think either of the girls had their fins on, but Phil jumped in and took Jen's mask to her, then he stayed out too.
The dolphin, who we learned later is a rogue dolphin fondly named "Splash" by the residents of St. John (great story - ask Ruth to tell you some day), shows up now and then, and then disappears for months at a time. We were the lucky ones she chose to play with that day. She swam around and around the boat, often disappearing completely for several minutes, only to pop up on the other side of the boat. Jen, Phil & Sharon said they couldn't see her until she was right in front of their faces, but from our lofty perch aboard the catamaran, we could spot her swimming here and there and coming up to surprise the swimmers from behind! Geezzzz.... I can't begin to tell you how much fun they were all having! All we could hear over and over from Jen was, "Oh my God!" "Oh - my - God!" "Oh - my - God... seriously!" It was hysterical! At one point, Sharon said she was looking all around for Splash and couldn't see her anywhere, then all of a sudden Splash came up right in front of her face, looked her in the eye and blew her blowhole on her!! Sharon said she never realized how hard those things can blow! But no one was hurt and Sharon has that in her book of memories now.
... and the playing continued. Splash got just close enough to let Jen & Sharon touch her with their fingertips, but never any closer.We were being excitedly loud, when I looked over to the shore, and could see people who were trying to figure out what we were all yelling about. You knew they knew something was going on out there, but we were too far out to be able to tell them.
Some snorkelers that had moored a couple of dinghys off the cay figured it out and also swam over to play with Splash. I guess 3's company, but more's a crowd and Splash didn't hang around much longer after the new people joined. Or maybe she just got tired. Who knows?
You can just see Splash's dorsal fin in front of the two swimmers in the middle
It was three tired swimmers who climbed back aboard the boat that afternoon. Keeping up with a dolphin would be hard enough with fins on, but they were barefooted in that water for about 30 - 45 minutes! Jen was in tears of happiness, and Phil & Sharon were like they had just had a religious experience. It truly was an unforgettable experience for everyone, in the water or out! By now it was getting on past 3:00 and it was time to get going. We were all pretty tired and waterlogged and sunburned. Ahhhhhh.... the perfect day! We said thanks all around and hugged and Jen still had tears in her eyes.
Keith took us back to Annaberg and dropped us off. Thanks again Sydney and Keith! Our day with you guys and the amazing things that we saw and experienced together has bumped my #1 best day ever into the #2 spot!When we got back to the car, we headed to Cruz Bay because I had planned to marinate some tri-tip we brought from home, in St. John Spice Citrus marinade, and I had all the ingredients except..... you guessed it.... Cruz Bay Grill rub! So off we go to St. John Spice. I was ready at the counter with a jar of said spice in-hand, to pay for it. I planned to take a jar home anyway, so I was just going to go ahead and buy it now instead of just before we left, when Ron asked about what we were making and then gave me a "free sample" which was more than enough for the marinade that night! How cool is that!?! (I bought the jar a few days later, though!) Such nice people that Ruth and Ron! So off we went back to the villa where the tri tips marinated while we all took showers and looked at the dolphin pictures on our cameras over and over again. Rick braved the skeeters and fired up the grill and we had grilled St. John Spice tri tip, fresh asparagus (from Dolphin Market - yum!) and baked potatoes for dinner, while listening to my island playlist on my iPod. I have to say this was our best meal on-island so far. We fell into bed at 10:00 and were once again serenaded to sleep by the night critters.
