We’re heading home. Today is another sea day. I love sea days.
Caribbean
15
Jan 15
SCUBA diving in St. Maarten
The currents were up — but the locals said the waters were actually, finally, calming down. These were some of the hardest dives I’ve done in a long time, if ever. I sucked oxygen like I haven’t in years, if ever.
They were also some of the best dives I’ve done. Sharks, rays, turtles, eagle rays, eels and all manner of smaller fish, all in one dive.
Almost everyone on the dive boat got sick. Except for us.
The people that got sea sick may disagree, but these are the dives you really look forward to.
This is Peter Stuyvesant, the last governor of the Dutch colony of New Netherland. (That’s New York. It is a long shot, but the man conceivably knew my ancestors there.) Previously he’d run things in Curacao and then tried to take St. Maarten back from the Spanish in 1633. It offered a strategic harbor and salt, and the Dutch failed miserably in getting the Spanish off the rock. But Stuyvesant took 13 ships, landed in March of 1644, notified the Spaniards and planted his flag. The Spanish fired on the flag and Stuyvesant was wounded and his right leg ultimately was amputated. He’d become known as Peg leg Pete and he’d watch his comrades sail away from St. Maarten in defeat a month later.
After surrendering New Netherland to four ships of 450 British troops, he stayed on in New York as a private citizen, dying there in 1672. He was a strict Calvinist and a big believer in education. Everything I’ve read about him makes him seem rather harsh, but the 17th century often was. He’s buried in The Bowery — which is, apparently, an anglicization of Bouwerij, which is Dutch for farm, and also the name of Stuyvesant’s 62-acre property that stretched up to Harlem. (I’m going to have to read a history of New York City now, aren’t I?)
Anyway, diving in St. Maarten was a challenge, the visibility wasn’t the best because of the currents and the silt, but the views were great. Great place to dive. Watch the video.
14
Jan 15
Seeing St. Kitts
Late last night our St. Kitts plans fell through. We couldn’t find anything else we were interested in near midnight — some other things had shut down, too. Hey, not every stop can be your best stop.
We did get a magnet for the refrigerator, however.
St. Kitts has Basseterre Circus, a smaller, Caribbean version of Picadilly. They also have a Big Ben, a four-sided, cast iron clock in the center square:
My best girl, at dinner:
13
Jan 15
Adventure Antigua
We took a bus across the island, driven by a nice older gentleman named Myson. He told us all about his homeland and promised us a great day, of which we would enjoy every minute — or need professional medical help.
We went kayaking in some of the calm waters of the island which are protected my mango trees. We saw starfish, sea cucumbers, urchins and jellyfish. We took a boat ride out to a place to snorkel, stood on top of a small island staring out into the crashing Atlantic Ocean, got misted on by waves and boat spray, fought currents to swim a bit and then took the boat back to where our kayak adventure started.
And then Myson arrived to take us back to the cruise ship. The transmission in his bus died. We drove all the way across the island in second gear.
Apparently letting it coast and then popping the clutch is an American thing.
Great island experience, Myson was right — excite for the parts where he was scaring us to death.
The view from Great Bird Island, Antigua:
In between bouts of sea spray:
12
Jan 15
Now, Barbados
And also, turtles!
The leatherback sea turtle, or Dermochelys coriacea, to be precise. They grow quite large, averaging three- to five-feet, but the ones we saw today were on the smaller size. They are the largest of the turtles, and the most widespread. They eat jellyfish and small fish, as you’ll see in the video below. Once they grow to maturity they have few natural predators, which is why the estimated age range is from 30 to 60 or more years. They are most in danger when they are young and, of course, from humans.
These particular ones are as socialized as a reptile can be. Watch the video:
My lovely wife — who is shooting pretty much all of the underwater stuff, by the way — pronounced it the most amazing experience ever. We laughed, watching people jump off the catamaran, see a turtle, and then climb back aboard. As if to say “Yep, mission accomplished.”
We never want to get out of the water.
