Tag: lobster

August 4, 2015

Adventures With Dad & Stacy

When Dad and Stacy came to visit last December they had a blast learning to use the hookah dive system, playing with the underwater metal detector that they brought for us, fishing and hunting for lobster. They had a pretty cool vacation in the Caribbean if you ask me ;)

Take a look at some of the underwater fun we had…

We’re currently in Carriacou, making our way down to Mt. Hartman Bay in Grenada this week. We’ll be catching up on publishing a LOT of photos over the next two months… stay tuned for more!!

June 1, 2015

Feels Like Home in the USVI

After our 3 and a half-day passage North from Grenada to the US Virgin Islands, we spent a few days relaxing in Christmas Cove before sailing off again for more adventures.

Peter and I had both heard that St. Thomas wasn’t going to be terribly exciting to see, though there were a couple places we shouldn’t miss. Honeymoon Bay off Water Island was one of those places. It’s an idyllic little cove with umbrellas and bright colored chairs strewn across the palm tree lined beach. We also heard there is a movie night held on Mondays where they project against canvas tied up between the palm trees. Though we never made it to shore, the view from the anchorage was perfect.

After a couple nights, the swell direction changed and it wasn’t just ferry wakes rocking us ragged. The constant swell wrapping around the point was enough for us to move.

We couldn’t leave, however, without taking a long dinghy ride out to some snorkeling spots to hunt for lobster. Much of the US Virgin Islands are protected either by National Park or Marine Preserve where there are restrictions on fishing and lobstering. It’s tricky to find places that aren’t protected, though there are a few. Leave it to the Lobbie Whisperer to find them…

We set up our hookah dive compressor, The Air Line, and jumped in.

Just under the surface we saw a little nurse shark. They’re fun to see because in the day they are usually resting. I’d much rather see one of these little guys than a bull shark or huge Caribbean reef shark!

Within minutes, Peter spotted a hole with four or five lobsters poking their antennae out, almost as if to say, “Pick me! Pick me!”

For those of you wondering what Peter is holding, it’s a snare. In the USVI you are not allowed to spear lobster with a gun or a pole spear, you can only catch them by hand or with a snare. This ensures that if you pull out a female with eggs or one that is too small, you can safely let it go. With a spear, you often don’t find out there are eggs until its too late.

Hunting lobster is truly an art and Peter has mastered it beautifully.

Another successful hunt followed by a gorgeous sunset.

“I think I could get used to this life,”

Of all the islands we’ve visited, the USVI feels most like home. I think we’ll stay for awhile.

What place feels like home to YOU?

December 24, 2014

A Coconut Christmas

Wishing you all a Very Merry Coconut Christmas!!

We will be enjoying a cozy Christmas Eve on our boat tonight with our family and extended cruiser family for a lobster feast and fresh baked pumpkin pie…

Merry Christmas from everyone on Mary Christine!!

July 27, 2014

The Spanish Virgins: Paradise in Culebrita

Mom was SO excited to go for her first sail! We left Salinas on May 18th around 8:30 at night. It was beautiful and still inside the harbor. As we motored out, we saw not one but TWO flares go off, just East of us outside the harbor. Couldn’t be fireworks. They were most definitely flares. Peter immediately got on the radio announcing what we saw and the US Coast Guard responded right away. They asked that we call them from our Sat Phone to give them all the details. They asked what our course was, the approximate location of the flares, the seconds between the shots, the angle and speed of the flares and any other information we could give them. It was really quite reassuring how totally “On It” the Coast Guard was. I mean, you always wonder if you really needed help, would anyone hear you?

Within what seemed like minutes, a helicopter was flying above us with a spotlight. We never did find out if they found whoever had shot off the flares but hopefully everyone was okay.

The seas along the Southern Coast of Puerto Rico were nasty. The night lees we found in the DR were long gone and the Trade Winds were creating something fierce on the surface of the seas. The waves had the shortest period we had encountered yet, bashing against our hull as we motored hard to wind. Uncomfortable was a mild way to put it. After just a short while, Mom wasn’t feeling too well, giving her a terrible first impression of her journey.

Mom stayed up with me for my watches and we slept when Peter took watch. 15 hours later we arrived at Puerto Real, Vieques, around 11:30 am. We decided to take it easy that day and stay overnight. The next day, we left Puerto Real and took a short trip over to Ensenada Honda (or The Turtles). The day after that (May 21st), the weather looked good and we decided to take a three-hour sail and detour up to Culebrita instead of heading straight to the USVI.

As we rounded the point into the anchorage on Culebrita, we saw a gorgeous white sand beach and clear blue water. This place looked like PARADISE compared to the anchorages we had been staying in ever since the Bahamas. There were about 4 boats on mooring balls near the beach. We decided to anchor in a sandy patch a little further back.

Peter took off on a paddle board to go say hi to our friends on Rainbow, just across the anchorage. Last time we saw Rainbow was back in La Parguera so it was nice to see a familiar boat. We spend a fantastic three days here in this magical little place. If we ever come back this way, we will definitely schedule in some extra time to come back here. One of our favorite places for sure.

Lobster Season on Culebrita happens to be YEAR ROUND! The anchorage here is also on the North Coast of the island which is supposedly not affected by Ciguatera, notoriously found on the South side of Vieques and Culebra. Within the first 15 minutes of snorkeling around the reef nearest our boat, Peter spotted a monster lobster down about 20′. He used his snare to catch him and quickly swam towards a sandy patch away from the reef. If the lobster were to get loose, it’s best to take it where there is no where to hide. By handling lobster over the reef, they can easily wiggle away and crawl into a hole faster than we can swim back down.

We stayed on Culebrita for three nights. Every night we were there we had fresh grilled lobster. Peter dove hard for them for many hours and always towards the end of the day he would come up with some of the biggest lobster we’ve ever seen. Although leery of the larger fish, he hooked a few mutton snapper off the back of the boat each night as well. The larger ones have a higher chance of containing Ciguatera so Peter let those ones get away.

Gunner and Betsy had SOOOO much fun swimming at the beach! Betsy would spend the whole day in the water if she could. Gunner goes back to the dinghy when he’s tired and barks at us to lift him back in :)

Gunner wasn’t too sure about our dinghy anchor…

Gunner was very excited to find a coconut up on the beach. He kicked it around a few times but eventually figured out he couldn’t eat it. I think he likes to be where the coconuts grow just as much as we do!

Friday was the start of Memorial Day Weekend. All the Puerto-Rican power boats cruised in, one after another, after another, after another!! We were amazed at how many there were. 60+ at least. Other cruisers had told us about the “Puerto-Rican Navy,” and that this is a regular occurrence on the weekends but we didn’t understand until we saw it ourselves. The music got louder, the wake got larger, and the bikini bottoms got smaller. It kind of ruined the whole place. Being anchored next to a bunch of rowdy naked people partying all night long is not our idea of paradise so we got out of there as fast as we could.

It was a short sail over to St. Thomas, USVI, on the 24th of May. We arrived just in time to pick up my grandmother (Mom’s mom) who everyone knows as “Bean” the very next day. We’ve had some pretty amazing timing on this adventure and this is just another example of how everything happens for a reason, at exactly the right time!