12.37.791N
61.21.393W
Another bumpy night with 30 kt gusts. The morning dawned rather gray but definitely less blustery and the sun would peek out from time to time. We got our morning chores done, then hopped in the dink and headed over to Baradel, the tiny island to our left, to go snorkeling; figuring that the horseshoe reef would be too churned up for any good visibility. We met Jill & Dean (Delilah) on the beach who had the same idea. So we secured our dinghies and headed into the turtle grass in search of turtles.
Even behind the island, the sand was churned up making the visibility less than desirable but we did spot a couple of turtles and followed them around for awhile. Although there were quite a few fish, with the visibility being so murky, I was inclined to call it a day and head back when Jill & Dean did. Dale suggested that we try swimming around the island with the understanding that if the visibility got any worse, we’d head back.
As it turned out, the visibility did get better even though it was the side the waves were crashing into and the schools of reef fish definitely improved. Besides the fish I’ve mentioned previously, we also saw a queen angel fish and a lobster condo. Perhaps a lobster nursery is more accurate. We saw about 10 of the spiny dinners in the shell hiding beneath a couple of rocks. I hope they survive to adulthood. This area is a marine preserve but locals and visitors alike poach the little critters the second they reach a pound. The ones we saw hardly had tails longer than 3”.
We continued our journey around the island and saw an area loaded with West Indian Sea Eggs, a type of sea urchin. Linda had told us that she had seen a couple of men harvesting them a few days ago. We finished our circumnavigation of the island and headed back to the boat.
The rest of the day I pulled together recipes for a Thanksgiving dinner; made sure I had all of the ingredients I needed for the recipes and dishes to actually put the food into. Then I created a timeline so that I could cook everything I needed to on a 3 burner stove and a small oven. Since its calm right now, I’ve decided to make the pumpkin pie tonight. Dale and I were trying to remember the last time I made a pie crust from scratch. It’s been a while; I have gravitated over the years to those pre-made ones that you just fold out into the pie plate. So far, so good; at least it looks right. I’ll let you know tomorrow.
