Snorkeling at Jerry's Place

Located in the Green Cay Marina (where we spent our first week on the boat Tradewinds) is Jerry's Place.  Jerry's is a little shack that rents out snorkeling gear, beach chairs, and kayaks.  Jerry himself is from Pennsylvania and has owned the place for twenty years.  He's an awesome guy who has taken great care of us.  The first day we got in, we went to talk to him about snorkeling.  It took a month before the water cleared up enough to go.  The cool thing about Jerry is that he doesn't bullshit about the conditions.  He will not let people rent gear unless the visibility is good.  The reef itself is a long stretch of coral that has all types of fish.  The following is a collection of photos taken from multiple trips.

There are also a lot of Iguanas on the property by Jerry's.  

Drew The Lobster Tamer

We have taken the lobster snares out several times but did not see any on our first few trips.  Then one morning we stopped into the gas station "Ziggys" to grab some supplies for another trip to Jack's.  There was a cute girl there that had a flat tire down the road.  Drew, being the man he is went to help her fix it.  He came back twenty minutes later sweaty with greasy hands and we were on our way.  After being in the water for awhile Drew came out with his first lobster.  It was regulation size and he took it to The Cultured Pelican.  The lobster hang out underneath the coral rocks and getting them to come out can be quite a challenge.  We have actually seen several lobster but have so much trouble getting them out of the coral that we have only got two so far, both by Drew.  So after fixing a girls flat and catching a lobster, Drew wins Man of the Day award.

1940's Serious Picture

Sunset Snorkel

One day after dropping Philip off at work, Drew and I took off for the West End to get in a last minute snorkel.  This was the first time we have seen the sunset since being here.  Since we are on the east end, we do not get to see the sunset.  The sunset was nice and we saw some interesting stuff.

Lobster!  Too small to keep though.

Jack's Bay

Once the three of us got a day off together we took a trip to Jack's Bay.  Jack's is a secluded beach that you gain access to by taking a trail from the top of Point Udall.  It is about a twenty minute hike to the beach but well worth it.  The beach is protected by an outer reef, so even if the wind is up and the sea is choppy, the bay remains fairly calm thanks to the reef breaking most of it up.  We have been to Jacks three times since this first trip and every time have been the only ones on the beach.  For this trip which was our first, we packed an ice chest with some food and beer and made a day out of it.  It was an awesome time.  There were no lobsters to be seen but a bunch of cool fish, and Philip and Drew each caught a conch.  To say caught is making a bigger deal out of it because you just dive down and pick them up off the sand.  The shells of the conch are neat and the conch itself is a cheap food but can be very good if cooked right.  Restaurants use them for chowder and fry them up for conch fritters.  This was our first time in the water with our new gear, and taking pictures of fish underwater is very difficult.  We saw some cool stuff this day but I was unable to get any good pictures of them.

A good stretch is key to a successful snorkeling trip.

BUSY BUSY BUSY!!!

The season is fully upon us and things have been very busy lately.  Starting around Christmas is when things started to pick up and they have remained pretty steady.  Since we finally started making some money we went and bought ourselves some snorkeling gear.  Snorkeling is our new passion.  We make it out about four times a week trying out new spots every time.  Some are better than others, but they all have their advantages.

The owners of The Buccaneer, the hotel that Drew and I work at, own a good part of the island including the local hardware store.  For Christmas we got gift certificates to it.  I wasted my money on rat traps since every night I work the bar rats pillage the place and scare the crap out of me.  I almost grabbed one the other night reaching for a glass.  However, Drew spent his money more wisely, and purchased the tools necessary to build lobster snares.  The idea of the snare is to get the lobsters tail into it and then pull, tightening the wire around the lobster to where it can not get away.  

From now on most of the posts are going to be about our snorkeling trips.

Update

Sorry for the delay, but we have been without internet for a while.  But, due to Drew's hacking skills we now have the internet.  The season is upon us and work is busy.  We just bought snorkeling gear yesterday.  We can not wait to try it out, and the owner of a restaurant said he was desperate for lobster and would pay us good money if we caught any.  Once again sorry there have been no posts in about a month, but they will be coming at a steady pace now.

Pros and Cons Of St. Croix

So after being here for a little over a month, we have started to get a grip on things.  Here is a list of the good and bad things that come with being here.

Pros

The People-  We have met some of the nicest people in the short amount of time that we have been here.  All most all of the people that we have met have been extremely helping, whether it is to help us find jobs, a car or whatever else it is that we need. 

The Beaches-  On the days off we have, we try to go explore and find a new beach.  There are endless amounts of them.  Some of them are calm and tucked away in lagoons, and others are open with big waves at resorts.  They are all different and have their own feel.

Bar Games-  One of the bars that we frequent, Cheeseburgers In "American" Paradise, since Jimmy Buffett sued them, has little bar games to play.  One of them is that you pay a dollar and get to roll five dice three times.  If you hit five of a kind you win the pot.  The other night the pot was up to 750.  Philip got four of a kind.  Almost. 
Another game they play is squares for Monday Night Football.  For four dollars you get a square.  There are a hundred squares predicting the scores of the game.  If you win you get 200 hundred dollars and a square on the big board.  The big board is for the Super Bowl.  Last Monday we won thanks to the Patriots shellacking of the Jets.  The prize for the big board is Twenty Thousand Dollars!

 Food-  The restaurants here all have great food.  We have yet too just have a horrible meal.

Cheap Booze-  The booze here is outrageously cheap.  It is like buying alcohol in Mexico. 

Open Container- There is no open container laws here.  You can take booze with you anywhere.  Walk out of bar with a beer and drink it on the way to your next.  Not a problem.

Relaxation-  Everyone here is completely relaxed and easy going.  Very rarely do you come across someone who is in a bad mood or in a hurry. 

 Cons

Old people- enough said.

Service-  Due to the fact that everyone here is relaxed, you usually get crappy service.  If you do get good service it is because the people have just moved here and are not used to making people wait.  It is not unusual for a meal to take over an hour and a half and not get a single re-fill during that time.  It is very frustrating.

The weather- Everyone keeps saying that the weather will get better, but right now it sucks.  It rains almost everyday making the water cloudy.  Waking up to blue skies is always a blessing.

Massive Pot Holes-  There are pot holes everywhere here, like two feet deep pot holes.  Driving the roads here is a challenge.  It can be very fun though trying to avoid all of them.  You do not want to get in the car if Philip is driving at night without his glasses because it is guaranteed he will hit every pot hole on the way and you will most likely get airborne.  

Expensive Items-  As cheap as the booze is, everything else is that much more expensive.  Eight dollars for a gallon of milk, and so on.  It is kind of comical to go to the grocery store and see how much stuff costs. 

No See Ums-  This is by far the worst part of the Caribbean.  No see ums are little gnat like mosquitoes that will drive you crazy.  They are about the size of fleas, hence the name, but they have a strong bite.  When they bite you it will make your leg twitch.  And they are everywhere.  We all have numerous bite marks all over. 

So that's the list.  I'm sure as time goes on there will be more to add too it.  But,  overall the good outweighs the bad.  Hopefully soon we will be able to go to Buck Island for the day to go have some fun.