November 11, 2015

Final home of J. Robert Oppenheimer

Fan Coral

November 11, 2015
Land Ho!  After being at sea for a couple of days it is nice to have arrived.  Don’t get me wrong sailing away is great but walking on land is good too.  Our day has been planned because we are leaving the Princess blessed excursions and striking off on a day sail to St John’s with on our own boat.  We put our lives into the hands of Captain Ocean of Catania Yacht Charters.  (By the way his real name is Ocean, no kidding) and off we sail into the waters where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean Sea.  Our sailing starts in St Thomas but we leave that for the lagoons of St John’s.  There is the beautiful National Park there that is the road less traveled for sure.  Nice sand beaches and a bit of civilization but that too is left behind for a quieter and more remote part of the northern part of St John’s.

We glide into the calm waters of a crystal clear lagoon and listen carefully to our snorkeling instructor Melissa and enter these quiet water most gloriously by jumping off the boat.  Terrie and our friends are seasoned at this but it is my first snorkeling tour so having Melissa is a great relief.  We are guided along stopping to inspect some of the sea life she finds for us.  Amazing clear water, abundant
sea life, and the minutes pass into hours as we explore.  My first time jitters melt too and I relax and feel like I have been doing this all along. 

Captain Ocean is busy on board firing up the grill and preparing us a really nice lunch of grill chicken, salads, and island beverages of all kinds. Our few minutes of snorkeling was a effortless 90 minute swim.  Warm water, good food and a few Captain Ocean stories make a nice break.

Captain Ocean was born on the Catania, our sail boat.  His family sailed around the world and this was his home for his early life.  His stories, his open friendly style make him seem like a modern day Privateer and I can’t help but mention that Melissa is certainly the mermaid type.

He repositions the Catania so that we now have a beach for those interested and another reef to explore taking us to the beach by his zodiac.  After a couple of hours he picks us up and returns us to the boat for a sail back to St Thomas. 

On the way we pass a host of what he refers to as “Cattlemarans”.  Bigger catamarans taking 80 people at a time to public snorkeling places.  On these there isn’t even enough room for everyone to sit down.  You are known by your number…..and dropped off to fend for yourself.  Quickly we all agree that having a Pirate Captain and a Mermaid is well worth it.  You can tell we returned back to the Princess happy and ready to come back for more of our St John’s day.

Sailors for the Day!

 

 

 

Captain Ocean and Crew Melissa