Clarity

At times a 6 day vacation like this can seem to last as long as our trip report. Your brain is just flooded with such an abundance of new and exciting data that time seems to slow down considerably.

You have to keep the experiences coming though and you can't act like it's a three week vacation with time for sunbathing. Noon was the perfect time for Capt. Sparrow to suggest a little snorkeling trip to us. The pounding rhythms from last night were slowly fading in our heads and breakfast had restored our energy reserves to full capacity. I gave Daisy a hopeful glance and she seemed completely on board.

We grabbed the necessary what-not's and were back on the beach in 20 Minutes flat. Capt Sparrow and a very young looking crew member were waiting. With skilled moves they help us board the vessel from the stern. The 1st Mate pulled on the anchor line to free the boat from the beach. While the Capt unleashed the roaring out boarder and slowly dropped it from its tilted position into the wet. He nodded at me and pondered: “She's pushing nicely with so few people”.



My sea-legs weren't quite where I had left them. I used to work on a 36' sports-fishing boat back in Florida, 10 Miles out with huge waves, chasing the few remaining sail fish and King Mackerel during season. But after all these years I was barely able to stand up. So I sat here for the first few minutes trying to hide my embarrassment at my own ineptitude and the bruise on my shin, which I had acquired during my misplaced attempt at entering the boat without assistance.

When I finally looked up again the vector of the boat seemed to be off. Instead of the bow being pointed towards the off-shore reefs we seemed to be heading straight for a bar on the beach.



'Great, here we go!”, I thought to myself. Someone at the hotel had warned me: “See those boats there? Some of those boats don't go nowhere. The captain just takes you further down the seven miles of beach, smokes you out and then tries to sell you ganja. Nothing else happens.”

Capt Sparrow: “ We just have to pick up Shamma-lamma-Ding-Dong.”

'What the heck does that mean? I'll never get this Patois down.' I thought.

With that thought the motor went silent as the boat grinded to a halt with the bow cutting in to the beach sand. A tall figure with a wild Rasta-mane came running out of a gift shop with a bottle in a paper bag and climbed on board like a cat.

Man: “Ya-Mon!”

Daisy: “ What's YOUR name?”

Man: “ Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong”

Me, extending my fist for a greeting: “No really what's your name!”

The first Mate assured with a grin: “ No, that really his name!”

Me: “ But that's..., isn't that,...mmh isn't that Doo-Wop?” I was puzzled.

I let it go and decided to just hold my hair into the wind and enjoy the boats up and down on the waves, which had resumed



The crew members busied themselves immediately with the construction of an impressive special cigarette by means of a whole Tobacco leaf, stem, veins and all. It looks something a herbivore had regurgitated

I passed on the offer of partaking... Despite some curiosity towards the object. 'You don't want to feel the effects of that while snorkeling', I told myself.

So I dragged out my 'Reef fish of the Caribbean book, to look at the “Must Sees” again and maybe ask the crew what to expect. When I handed Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong the book he made a face like Yentle presented with the Talmud.

Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong:” Hey, this is what we need!”

The First Mate, Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong and the Capt. all huddled together over the book as fields of Manatee grass passed below the glass-bottom. Feverishly flipping through the pages they seemed to “download” the information like rain-man.”Amazing, Jamaican Copy machines”, I thought.

Then Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong brought the book over and proudly showed me every thing he had seen in these waters, especially emphasizing the spotted Ray as the most impressive to encounter.



he competitive side came up in me and I had to point out everything I had seen. Impressed the first mate and Shamma-Lamma shook my hand and said with much conviction: “A man, who loves the sea! I like a man who loves the sea!”

“Alright!” I thought and pushed out my chest with satisfaction. I smiled at Daisy. She has this amazing capacity for tolerating and supporting me in my “man-moments”. She stroked my cheek as if to say: “I am so happy you made friends with the other kids in school!”. Despite my lacking sea legs I felt like I measured up now.

The Manatee-grass below the glass bottom flew by for a few more minutes and as hotels on shore was getting smaller, the boat slowed down to idle.



Another much bigger boat, filled with drunk rich kids from an All-Inclusive was already hovering above the coral reefs. Their snorkelers dotted the water, swimming in erratic circles around each other and bumping head first into each others fins like retarded fish unwilling to increase their distance to the safety of the vessel.

The first mate readied the anchor, while Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong was rummaging through the bow compartment with a mischievous grin on his face. He pulled out a Vuvuzela, then erected himself. He then filled his lungs and waited for the boat to drift a little closer to the competitor. At a 20foot-distance, he let out an ear-splitting “TOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT”. The water frothed with panicked swimmers. I am sure some of the snorkelers relieved themselves right then and there, as I almost did myself. Some people ripped the masks off their faces and looked around in panic, wiping water from their face. “TOOOOOOOOOOT”, now the first mate had a go and our crew doubled over, cracking up, as panicked swimmers tried to climb up the overfilled ladder to the other dive boat unsure what danger the noise was alerting them too. It was a little mean, but hey,...our team won? None of the others looked in the mood to go back into the water.

With the reefs all to ourselves Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong, handed us a variety of fins to choose from. We picked the best fitting ones. I put my mask on and eagerly dropped myself backwards over the side of the boat as if laden with scuba-gear. Daisy was still struggling to get on her first ever fins. I watched her as she looked over the railing not sure how to get her self launched into the water...

I'll let Daisy take over now with her perspective*..

Day 3 – Part 3

I sat on the edge of the boat, clutching the sides with my legs dangling over. I had never worn flippers before, they looked and felt alien on my feet. I gazed down at the clear blue water lapping against the side of the boat.

It looked so deep, and the drop down into the ocean seemed a stretch. The beaches boat had left, so it was just the five of us and this little boat in the middle of the expansive sea. Land looked like it was very far away. I realized I was trembling slightly.



Markus gazed up at me expectantly from the water. He looked funny in his goggles with the snorkel in his mouth.
I imagined how I must look. I glanced over at Captain Sparrow and Shamma-lamma-ding-dong. They looked amused, but gave me an encouraging gesture to jump in.

“So ..uh, you wont leave us here.. right in the middle of the ocean, right?”, I asked one last time. “you're going to wait for us?” I thought back to a movie I had seen called “OPEN WATER” - they went diving and were left behind. They were eventually eaten by sharks....

Sharks!!... I hadn't even thought about that possibility.!

“Of course, we're not going anywhere.”, Captain Sparrow reassured me.

I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. I released my tight grip on the boat edge and let my body fall into the water.

I was now submerged in an underwater wonderland. When the bubbles cleared...I was amazed to discover that I was surrounded by Sgt Major fish!

Captain Sparrow had dropped some bread in the water and they were all spinning around me to get at it. I had never in my life seen so many Sgt. Majors in my life! They were so cute with their yellow stripped bodies and big eyes. They bumped into my goggles and twisted around my arms. I was in absolute awe!

*gasped and inhaled a bunch of water. Aaaah! I panicked and reached blindly for Markus's hand. My snorkel was gurgling loudly and I blew out as hard as I could.. over and over until the water was gone.

I felt Markus's hand in mine and he gave it a reassuring squeeze...I felt myself relax...

It was breathtaking to float around these reefs with Markus at my side. There were so many fish darting around the corals..in out and around them. Needle fish swam by near the surface, glancing at us curiously. It was so clear.. this was a different world underwater. I'd never seen anything like this before.. We just drifted around for a half an hour, taking it all in

I saw a massive bright colorful tropical fish and I gestured excitedly towards it to get Markus's attention.

That was when my wedding ring slipped off my finger.

I swiped at it, but it evaded my grasp. It spun in the water, twinkling as it descended deeper and deeper. It landed right next to a sea urchin on the bottom of the ocean. Too far down for me to swim and reach. looked at it glistening in the sand. Oh no!!

Who would be foolish enough to go snorkeling with their wedding ring on ? Yeah, that would be ME..

I frantically tugged on Markus's shirt. I just made sounds in my snorkel that sounded like “MMMMMUH MUHHH MINGGGG!!!”. I pointed over and over towards the bottom of the sea. I didn't know if he could see what I was pointing at, it was really far down and only visible when it reflected the sunlight streaming through the water.



To be continued...

Day 3 Part 4
Markus

I was trying to relax in the water. Yeah, getting my snorkel groove on, laying down flat, bobbing on the surface like a cork-board.

This wasn't easy, the fins were clearly meant to be worn with booties and sort of listlessly hung on my feet - more nuisance than help. Also Daisy's mask and snorkel kept filling with water, so I had to lift her out of the water temporarily, before she could panic, because then the subject of off-shore snorkeling would be history... .

Every time we came up in this way Shamma-Lamma-Ding Dong was gesturing wildly with his hands. “Farther that a-way! Farther from da boat, much better fish!”.

We were quite happy here for the moment.

Daisy is a most enjoyable dive-buddy. She notices everything and excitedly points out every new discovery. Together we miss almost nothing, I just wish one could talk better with a snorkel in the mouth, because this time I just couldn't find the fish she was pointing at, and she seemed more excited then ever. I scanned the ground hard and forced my eyes to focus in search for possibly see-through sights closer to the surface. Nothing!

Then I saw it. A bright gleaming object on the bottom nestled in a bed of sea-urchins. “Way to go, honey!', I thought. “Good find!”

I could already see the headlines: PIRATE TREASURE DISCOVERED BY VACATIONERS OFF BOOBY CAY!.

I took a deep breath and struggled downwards fighting against my increased buoyancy. 'A kingdom for a weight belt', I thought.

Finally I was down about 16 feet. I pinched my nose to equalize the 1,6 extra atmospheres pushing against my eardrum. Then I carefully weaved my finger between the sea urchin spines - not an easy task, even with the slightest current. I kept feeling the tip of this spine or that burrowing into my fingertips and palm and retracted hastily.

'Mu-u-u-u-s-st have Pre-e-e-e-e-cious!', I thought and used my last remaining breath to grab the object with a skillful jab, too fast for current to matter.




When I came up to the surface, I had no air left to clear the snorkel, so I came up above the surface coughing up a bit of sea water.

I got it!!

Without waiting for me to regain my composition, Daisy snatched the object from my hand and stuck it on her Ring Finger.

'How extraordinarily rude' I thought, 'She didn't even give me a chance to examine this new treasure, before she claimed it.” Sure, She found it, yeah , but who... WHO, I say... brought it up?

I readjusted my mask, which was always running full with water. When I laid my head back into the water Daisy held out her hand in that familiar pose, the pose that is reserved for girls showing objects, which a significant other had stuck there.

That's when it dawned on me.

What I had brought up, had only been down there at the bottom of the sea for a few minutes, ...not centuries.

We both came up above the surface and I claimed my hero's reward.

“Oh my God! I love you soooooooooooo much!!!!”, she cried hugging me tightly. With that all thought of Pirate treasure was forgotten.

Back to snorkeling. For a moment. Daisy was looking at her finger more than at any fish, so I made use of her distractedness, to conjure her further away from the boat, towards where Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong had pointed.

The reefs a mile of Boobie-Key are not like those I had seen in the Red Sea. Despite continuous abuse by the local tour boats, which drop their anchor straight into the fragile reefs, the corals off the coast of Egypt form table-top like structures with a bizarrely flat surface. This looked more like a disorganized junk yard, with a pile here, a pile there.

We coasted between the piles, staying clear of the abundant fire coral. Giant Gorgonias or sea fans, where everywhere. Magnificent elk coral was strewn between the abundant fire coral. I had to let go of Daisy's hand unable to fight the urge to closely examine a stunning brain coral, at least 6 foot in diameter, of absolutely spectacular design.

The fish we spotted were mainly Sergeant Majors, juvenile Black Grouper, Ballyhoo, pine cone patterned Parrot fish, Yellow Fin Snapper, French Grunts and many colorful Blue Headed Wrasse. We were probably to far from the ground to notice Damsel fish, Blennies or other tinier or better camouflaged specimen.

Quite a ways out and estimating that we had been out here for at least 30 more Minutes, we turn about towards the boat and a away from the best part of the reef. That's when we saw it. This dives stand-out sighting. Like a snake it wound itself through the coral. Daisy grabbed my hand tightly. Only a few feet away on a heap of coral closer to the surface a magnificent and rare Chain Murray Eel was on the move. He took a quick look at us, but decided we were not interesting enough. As Daisy held her breath the brightly patterned animal vanished in the tiniest of openings between the rocks.




We gasped in awe and continued our swim back towards the boat. Daisy was once again having to clear her mask and splashed around next to me. Almost invisible in it's translucence a comb jelly fish with it's spectacle of rainbow colors drifted a foot from her. Her struggling moves brought Daisy within inches from it. Relying only on my own scarce knowledge of sea-creatures I wasn't ready to conclude that this species was benevolent.

If this is a box-jelly fish we are in deep sh*t, I thought. So I pushed hard against her.

She panicked. Struggled more. I pushed harder.

Finally she tore her mask off and gasped: “What..., WHAT?!..shark?? , where, what did you see?!”

“ Just a jelly fish, not sure if it stings.”, I responded as calm as I could.

“OMG, I am out of here!”, she responded.

This snorkel trip is over I thought, not too bad though. I think she will recover. And she did.

Back on the boat, Shamma-Lamma-Ding-Dong was greeting us with expectant (bloodshot) eyes. They didn't waste any time, pulled the anchor and twisted the throttle on the out boarder.

We sat down and the first-mate burst out: “So...what did you see?”

“A Chain Murray!”, I blurted out, before Daisy had a chance.

“Nice Mon!” Shamma-Lamma and the first Mate agreed. “So you did have a good sighting”. I was relieved at their approval.

You could see Daisy was already taking mental notes for her trip report. She completely forgot about her camera or the panic over the jelly fish. She looked completely happy, stunned, filled with new experiences.

I asked the first mate about sun fish, since they are the most peculiar animal I was able to imagine, and my book said, they were abundant here. He nodded, “Ya Mon! Many sunfish. Lazy, like to lay down and take a sunbath right on our nets.”

He went on to tell me stories about fishing, straight from The old men and the sea. Epic battles fought with blue fish. He told me about Tuna caught with nothing but a string and huge Marlin that “walked” on the water with unbelievable strength after three hours of fighting on the hook. He showed me the deep scars on his hand, cut by plain nylon line. He showed me how you have to cool your hand in the water when the line sets your skin on fire -literally- running through your hand at the speed of the fastest of all, the sail-fish.





I was awed. I felt like Ishmael in the Nantucket whaling pub, the urge for open water surging through my veins. Before I knew it the boat crunched into beach sand.

The boat turned back into a pumpkin, bobbing on the beach surf,as we turned back into tourists. We handed our captain the fare plus a big tip for making us feel like family and not trying to sell us any ganja at any point.

From the Hotel bar we looked back one last time. 'Don't be a stranger.', I thought as we hobbled,, back to the room, arms full of disorganized dive gear and sandy items.

“Let's take a shower!”

The rest of Day 3 too be continued...

I'll leave you with some video footage from our boat trip:

enjoy!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FNvVUlz_N8

Really been enjoying your travel log. Big thanks for sharing....but when do we get Day 4?

NOTE: The rest of DAY 3 can be found HERE:

http://negril.com/forum/showthread.p...t-Day-3-Part-2

I haven't had a chance to transfer this part over to my blog yet, but for now you can click the link and read the rest of this entry there.

Thanks TizzyATV! I just updated my blog with Day 4 (click blog on my profile and you'll find it) Now I'm working on Day 5
We're getting close to the end...

Shamma lamma ding dong. LOL!