Dive #241 - Rich Torkington's Dive Log

Linda teeing off at the Buccaneer Golf Course on St. Croix
Photograph by Rich Torkington in the USVIs 2006

Dive Journal: Spacing out our dives a bit, Linda and I decide to try out one of the local golf courses in the morning. Golfing is a new activity for us but one that we’re starting to like alot – blame it on our retirement I guess. We enjoy the course, which is much different than most we’ve played back in Arizona.

When we return, Linda and I Decide that another shore dive is in order. We head back to Cane Bay, suit up, and are soon involved in the long surface swim north from the beach out to depth.

This time, we head east along the wall. At 90 feet or so, I am already beginning to feel a little narc’d, and not unpleasantly. The wall slope here contains beautiful spur-and-groove gardens of growth. Pushing our no-deco limits, we come up a bit and continue to explore, eventually running out of reef, so we double back west.

There are tons of banded cleaner shrimp, butterflyfish, and several types of small groupers and hinds. On our return to the beach. we come in contact with three reef squid, which is most enjoyable. Linda comes in contact with fire coral, however, which is most unpleasant. She did see a huge barracuda in the shallows here, though, while I checked out a couple of peacock flounders.

Following the dive, Janel joins us at the Full Moon Bar for happy hour. The drinking age here is 18, but it still feels weird for her parents to see her hoisting up a Beck’s Dark.