Dive #248 - Rich Torkington's Dive Log

Red banded lobster in the North Star cave - these guys are uncommon.
Videocap by Rich Torkington in the USVIs 2006

Dive Journal: Janel has been again enticed by our rave reviews of our last dive at North Star – see dive #245 – so she and I grab our still-wet gear in the afternoon and take the car down there again. I can’t begin to tell how great it feels to be out doing a wonderful shore dive with your wonderful daughter – could life get better?

The skies turn a little overcast as we suit up, but we don’t see any threat of rain. The small waves and rocks impede our entry a bit, but not too bad. We both find it easiest to strap on our fins as soon as possible in knee-deep water, then fin out over the breakers.

Janel and I at first repeat the same path that Linda and I took, and soon locate the wall cave. The huge green moray is still there, and still covered with gobies. The red-banded lobsters are still hiding in their crevices. Janel loves the scene and we explore around it for quite a while.

Heading east along the wall, we spot a big southern stingray flapping along over the reef. With no sand around, this seems a little bit unusual to me, more like a spotted eagle ray would behave.

I’ve got a mild headache at the end of this dive, probably CO2 build up from trying to conserve my air too much. However, on the exit swim, I catch a glimpse and then some video of a nimble spray crab darting about beneath some urchins.

This evening, the four of us settle into John and Janel’s room in the house. They’ve got the air conditioning cranked up like a refrigerator, and I admit it feels pretty good in there, at least for a while. We start out watching movies on the player in there, and end up sitting all night through Nemo and Awakenings.

The next day 7/17, we rise late and lounge around the house for a while. Eventually, we take the car to the Cruzan Rum Distillary to do the tour. The tour is visually interesting but shallow in information – I do wish that more was explained about the process. After the tour, a sampling is offered and I elect for a straight shot of the 12 year old Cruzan rum. Mmmm – tasty.

Movies tonight: As Good as It Gets, Philadelphia, and finally The Abyss. Dinner: Spaghetti with turkey burgers. In paradise.