February 26, 2011 Aquaholics going a bit overboard.

We woke early this morning and sailed out of Road Bay approximately 6miles to Prickly Pear Cays.  Prickly Pear was amazing, beautiful, beyond Corona commercial worthiness. We set anchor on the south side of Prickly Pear Cays around 9:30am. Breakfast was enjoyed and we then hopped in the dingy and shot through the gap between the cays around to the north side of the eastern island.  Shooting through that gap was nothing short of surf passage back in the Navy -- rolling, cresting breakers, crashing right on top of us!  Mark is excellent with the dingy and kept our bow pointed perfectly into the surf.  We were all laughing and completely soaked which was fine because we were going snorkeling anyways.  

This shows where we anchored, where we dinghy'd to, and also where we hiked across to swim back to the boat.  Because of the rough surf, about 1/2 of our group swam back to the boat after hiking across the island.  The other half took the dinghy back.  We stayed on Prickly Pear for about 2 1/2 hours. It was just great, the sand was the whitest we've seen, and we had a clear day with blue skies.  It wasn't crowded at all.  I could probably count on my hands the total number of others there. A little bar and rum room also are on the island which they provision via boat on a daily basis.  After enjoying everything Prickly Pear had to offer, we got back to the Madrid and tacked across the channel to Crocus Bay.  We arrived around 4pm.  This is a rarity -- we are the only boat moored in this bay!  It's also worth mentioning I was Captain today and enjoyed controlling the boat.  After having performed all the other positions, being Captain was more enjoyable and I felt a thorough and personal understanding of how things operate. 

After anchoring in Crocus Bay, Mark, Jen, Vicki, Mike H. and I took the dinghy ashore to explore.  The first thing we noticed is there's no dock anywhere.  This means a beach landing, so it's critically important to jump out of the boat and haul it ashore the moment we hit the beach lest we get broadside and capsize.  Our landing ashore went well.  We took a small wave over our stern but no big deal at all.  We dragged our dinghy up high on the sand and walked a short distance of 100yds to the only establishment on the beach -- da'Vida.  This place was very nice, and the prices were  reasonable.  There was a lounge area for tapas, and a dining area set aside for dinner and full meals.  This lounge had nice big wooden couches and chairs, and the dining area white linen tablecloths.  It could comfortably seat about 75 to 100 people I would guess.  We all had a seat in the lounge area and enjoyed a few drinks with some tapas.  I had jerk pork with some lime dipping sauce.  It was the best jerk seasoning I've tasted since my honeymoon in Jamaica!  However, Jamaica still has this place beat on the jerk flavor.  

By the time we finished hanging out it was around 8pm and Jen and Mark would be preparing dinner, so we paid our bills and prepared the dinghy to head back out.  This was a bit more tricky.  Not only had the surf kicked up a bit, but we all had a few drinks too!  We dragged the dinghy to the water's edge and tried waiting until right after a big set of waves before we made our attempt.  Once it appeared our window of opportunity had arrived, we went for it.  It was easy to get the dinghy into knee/waist deep water, and then the tricky part was getting everyone aboard while keeping the bow pointed into the crashing waves.  Mark and Jen hopped in the bow just fine, then Vicki was able to hop in behind them (I was holding our nose out all the while keeping the boat straight), then I hopped in about the same time Mike did.  Mike planted a hand on the side of the dinghy, hopped in and fell completely backward into the surf!  He quickly shot up out of the water and got back in the boat. I felt bad for him, and Vicki laughed really hard because, well, it was kind of funny.  Mike was a superb sport about the whole thing, even though he was completely soaked.  We pointed our nose into the waves, gave a solid push, hopped in dropped the motor down and fired it up!  We made it back through the next set of waves and were home free. 


Once back at the Madrid Mark and Jen prepared some truly excellent BBQ chicken and pan cooked fish.  It was delicious and very satisfying after the long day!  After dinner (9:45ish) I was pretty beat and decided to crash for the day so I can be rested up for SCUBA diving tomorrow morning.  Mike R. and I are to be picked up around 9am for some wreck dives. Can't wait!