Francis Bay, Snorkeling -Day 3

We decided to take a much needed day of relaxation to recover from our adventurous sail over. First thing, I make a satisfying pot of coffee with a splash of milk and sugar. Mornings are a good time for me to write, and Alex enjoys catching up on Scientific American.



Today, he tells me about how humans have some of the same characteristics and features of baby chimpanzees. Neoteny is the retention of traits previously only seen in juveniles and it plays a role in evolution. Humans retain chimp's adolescent features throughout our lives but adult chimps develop larger jaws and become covered in hair. I enjoyed Alex's tidbits of interesting information.

We thoroughly enjoyed stretching out in the cockpit reading and writing. As I look up, the scenery is picturesque. The shore is lined with tall palm trees swaying in the breeze. The turquoise water is refreshing. It fades into a bold shade of sapphire in the distance.

To our left is a Whistling Caye and a narrow passage to the main island of St. John.

To our right the landscape becomes rocky and seagulls and pelicans enjoy the perfect perch to watch fish below the surface. It must be spawning time for the fish because every once in a while tons of fish jump clear out of the water. Of course this attracts the seagulls who zone in on their prey. It's a pretty incredible site.

For lunch we eat some more tasty sandwiches. I'm not much of a sandwich person at home but for some reason these were exceptionally good.

Late morning, we decided to move to another moor that was closer in to the shore. We had been eying one closer in. We untie the lines and slowly approach the moor. For some reason we missed it the first go around. A man from a nearby boat yelled "Don't go for the eye, just get the floater!" Good tip! Alex was trying to get ahold of the top of the line which is really heavy. He realized that he could just grab the end. By our second attempt, we were pros. I circle around (avoiding all the other moorings), approach slowly, and pop it into reverse while Alex reaches down and grabs it. Easy!

Now it's time for an afternoon swim! We load up our dinghy with our new snorkeling gear and motor up to the beach. Just in case, we pulled the anchor out and set it in the sand! We didn't want any big waves to carry it off.



Our new fins and mask work beautifully! They are very comfortable and easy to maneuver in. We follow the curve in the reef and begin to see hundreds of brightly colored fish! Right away, we came across a sea cucumber. Rock beauties, yellow tail snapper, glassy snapper, yellow mouth grouper, and a sand diver inhabited the reef. Alex waved his hand near the sand diver and he jumped forward towards us. He always searches for things hidden in small crevices or in the sand.

We swam through a school of millions of tiny translucent fish. I felt a little claustrophobic but then realized that they weren't going to touch me. Attached to a fan coral was a brightly colored orange creature with black spots and a hard shell.

After snorkeling we walked hand in hand along the beach. Giant fig trees line the beach. They have enormous green leaves with red veins and hard green figs at the tip. No unusual seashells on shore, sadly to say.

We hoped back in our dinghy and came back to the boat to rinse off. Jack fish jump out of the water all around us and somehow we attract a group of interesting seagulls on our dinghy.



I fell asleep reading Twilight and Alex dosed in and out. A relaxing afternoon nap was a real treat! Next we decided to check out Cinnamon Bay which was the next one over to the right. We jump in our dinghy and....it won't start!

Alex yanks on the engine a hundred times and finally she starts. We cruise along the shore and pull up to the beach. We spotted the endangered sea hawksbill turtle! We arrive at a nice stretch of sand and I was surprised at how many people were out. There was actually an Aussie giving people kite surfing lessons. What a life!

We take a leisurely stroll and decide to head back before the sun goes down.

Our biggest problem today was getting our damn dinghy to start! After several hundred more tugs, we creep along the rocky shoreline searching for wildlife on land. I really enjoy learning about the different types of animal life that we encounter on our travels. There's a huge rock that seems like it would be the perfect place for a sunbathing iguana.

We stopped by our neighbors who were aboard Miss Heidi. She's from none other than Houston, Texas! Alex sears that he recognized their boat from the Kemah Marina where his dad keeps his boat, and we had to say hello to find out. The blond haired man greeted us with a big hello and his petite wife smiled a very welcoming grin. She was tiny, and as I imagined her sailing the rough seas, I felt much more confident.

They were really great people. They were members of Lakewood Yacht Club when Alex was a kid and started sailing the Caribbean when the retired 9 years ago. They live aboard Miss Heidi full time. Their boat is fully equipped. It even has a wind turbine to save energy.

They sail sailing these seas never get old. We swapped stories while Alex and I held onto the side of their boat. They invited us back tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 to listen to the weather. I was looking forward to it. It's a social event in these parts!

We were contemplating heading out early in the morning but decided to take their advise and stick around for another night just in case the tropical wave made an appearance. It was supposed to bring in a high pressure system which would provide much more enjoyable sailing. We are totally fine with having another relaxing day in Francis Bay in hopes that we'd have calmer winds and waves to deal with.

Alex determines that the fuel filter is shot on the dinghy. He removes it and we hope that that will solve our problems.


For dinner we prepare a yummy meal of chicken breast, green beans and yellow rice. The only "spice" we had was an interesting ketchup/mustard concoction. We forgot to buy salt and pepper but we made due with what we had and it actually turned out rather nicely.

We ate at the table in the cockpit as the sun slowly dropped behind us. I really love our meals out here. It's so peaceful. The compass light even provides nice ambiance!



I snuggle up with a blanket and we read with the unreliable help of our crappy flashlights that like to blink for no apparent reason. Off in the distance at the very back of the bay is a super mega yacht. It's 3 stories high and has a swimming pool and hot tub on the roof. Every light on the entire ship is on and we wonder how much energy they are using. Who are they, we ask ourselves.

We finish off our bottle of Cruzan rum and move on to the next one as we lean back under the stars.