The diving here is fantabulous. The water is so clear and beautiful. Today I actually spotted one of the hardest to spot reef creatures... the shrimp. He was so tiny and almost totally transluscent. It was the legs I spotted first. Also saw more turtles, wrays and thousands of reef creatures.
Forgot to mention...
While out on High Cotton (motor yacht) we saw about 15 whales in three different sightings in a 3 hour period and the guests on the boat went out a snorkelled with them. We had a mating pair of dolphins (female very pregnant) follow us in the stern wake. The male was quite playful. Two days later 8 dolphins played in the bow surf for over 15 minutes while we all hung over the railings clapping and chearing them on. They are really hams and seem to love putting on a good show as long as we show our appreciation. WAY COOL!!! While snorkelling with Isabel (11 year old daughter of guest) I saw a 5-6 ft. nurse shark swim directly under us just about 15-20 feet below us. Great sightings all.
Saw whales yesterday on the whale watch. Gotta go now. I'm off on a night dive tonight. Yes, I am getting water logged. This will be my last dive for a couple days I think. Gotta get the nitrogen levels back to normal.
Cheers. Wish you could all be here.
Hello all my faithful readers.
I returned back from the charter on Saturday and the guests disembarked by noon. It was a fabulous experience. Long hours and some very hard work but still lots of fun. I earned a pile of cash too. The guests gave the crew a hefty tip to spluit 4 ways... we each got US$1125. Nice to add that to the pay. I worked 12 days and was on the boat 14. The captain allowed me to stay until I finalized my travel plans as long as I could be off the boat before the owner arrived on Tuesday afternoon. I also did 4 hours work per day to cover my roomnand board. The best part was the Sunday day-off. We all went diving for the morning at Aquarium West, internetting in the afternoon, we relaxed around the boat. Then on Monday afternoon Dale, Jo and I went for a dive off the West end of the island just south of Northwest Point.
We had all spent spent all day Saturday preparing the boat for a group of 8 adults to come aboard (owner, his wife, daughter, son-in-law and 2 other couples) but they cancelled at the last minute. We were all extremely pleased because none of us wanted to work another week. Now the boat with Captain Dale Cheek, chef Jo Boccassini, mate Randy and owner Henry Hirsch is on its way back to Florida.
I am definitely giving serious consideration to spending a year as a stewardess on other big motor yachts. But I would go from boat to boat not take a long contract on one boat. That way I could get more variety. Of course the boat owners would make all the diference in the world along with the other crew members. I got a great letter of recommendation from Dale.
Tuesday afternoon I left Provo (Providenciales) on a 4 seater plane bound for Grand Turk Island, the seat of (British) government in the Turks and Caicos. I'm staying in a place called the Salt Raker Inn. Internet access here is only US$3 per hour and you get a free hour if you're staying here.
I went diving first thing this morning (2-tank) and the dive was lovely. The water here is so clear you can see for over 100 feet. Then went on a whale watching trip this afternoon. Just got back a short while ago at about 6:30pm.
Now I'm off down the road to the Oasis Inn for supper. They do a Wednesday night Bar-B-Q.
Tomorrow... another dive maybe and tomorrow night a group of us from today's dive have arranged to go night diving. I am so looking forward to it.
Gotta get going so I don't miss supper.
If anyone wants to be dropped from this mail list please let me know. Bye for now.
Lots has happened since my last update on March 4th so I'll keep this short.
I had a great week in the house. Got started on a painting which is not yet finished. Went on 3 2-tank dives. Met lots of great folks here. Have new friends every where now. Rented a bike for 3 days to get around the island.
Had to give up the house last Saturday... beautiful but pricey. A young woman who works for Provo Turtle Divers and whose Dad owns Scooter Bob's where I rented the bike offered me her couch for a week so I took it. It was out the East end of the island near the golf club.
Met a couple, Jo and Dale Cheek, who are chef & captain (respectively) of a 95 foot motor yacht. They offered me the job of stewardess on the charter they have starting this weekend (tomorrow), Saturday, and I accepted. So I've been living in the lap of luxury and working my butt off (hopefully physically not just metaphorically) since Tuesday morning. My job duties cover everything except driving the boat, cooking meals and maintaning the engines and systems. That is for the Captain, Chef and Mate. The guests come aboard Saturday noon and we have been frantically getting ready for them. There are 5 of them.
The name of the boat is High Cotton and the owners are Etta Rae and Henry Hirsch. The guests have paid big bucks for this one week vacation. So we'll be touring the Turks and Caicos Islands until noon next Saturday. With 3 kids (2 13 year old boys and a 11 year old girl) onboard it should be tons of fun. I'm really looking forward to it. A new experience for me. Even the crew quarters are luxurious compared to most boats I've slept on.
So I'll be out of touch for awhile. Gotta go now and get back to work.
Here I am. It's another gorgeous day in paradise and I'm in the internet access office writing to you bunch. It may sound pathetic but think of this... I get a gorgeous, sunny, hot day every day. This is a day out of the hot burning sun for me.
I have rented a small house/villa for a week and maybe more. It is fabulous. Two-level open concept with loft bedroom, 2 full bathrooms, laundry and, best of all, a balcony off the bedroom that overlooks the Caribbean Sea and the entire southern shore of the Island of Providenciales (aka Provo). My first night in it was brief... got my stuff in the door at 7:15, got to the IGA Superstore at 7:30 and got back with my groceries and provisions at 9:00pm. Exhausted, I did 2 loads of laundry and went to bed at 11:00pm.
Sunday was a quiet day of rest. Just sat around writing in the travel journal, reading, went walking and picked up a few more things at the IGA. Captain John, from Quo Vadis, came over for supper. Great relaxing evening of beer, wine, food, great sunset. I am in heaven. Later that night I discovered the cat that used to live here and thinks she still does. So, of course, I let her in and she is fairly certain I'm her new person.
Yesterday, Monday, was a day of errands so John rented a car and he, Daniel and I hit the road. We lost Daniel early to a "girl with car" that he found in a shopping mall parking lot. We finally finished at about 7:00. I had dinner, wrote a bit, read a bit and fell asleep early.
Today I'm taking care of business - computer stuff and banking.
Tomorrow I go on a 2-tank dive at 8:00am and get back about 2:00. Then I'm off to a spa for a facial at 3:00.
Gotta run now. Racking up the time on this expensive connection.
Hello everybody
I am finally in the Turks and Caicos Islands (U.K.). I left Long Island on the sailing catamaran "Quo Vadis" on February 24. Got to Landrail Point on Crooked Island, dropped anchor, took a swim and drank beer while making supper. Daniel (first mate) hailed a fishing boat and bought fresh conch for $1 each. He made conch salad for supper. MmmmMmmmmMmmmmm!!!!
Next day we left for and got to Long Island, Betsy Bay anchorage. Same arrival routine... swim, beer, eat, wine, shower, sleep. Next day we went to "town" to find fuel and food. We started walking, after 1 1/2 miles we got a ride to the Betsy Bay settlement from Miquel. His wife came by for us 30 minutes later to take us all over the island. We visited the other 2 settlements of Abrahams Bay and Pirate's Well. That was a gorgeous island.
We left the anchorage at 1:00 am to make the run for Turks & Caicos in one trip. We got in here about 3:00 yesterday and are tied up at the dock at the Turtle Cove Marina. We had to wait for the Customs and Immigration officer. Then we went for supper at the nearest restaurant. Afterwards I used the marina's shower to have a long hot luxurious shower.
I met people in the Banana Boat Bar and Grill today whose son may have a one bedroom apartment that I can rent for a week for $750. It would save me alot of money because I could stock up on groceries and save money that way.
This connection is getting expensive. I'll stop there and try finding a cheaper access point to let you know more details.