The float plane has become a fixture in our life here in Christiansted. Unfortunately, after seeing these come and go a hundred times, we still spaced out one day when we were heading across the channel to town. We were all talking and the kids were laughing because I get soaked every time we go to town (port side of the dinghy gets the spray from the brisk winds here) when we suddenly heard the plane. We looked up and maybe fifty feet directly over our heads the plane buzzed us. The pilot had obviously seen us on our collision course, and gave us a flyby to make sure we knew what we had done. He pulled up, and we watched him circle the bay again before coming in and landing. The four of us now have our heads on a swivel every time we cross the channel. Kudos to the pilot for watching out for us.
Swimming off the back of the boat the other day the kids found this little guy going past. Hopefully he didn’t mind us picking him up in the bucket for a few minutes. We all know the reality of his chances for survival so it was kind of sad to set him adrift again.
Evening swim. Ali up front, Lowe diving off the back, and Ouest’s head bobbing in the water.
Went for a dive outside the reef here in Christiansted. Lots of coral, but not much color or life down here. On our afternoon dive we did find a nice sized reef shark. We settled ourselves into a sandy spot about sixty feet down and watched as he circled us a few times. That was fun, but aside from that these dives were sort of boring. The kids drifted off into their normal game playing mode. I noticed this when they would come scrambling up behind and grab my fins. It took me a minute to realize they were having races and I was the finish line. Honestly, I don’t care what they do down there so long as they are racking up the experience points. I think they’d have fun even if they were just diving in a swimming pool.
Still haven’t managed to find an underwater housing for the GoPro here on island, so all pics are from about 30′ deep or less. Beyond that the pressure forces all the buttons down. I have to give credit though, so far it has always worked again once returned above 30′.
A game of hot potato with handfuls of sand.
14 Comments on “Turtle Baby”
I’d be happy to send you a housing if you have an address that’ll work down there. Let me know.
Wow inspired by the way
you guys live.
Hi Brian, thank you for the kind offer. We met a friend on island that is letting us receive an Amazon order, so it is already on it’s way (along with some toilet parts – smile).
No problem. Always happy to help if the need arises.
every time i read your posts i think to myself, “damn, my kid (10) doesn’t even really know how to swim yet….”
Well we could say the same for a lot of things our kids have no idea how to do, but yours probably can.
oh my, you got hooked on scuba! i was wondering for years when that moment would come.
anyway, you should look into a hookah system for the future unless you want to go full out with a compressor setup, tanks and all.
Wow those certainly aren’t cheap. Not sure what we will do yet – right now just renting gear testing the waters. Scuba gear is definitely going to be a struggle on our 35 year old boat built for weekend get-aways.
Hi folks,
We are John & Ginger Hancock and we owned your boat when it was named Ariel. We lived aboard six months a year in Essex, CT for 13 years. We installed the stabilizers just before heading to Florida.
We loved that boat and from your posts it looks as if you do too. Wishing you all the best and happy cruising.
John Hancock
Hi John and Ginger, I love you for installing the stabilizers!! 🙂
You definitely loved and cared for her over all those years. It shows. Have you been reading along since we purchased her? If yes, why did you chime in on this post? And if not, how did you find us now?
If you want to share some photos from the changes over the years, some beautiful anchorages, family fun onboard – we would be happy to see them and share. The back story on many of these boats are some cool ones.
Ali,
I have been looking for “Ariel” for a long time. Yesterday I Googled 1986 Grand Banks Stabilized and you popped up. Your new name threw me but in one of your pictures I saw the hull #945 and knew it was our former boat. She was such a huge part of our life. Both my father and youngest brother took their last trips aboard shortly before passing away from cancer. We cruised Long Island Sound and the east coast to Florida.
We sold her in 2015 and headed west in a motor home to be near family in Colorado where we now live. Two years ago we bought a Chris Craft on Lake Champlain in Vermont. We plan to head down the Hudson River this summer and back out into the Sound to visit some of our favorite ports.
John & Ginger
I emailed some pics and a note to 4bums@bunfuzzel.com.
Wow some very special memories for sure. Check your email address to us – 4bums@bumfuzzle.com 🙂