A Visit With The Turtles

George Town   

Warm and still were the weather conditions this morning. While Barry listened to the Cruiser's Net broadcast, I went downstairs to complete my workout. Both activities took about an hour and we moved on to the tasks of the day. Barry changed the transmission fluid. Eager to take advantage of the low wind and calm water, I brought my paddleboard out of the commissary. My workout continued while pumping it full of 15 psi of air. Unbeknownst to me at the time, a large cloud was building behind me. Barry had me secure the paddleboard onboard before I ever got it in the water. The cloud darkened the sky and marked the leading edge of a squall. The temperature dropped. Waves in the harbor were whipped up by the wind that quickly clocking around from southwest to northeast. Our anchor monitor tracked our quick journey through the wind shift. Plans to take the dinghy into town, dispose of some garbage, and get a burger for lunch were dashed. I retreated to the pilothouse and finished Book 4, an easy read that captured my attention with the tease, "When life stops making sense, it's time to raise the anchor and follow the tide."   

Following lunch onboard, the clouds moved through and the sun reappeared. During our rain delay, we had come up with a plan to run up to Hooper Bay and visit the turtles. From the dinghy, we took a final look back at Crossroads to cement her location in our mind. With over 300 boats in the anchorage, we needed to be able to get back home without searching through rows and rows of boats (worse than losing your car in the mall parking lot). Three and a half miles north, we entered the bay and made our way to the far shore where we saw a few folks in the water with cameras. We anchored the dinghy and watched for signs of turtles in the murky, squall-stirred water. Soon, four turtles appeared and took turns approaching us, expecting to be fed. We had seen that the feeding is now discouraged and brought no lettuce with us. The turtles were disappointed.

This sequence captures one large turtle's approach to my side of the dinghy. We spent about an hour watching and chatting with the guys in the other dinghy. Turns out one keeps his boat over the summer at Stingray Boatworks next door to us in Deltaville. The world gets smaller each day.

On our way back to Crossroads, we stopped at Starfish Beach and took a walk in the surf. The tide was coming in, so we landed the dinghy high up in the sand hoping to avoid swimming out to it when we were done. I was surprised to spot sea oats reminiscent of the Outer Banks lining the upper tidal zone. Dozens of hermit crabs were scurrying out of the water. I couldn't resist the opportunity to pick a few up and introduce ourselves.

The water was rising and the beach was disappearing as the tide came in. We returned to the dinghy, pausing to pick up a few shells such as these angel wings. The water had come in knee deep. Once again, the afternoon faded quickly and we watched as the glow of anchor lights lit up the night to the north, making it look like a small city. To the south, the moonsplash seemed to part the anchorage in two.