Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Cindi sent me another picture--count 'em FOUR whales!

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SPRING EDITION UPDATED!

MORE WHALES!

Cindi's whale shot got such good comments, I asked her to send me one more--and she did. There are four whales in this shot. Now we know why this is the Humpback Highway! I've seen a few whales, but this is amazing stuff.

Never stay home during whale season. At least go snorkeling!

Tuesday, May 03, 2005

SPRING EDITION

Despite not being on island, the Spring Edition is here and features reports from two contributors. The high life on Salt Cay is winding down after a smashing high season...but regular life goes on and so does the news.....
Note there are 3 whales in this picture--the left one, the one at the top edge and the tail on the right. Great picture.

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WHALE!!!!!!

BY CINDI ROBERTSON

Cindi and Bob Robertson contributed this first piece with one of the best whale photos I have seen from Salt Cay. Thank you much.

March 2005: This was our third scuba diving trip to Salt Cay. Having already dove the wreck of the Endymion twice before, Debbie of Salt Cay divers, suggested that we go along and just snorkel.

After all the other divers got in the water to do their dive, Bob and I began paddling around the dive boat. Ollie yelled to us: "WHALES!" and he began to point us in the direction we needed to be for an encounter. Well, by the time we got to the spot, the whales were gone. So, we continued to paddle around the wreck site. Once again, Ollie yelled: "WHALES!" and once again Bob and I quietly paddled in the direction Ollie was pointing. We were about 200 yards or so, away from the boat, in 40-50 feet of water.

I looked, and couldn't believe my eyes! In front of us, about 10 feet away was a pod of 8 Humpback Whales! They were gently cruising past.......and smiling. (see photo). One of the whales came up to take a breath and I thought I would die! I've never heard a sound like that! It was as if somebody opened a steam valve underwater!! Ollie said later that we were so close when the whale came up he thought one of us would ride the whale! When Bob and I returned to the boat, we didn't want to say anything because we didn't want the other divers to feel bad.......but Ollie told them! They had no idea the whales were that close.
Well, as we began motoring back to Salt Cay, whales were spotted again. Ollie was able to get the big boat in close enough for EVERYBODY to quietly and gently get in the water. We all saw a Mother Humpback and her calf as well as a 'teenager'. 3 whales in total.

After returning to the boat, all excited, Ollie motored back to Salt Cay.....only to once again, see more whales. Once again, EVERYBODY quietly and gently got into the water and once again we snorkeled with 3 more whales. We all took photos and returned to the boat. On our way back to Salt Cay, once again, we saw more whales! EVERYBODY got back into the water to see 3 more whales!!!! So for the entire group we had the opportunity to snorkel with 9 different Humpback whales and for Bob and I it was a total of 17 WHALES IN ONE AFTERNOON! This is a moment we will never forget.



Contributing Editor Wendy Bateson enjoyed her time on Salt Cay this winter taking pictures of the Islanders. The philosophy of this blog is that one can never have too many pictures of people, nor can you have too much about the people of Salt Cay..it enriches our lives and makes us in our regular, daily lives, long for our time on Salt Cay.

FACES OF SALT CAY

BY WENDY BATESON

These three children, LeMeal, Elronique and Tree were the only ones who showed up for Henry's Saturday afternoon baseball game. Consequently, my husband (Simon-Mike) ended up as the catcher for a while, and having a UK childhood, this was the first time that he had ever participated in anything like baseball/softball!! We'vedecided that a career in major league baseball is not an option. Henrypitched, and Nurse-Mike covered all bases, plus the outfield.
Batter up!

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Uncle Lou is shown here peddling his way to the school for a rehearsal of the Easter services where he was going to be singing.
Uncle Lou keeps on peddaling

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Young baseball fan--they start young in the DR

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This little girl, Fillamin’s (pardon the spelling--working on the name) daughter, came to the cricket field for the ball game with Metten, Joan and Abel.

SALT CAY DAYS

The last weekend of April marked Salt Cay Days on our little island. My capable, but tired reporter, Debbie Manos, reported there were approximately 300 people on island for the weekend. Island Thyme, The Coral Reef and The Green Flash did booming a booming business in beer apparently with some of the partying going all night.

Morris’ granddaughter won the Little Miss Salt Cay award.

There is some hope that Salt Cay Days will move to Grand Turk next year given the mounds of refuse from such an event. But overall, it was a great success with no known fights, the usual bicycle races and demolition derby, and fun had by all.
This photo of the salt ponds was taken in about 1998. Island Thyme is being built and the Methodist Church is not repainted/rehabbed yet. I love this picture. Think about the fact that the wood is at least 40-50 years old...the salinas and ponds haven’t been worked on since they closed. This is all mortise and tenon–there are no screws or nails used–just wood to hold it together. And it sits in brackish water all the time.
Salt pond history. Looking north to the Methodist Church

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ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

In an email from Nigel Sadler of the Museum and in the latest Times Of The Islands, it appears that an oral history project will be started this summer in the islands. Nigel said they will be sending out two teams to video Islanders on Salt Cay, as well as the other islands and have the proper equipment to do a professional oral history.

By the way, Times Of The Islands is available online if you don’t get a subscription. Go to http://www.timespub.tc/index.htm . There is a great article on charts and maps, butterflies and the laying out of Provo, this month.

Let’s hope they do get to Salt Cay soon as it is so important that the history Ned, Lilly, and some of the really old folks on Salt Cay possess is not lost before it is recorded.
Evening at The Compass Rose Cottage deck–full moon on the water, looking over the old South Cemetery
Moonrise over Cemetery Beach

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ODDS AND ENDS

There isn’t much else to report at the moment. Your erstwhile reporter will be on island the last two weeks of June and hopefully will dig up some good stories, news and events to report and photograph. I will throw in a few photographs of folks and places for memory’s sake.
Mike DeNegris after a good dive

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Here’s Diver Mike last year–before he ran off to the airlines to make a real living...
And Valentine, last spring, while so young and cute.....
Valentine at Miss Netty's

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The Green Flash at sunset...this one really makes me ache to go back.
The Green Flash at sunset...waiting for that speck of green.

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In upcoming blogs I do hope to address the results of what I found on combating Sand Fleas...but I need to do some chemical research while on island before I report in on my findings. As you all may recall, I do personal battle with those gaping mouthed, flying rats which are the size of a pin point–you only see them when they open up to bite you.

I also hope to give folks some information on traveling with your pets...if you have a tip regarding pet travel to Salt Cay, send it to me at michele@saltcay.us for inclusion in the story. You can never know too much when you take your pet with you on a plane to Provo.

Lastly, I am really happy to get photos and stories such as we have in this edition, to consider for inclusion in the blog. And pass the blog’s address on to anyone you think is a friend of Salt Cay and would like to keep abreast of life on the island time forgot.