Barbuda

Two days ago, we anchored off of Barbuda, a small island with magnificent waters. We enjoyed the warm clear waters for one AWESOME day before being pushed to the next island by customs. There are two main highlights from that day.

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Mama, Jack and I were heading over to a nearby coral reef to snorkel. I was really excited. Once we arrived, we all spread out. After a few minutes, I began to know the community. There was the trumpet fish in Wonder Valley that I saw for only a few minutes before it disappeared into a cave I called the Music Room. A few feet away there was Gangster Cave. It had a gang of sea urchins including their leader, which was five inches across. Sometimes a gang of spiky fish would patrol the cave. Outside the valley, was Big Boy, a twenty inch yellow tail snapper. He preferred swimming in open waters next to the reef but made quick escapes into caves. My favorite spot was Pack Bay surrounded by Jack's Cliffs. The bay was an inlet in the coral surrounded by steep cliffs up to the main part of the reef. Along the edges, groups of small snappers swam slowly in circles, Bar Jacks crossed the bay repeatedly, and wonderful coral formations dotted the bay. Urchins, and even a trumpet fish, lived in caves and along the edges. Once, only once, I saw a pair of antennae sticking out of a cave. When I swam toward them they sank away so I am not sure what it was.

The clear waters of Barbuda. The coral reef is the dark spot in the picture.

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I took a huge breath and dove, then kicked with my bare feet moving at what felt like snail pace. Finally, I reach the sandy bottom and twisted to look up at Sila's hull. "Almost there. Yes! I did it," I thought as I looked up into the center board trunk. I'm beyond the middle. All I need to do is keep going or open my mouth, breath in water, and die. In other words, I have two options: one, keep kicking and say that I can dive under Sila or two, give up, and drown. With one last surge I break the surface gasping.

I can now say that I can dive under Sila. This means two exciting things. First, Daddy is going to look for a spear fishing set for me! While crossing the Atlantic, I read a fishing book. In it, I read all about trolling, wading, netting, jigging, attracting, and especially spearing fish. After reading everything about spear fishing, I decided I would like to try it. Daddy promised that once I could dive under Sila without flippers, he would look for a spear fishing sling and a few spears. I did it so now he will start looking for the set. Second, I'm dying to ask someone to a hold your breath contest and dive under Sila, wait 30 seconds, and then pop up right in front of them long after they have surfaced. – Porter