Written by Hans Wilson
Wednesday – The wind has been relentless, blowing out of the east for days, with speeds probably averaging 15 to 25 knots. It has been good for blowing away some of the doctor flies, and keeping the boat positioned to see the sunset, but after a while you feel like you are in a wind tunnel and going below into the still air with the air conditioning is a treat. After my usual morning stretching routine I finished off the potato salad, ate a chunk of smoked sausage, and completed my meal with a slice of pumpernickel raisin toast. Mom would be proud to see her boy eating in the German way, for breakfast no less.
I made a list of beers to name our dive sites and continued studying the maps for the next route or river to the hidden treasure. We decided to head north to Williams Island, home to a famous drug running airstrip, with crashed planes around it. It was my turn in the water, so I geared up with my full wetsuit, anticipating the water temperature, which was 75 degrees, to be too chilly for a shorty. We headed off to investigate our next round of dive sites.
I splashed in on Busch Light, which was all seagrass with some scattered sponges. The next site, Abita, was a little different. It was covered with lots of sponges, sea fans, and bottom algae, but again, no ledges or rocks and therefore no fish. I modified my dive plan. Instead of swimming off and around the sites like Dave and The Squirrel did with the boat waiting in the background, instead The Squirrel would drive the boat over the site and I would tow along in the water, holding onto the grab handle at the back of the dinghy. If something came up interesting I would free dive the 15’ to the bottom to check it out. The rest of the dive sites, Kalik Light and Rolling Rock, were all basically the same as Abita. A beautiful dive but nothing much to shoot for dinner, not even any conch.
We decided to move on to the west side of Billy Island, to check out water depths and an anchorage for the day. We were joined by a school of dolphin at the bow of the boat. It was a rather nice display and I got some good pictures.
At the north tip there was an old DC-3 plane wreck in about 8’ of water. The Squirrel checked it out for fish and asked for a spear, seeing a Mutton Snapper. Dave decided to anchor so we could all get in the water and explore the wreck. It was pretty cool, with one of the props actually sticking into the air. Tons of snappers, a few small nurse sharks under the debris and lionfish abounded on the wreck. I didn’t see anything to shoot so after I explored the wreck I took up killing Lionfish. Nasty little bastards, and they are proliferating on the reefs, so it was satisfying taking them out.
We pulled anchor and motored over to the west side of Williams Island, close enough to for a dinghy ride. The Squirrel and I took a cooler and headed to the airstrip. After a short hike through the clay and short mangroves we made it to the strip, checking out the three plane wrecks. It is hard to believe that they actually landed planes on the site, but drugs and money will make you do some pretty daring things, so I am told.
Relict DC-3 from the drug running days of Williams Island. Yup, dem ders bullet holes.
We got back to the dinghy then motored up a couple of the tidal creeks. The tide was going out and it was really cool how the channels had been cut into the clay terrain. I took some action shots of The Squirrel coming through the channel then we headed down the coast to check on a weird stick pen the locals had built, probably to hold conch, sponges, or turtles. We came to a point where the waves were in our face so we headed back to the boat.
I took a wonderful warm shower. All my dive gear was dry as the sun beat down relentlessly on the back deck. It was hot so everyone was upstairs in the shade enjoying the cool breeze, although it was more like a gale. Eventually we all went below to get out of the sun and wind.
Stick pen
Mangrove Creek & The Flying Squirrel.
The sun was finally setting so I asked The Squirrel to join me on the back deck for a martini in Dwight’s name. We sat and talked a little then it was dinner time. Dave rustled up grilled Mutton Snapper, The Squirrel grilled some vegetables, Em cooked rice, and I was on clean up duty. I had a lull while they were busy with dinner so I placed some of Dwight’s ashes in the water. “I think you would like this” I said to his spirit as the ashes dispersed in the clear water and the sun set.
Sunset over Billy’s Island. Dwight would like this.
Dinner was delicious and afterwards The Squirrel joined me on the back deck for a nightcap and a cigar. We turned off the deck and underwater lights, then just enjoyed the night sky. It was an early evening. Once again I was the last one down for the night, resting peacefully in my bunk listening to Blade Runner on my Droid. I was tired and it was a busy day. Our anchorage was very calm and even though the wind kept up, at least there wasn’t any roll in the boat like we experienced off of Wide Opening the night before.