Snorkeling a Wreck in Frederiksted
Sunday was still really windy. We did some yard work in the morning and decided to go out west even if we hadn’t heard from Molly at SCUBA.
The difference in the winds from east to west can be astounding. We were chilly at home, but once we took the 25 minute drive, and arrived on the now very sunny side, we were ready to jump right in.
I brought my wet suit, since the last few times in, I’d frozen. But when we decided on where we wanted to go in, I knew that I wouldn’t out for very long, so I went in just my newish black two-piece swim suit.
It actually took us a while to decide to go in at Butler Bay. We’d heard or read that there was a wreck out there, and Michael wanted to snorkel it, so we drove up and down the road along the sea. We saw the dive boats out there and I thought we’d be able to swim from the Sunset Grill, but it was too far to swim since we had Biggie with us.
I told him I’d wait for him on Butler Bay beach, since I didn’t want to leave Biggie alone for long, we weren’t EXACTLY sure where we were going.
Fortunately, there were friendly faces on the beach. We asked Brook and Val and a couple of their visitors how much longer they’d be there, and if they could watch Goliath and our stuff while we went for a short snorkel.
It was awesome! The water was clear and we saw 3 turtles on the way out there and a couple more on the way back. Lots of large and small stingrays, and when we got to the dive boats, we asked if there was actually a wreck there, and sure enough, we were right upon it.
I told Michael he had to hold my hand because seeing submerged boats freaks me out. And he was very obliging. After a couple of minutes, I felt better, and we saw a huge puffer fish, a big baracuda, a bunch of diver people, and a sea cucumber on the deck of the wreck. I took pictures of him diving down (maybe he’ll post them here one of these days), and after quite a bit of frolicking, I thought we should get back to relieve our friends from “Biggie-sitting” duty.
Everything was cool and we saw more stingrays and weird sand-worms. Back on shore we thanked our friends for their services, headed to sunset grill to grab an appetizer and a cocktail and watch the sunset. We expected a green flash, since the sky was very clear, but at sea level it is more difficult and we saw a greenish smudge. It was lovely, though and the Mussels Alexander was excellent!
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:01 am
West is Best! Thanks for the description of a lovely day.
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 am
You Cruzans.
A couple of times a year, we have to slog through the cold watah to get to the sea cucumbers, but do you hear us complaining?
Noooooo!
Sounds like a delightful adventure. Another ting I want to do one day.
March 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 am
Isn’t that the Suffolk Maid? The large vessel that ended up on the shore just south of F’sted pier after TS Klaus.
Is there healthy coral?
Goliath, same as Biggie?
The Beach Cam is intermmittent, altho the other day it was flat as a duck pond out there.
mmmmm…mussels
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:05 am
Yeah, we were thinking, “Wreggie bait” all the way.
Not sure the name of the boat, Lisa. Michael probably knows, though.
Yes, some nice corals and sponges on the way out, but the wreck is in the sand. I think it was put there on purpose to grow an artificial reef and give divers another thing to look at.
And yes, Goliath’s aliases are many and include “Little Big”, “Big Dog”, “Biggie Small”, “Fuzzy Thing” “Fuzzy Worm”, and “Big”. He responds to all of them.
March 3rd, 2009 at 9:00 pm
I have pictures of that ship when it ran aground after one storm in the early 80′s; it was a small cargo ship and ran right up onto the south side of the pier where the little finger pier was located. I went down to the pier to watch a tug try and pull it off to no avail…. If I can find it, I will scan it and email it to you. One of the other wrecks was a live aboard yacht that was owned by a neighbor of mine . That one ran up on a reef just north of the pier and was hauled off to the wreck reef. I think there is also a cement barge that flipped over and was finally laid to rest off Butler Bay. Thanks for those underwater shots, I have never been out there to see the graveyard!
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:18 am
i love the header and the background..and most of all it’s good to hear people who appreciate or love snorkeling