Great St. James Island, USVI

April 9, 2014

We really like this island.  It offers nice protection from the high wind and waves we have been experiencing here in the Virgin Islands recently.  It also has some really great snorkeling. 

Daniel and I went snorkeling today, leaving the boat and looking at the huge colorful fish, the pretty coral – a really nice snorkel time, close to shore.  We were gone about 20 minutes or so and decided to head back to C-Time.  We were a ways across the harbor and started out just at a regular pace.  We’d be back at the boat in about 10 minutes time.  About halfway across the harbor, Daniel and I both spotted a 5 foot barracuda (with a mouth full of teeth).  After we are back on the boat Daniel tells me that the barracuda is swimming about 6 inches from my foot.  In the meantime, we are watching the barracuda and it is watching us.  I get a little (lot) nervous because he doesn’t go away, so I pick up my swimming speed.  Lucky me, the barracuda decides to swim along with me.  It’s kind of like “Jaws” …. I could hear the music in my head…he would swim away and I was looking all around, swimming as fast as I could and here he comes and swims about a foot away from me – turns around and swims back in front of me.  I’m not really comfortable with this and the boat looks like it is forever away from me.  I decided to splash and make bubbles so he wouldn’t see me and I could swim away.  Stupid.  I then remember the splashing scene in “Jaws”.  Eeek!  When he couldn’t see me through the bubbles, he came closer!  By now I’ve tripled my speed to get back to the boat and then if the darned thing doesn’t start swimming right in between me and the boat, blocking me from getting there.  I look at Daniel, he’s a good 20 yards behind me and I look at the barracuda again.  I make a “dash” for the boat and couldn’t pull my fins off fast enough and climb aboard.  I’m breathing so hard from my fast swim, I’m just about sweating – getting out of water!  Daniel comes up to the boat and is having a blast watching the barracuda and now that I’m out of the water, it’s watching him back.  They swim, for a long time – checking each other out.  A fellow cruiser told us that they’re very “social” fish.  I don’t feel social, I feel frightened.  Daniel is the social one – he swims along with the barracuda and has a blast.  The barracuda is swimming all around the boat, I can see it from the deck and Daniel is swimming right along side it, watching it. 

Later in the day, a large tourist boat shows up with about 50 or more snorkelers on board.  They all get off, snorkel and have fun.  As they make their way back to the boat I hear one of them say, “oh cool, a barracuda”!  Next thing you know, they’re all gathering around too look at the huge barracuda.  None of them were freaking out – they were loving it.  All I could think was, well it’s not chasing you!