Subject: Barbados

Hey, Hey, Hey,

We docked in Barbados on Sunday morning, as the Caribbean people are devout Christians, all of the town was shut down tight. There was a small indoor market, as well as a few stalls set up outside. Which covered our needs at this point of the cruise. One of the highlights of our whole trip was this day excursion. Cat sail and swim with the turtles. It started with a sail aboard a 60ft. cat, warm air and water temperatures, made us comfortable as we sailed past pristine beaches fronted by multi million dollar hotels. Even before the bar opened some tourist fell into the boat from the deck almost flattening my dive camera, which I thought was safe resting on the table, this was moments after the captain warned us about just that very thing. The boat was crowded, and I detected a note of cynicism as the crew went about their instructions, like they were all board of the same thing over and over. We reached the beach where the turtles were, so I geared up with my own stuff, as the others were fitted out by the crew. A crew member came up to me and demanded that I remove my fins, not understanding his reasons I wanted to know why, which only made him more belligerent, even though I said,

' your boat your rules' I still wanted to know the reason for his demands. He mumbled something incoherent,and stomped off making me wonder if this was worth the effort, let alone the cost. So with mask and snorkel only, I was the first in the water, only to see the very crew member who demanded me remove my fins with his on. O well as a result of me being the first one to get wet I got some great photos of just the turtles without all them others swimmers in the shot. As the 30 persons filled the water around the turtles, it became difficult to get good photos, making me real glad I was so quick off the mark. I was beginning to feel squeezed by the crowds, when a water-skier passed between us and the shore line, I thought this was a very unsafe thing to do when another skier passed between us and the shore 30 ft. away. I called off my dive at this point and headed to the cat, just as another pulled up with it's 30 people, now the water was full and still the pleasure boats and skiers whizzed between us and the shore. I asked the caption about this potentially hazardous situation and he said that even after complaining to the coast guard, nothing was ever said or done. Seems funny because the crew made it clear that the turtles were an endangered species, yet nothing was done to protect them in this area, like a ban on motor craft or even speed limit. Maybe I am showing my age but, the ride back was filled with booze, as the crew literally poured the rum into the passengers, whooping and hollering with the music way too loud, I could have done with a dry boat, at less a cost, and I'm sure the children on board would agree. Who needs to see the adults acting this bad before noon. Despite all that the swim with the turtles will last in my memory till the day I die. We got back to the dock in a light but warm rain, as I looked for Cuban cigars, Kathy went for the trinkets, and the rest enjoyed the local beer. Back on board the ship we took our time getting ready for yet another great supper. Sailing north as the sun was setting, my thoughts reflect on the days events, and the blessing of being able to swimming with the turtles....... tomorrow we hit St. Lucia....till then amigo's!!.........Andy