By Kathie Durant
For those who know me, let me first say that the Juliet looked like a very SMALL ship when I first saw her at the Port of Miami. As excited as I was to finally be setting foot on a liveaboard for the first time, I had serious misgivings about the trip as I looked at her for the first time.
That being said, let’s talk about the best trip I have ever had and didn’t want to return from. The first impression of her is that she is small and not sea worthy, but truth be told, she is made of steel and not wood, she is expertly maintained, even on the voyage, and by the end of the trip, I trusted her explicitly. For the next week, I imagined where she was with her next load of customers, and what she was doing, and how come I wasn’t on board.
Imagine your day starting with the most spectacular sunrises, not one the same as the last. Having your morning coffee on her deck as the sun makes its appearance, in full techni-colors of purple, oranges, yellows and pinks. Quietly experiencing the peace and tranquility until the cook rings the bell announcing breakfast is served in the galley. As you enjoy fresh fruit, breads, eggs and meats, you are informed of the first dive site of the day and the adrenaline starts pumping.
Standing on the deck, after breakfast, you are given your dive briefing by the dive Master, Greg, and given a “Fish of the Dive” by the Marine Naturalist, Alecka. As you gear up, there is an air of excitement, about what you are going to see and experience. You can’t wait to do your giant stride off the platform and into the beautiful blue, teal, or turquoise water, depending on the depth of the site. As you descend the anchor line, the vista comes into view. Coral heads, full of marine life, fish playing tag, and hide and seek, and visibility of sixty feet, are just the beginning of your first dive of sixteen done that week. As you float, weightless, being an observer in the play of the day, you are reminded of how small you are in the universe. The most amazing thing to me as I peeked over the top of the coral head, was to see the fish as they played unconcerned by the visit of some unknown humans, trying to become one with them.
As you realize your time is coming to a close you do your safety stop and ascend the anchor line, attaching to the tag line and climbing back aboard her, to unload your gear. After all are on board, and the words are just pouring forth full of experiences of the deep, we realize the winds are right. Next excitement starts when we are asked to help hoist the sails, we are going sailing. How relaxing to lay on deck, reading a book, taking a nap, or just enjoying the motion of sailing for one to two hours a day. I never thought I would enjoy life on the high seas, but have since decided that a pirate’s life is to be envied at this point.
Arriving at the next dive site, we lower the sails, and get our next dive briefing from Greg, the fish of the dive from Alecka, and we are off the boat again, descending into the life below the sea. Sea horses, spiney lobsters, crabs, moray eels, yellow tail snapper, groupers, lumberjacks, are a few of the sights to behold. Water temps allow bathing suits and rash guards or shorties to be the attire of the day. As we explore the dive site, we are reminded again of how small a part we play in this thing called planet earth.
As we unload our gear once more, we are beckoned to lunch by the bell, and we enter the galley to wonderful fare that varied from grilled roast beef with cheese sandwiches, to pasta alfredo with shrimp and chicken, to soup and grilled chicken sandwiches. We certainly did not go hungry, as we were also encouraged to the snack cabinet and drinks in between meals. While we are eating the captain sets course to the next dive site that will also double as the night dive sight. There was a distinct advantage to this as you were familiarized with the site during the day, and then saw the “changing of the guard” at night, when the night marine life came out to play.
Lazy afternoons, napping, tanning, reading, listening to music, or just talking to others, is not a bad way to spend an afternoon. At three or four, the afternoon dive was a repeat performance in marine life of the morning, with another “fish of the dive” to look for. Afternoon snacks consisted of nachos, tuna salad and crackers, apples and peanut butter, to name a few. Dinner was served at seven and never disappointed. We were served beef stroganoff, surf and turf, ribs, tacos, burgers to name a few, with dessert every night. Again if you went hungry, it was your own fault.
As you retired to the deck after dinner you got to witness the most spectacular sunset, each one more beautiful than the last one. It was not uncommon to have most of us in bed by ten, as the day was full with excitement, fresh air and physical activity. Sleeping as the boat rocked, as if being cradled as a baby would, was the most refreshing sleep I have had in a long time.
Multiply the above descriptions five times and you have my experience of the Juliet and my first liveaboard. I will be totally honest and tell you that I only dove three times. That was my choice, as the wind kicked up current, and those of you who know my timidness at diving, was not brave enough to fight the current. The visibility on some dives was only as good as Blue Stone Quarry, was what I was told. But I strongly feel that any day diving the Caribbean beats any day on land. Not only do I recommend this experience to everyone, diver and non-diver alike, I can’t wait to go again and again. Where can you go, be served, taken care of with a smile, rest, read, get a tan, dive, and sail, all in one place in one week? No where else that I know of. The crew went out of their way to make us comfortable and even offered to take me diving, holding my hand if necessary, just so that I could dive and not stay on deck. It was my choice to stay on the boat even with Alecka, Greg and Rudy offering at different times to babysit me.
This was an experience that if my husband didn’t kidnap me and make me go with him this year, I would have totally missed out on. After being on this trip, I realize that I would have missed out on the experience of a lifetime and I am eternally grateful for my husband’s insisting that I go. What I would say to all of you that are contemplating whether or not to go, to take your non-diving families, or those timid about living on a boat for a week? GO GO GO!!!!! Do not miss out on this opportunity!!!!! Special thanks to my husband for knowing more than me!!! (About this at least.)
