During our first cruising year, June of 2020- June of 2021, our teen son was “boatschooled.” One of his topics was writing/journal entries. He was given a couple of prompts, to help jump start his thoughts…and this is what he wrote. I think it’s a great perspective, and hopefully gives other teens some motivation when thinking about liveaboard life! Enjoy!
12/6/20- Flounder Gigging
We lived in Stuart, FL, just before we went to the Bahamas. There, we were with a boat friend of ours, two people named Bill and Linda. Our family became fast friends with them, mostly because my dad and Bill were in the same sailing class. One night, my dad and I ended up going flounder gigging with Bill, and that involved walking around in knee-height water, looking for a fish called a flounder. The flounder hides on the seafloor, and blends in with the ground. They are fairly hard to see, but if you pay decent enough attention, they should be somewhat easy to see. My dad and I both stick a flounder, Bill comes up empty. We get back to the boat, and we stuff the flounder with bread stuffing, lobster, and some other things. All in all, it was a fun night.
1/6/21- Looe Key, Florida Keys
We decided the day before that we were going to take a trip to Looe Key, which is a key inside of Big Pine Key. We stayed on a mooring ball, and prepared to snorkel.
When we got in the water, we discovered not only how pretty the surrounding area was, but how cold the water was. We had to swim about 30-60 Meters to get to our destination; The coral reefs. My father and I snorkeled, whilst my mother paddle boarded. We got to see magnificent reefs, and amazing fish. We came across lots of barracuda, some lobsters, and even a shark; of which my mother caught on camera. My father and I traded off recording with the GoPro, making sure to catch every incredible creature that our eyes could feast on. Needless to day, it was an awesome day.
1/13/21- Snorkeling
We start our trip by waking up early, packing and heading to the dinghy. Our destination was a small, rocky island just outside of the inlet to our marina. We then get in our dinghy, load all of our gear, and depart.
As we began approaching the island, we begin to notice the low temperature of the water that would hinder our time snorkeling. However, we do have wetsuits, boots, and gloves to keep us warm. It takes us about 10 minutes to slip into our full gear, set the anchor and ready our spears. After we splash, we begin the search for lobsters and any other delectable fish to satisfy us. As we have swam for a while, I come upon a massive, 40-ish pound Black Grouper, that could have fed us for weeks. I alert my father, who came unprepared, and without the spear that could have actually killed the beast. But, alas, as he arrives, the great beast of which we came to slay, has departed. We continue the search for lobsters, only finding ones that are much too small to kill and keep. I come across one that, would, in theory, be big enough to eat. However, instead of facing us, he decides to cower in his hole, away from our fiery wrath.
We wrap up the day, disappointed in the lack of lobsters and groupers, but, also satisfied. It was a good day, even with the lack of seafood.
1/22/21- Spearfishing at West Washerwoman Reef, Florida Keys
After we wake up, we start the engines and leave our peaceful anchorage to go out into the ocean. As we begin to arrive, we are shocked by the clearness of the water.
My father and I slip our wetsuits on, and are shortly in the water. We are looking for some hogfish. In the beginning , we are nailing them with precise shots, but after a while, we both start missing every shot we take. Out of the 10 or 11 that we shot at, we got 3. Most of the ones that I hit, I hit in the lower body, and the barb didn’t fully catch, so the fish was able to get away. However, my dad would then go and finish it off. For the first hour or so, things are going swimmingly. Pun intended. After the first hour-ish my dad and i break off from each other more. I obviously miss all of my shots, and apparently so does my father, because he comes back empty handed.
We end the day happy with the fish we caught, yet disappointed with the ones we didn’t. I definitely need to get my aim better.
1/26/21- How to Spearfish
Spearfishing Is a simple idea, but difficult to master. Here I can hopefully teach you the basics to Spearfishing.
The first step is, obviously, purchase a spear gun. They aren’t terribly expensive, so breaking the bank shouldn’t be a worry. They differ based off of what you want, whether you went the path that I did, with a small, light, pistol. It’s easy to handle, a bit harder to aim than the bigger ones, the only complaint I have is its a tiny bit too light for me. I like to have some resistance when I’m aiming. I’d also recommend to get a barbed tip, so the fish that you hit dont get away from you. Next, you want to load it. Usually, you pop the spear in the socket until it makes a click noise, then you pullback the bands used for tensioning and firing the gun, and attach those to the respective grooves in the spear. Make sure the safety is on whilst your doing this. You want to spear a fish, not your child. I would recommend doing this in the water, to get used to the resistance and trying to do it while swimming. Once its loaded, its the same principles as a firearm. Never point it directly at anyone, safety on or not, loaded or not. More than likely, they wont know if the safety is on or not. I would always keep it pointed either straight in front of you, or if you’re following someone, point it at the ground or to the side. Once you see a fish that you want, release the safety, aim, and fire.
I hope that helps even a little bit with how to Spearfish, and the steps leading up to it.
1/28/21- Paddling a Mangrove Tunnel
Just after we got anchored, my dad had told us about this water trail in the mangroves. We set down the paddle boards and prepared to check it out.
We begin by first searching for where the break in the mangroves is. It’s a small, unassuming arch in the trees that you would probably miss if you were paying extra attention. We begin by having to duck under the trees, careful not to fall off our boards. As we go further, we come across this bridge that is about 5 feet above the water’s surface. A little past that, we spot a huge iguana, relaxing in a tree. As we are getting closer, for a picture, my mother’s dog decides to hop on my smaller board, and almost push us both off. We finally get her sorted, and we are on our way. We go some more, this place looking like where Yoda lived. Some way up the path, we find an opening, with an island in the middle. Some birds gracefully fly away from us, and the further we go, the more interested in this path we become. We then head back. On the way back, I got off my board, and climbed up on the bridge.
It was a fun adventure, one that I recommend checking out.
Destination Adrift 