February 27-28, 2001 -- Conception Island or Cavorting Turtles

On February 27, we left Fowl Cay, the staging point out of George Town, for Conception Island. The trip out the cut wasn't difficult, just nerve racking! However, we made it comfortably and the 'pucker factor' wasn't that great. As we were traveling along, a dolphin swam with us, almost escorting us out the cut! We tried fishing again. Alas, or is that thankfully, nothing was caught. The trip was uneventful, though we had to motor all the way there. At 1715 GMT, we dropped anchor. As we read more about Conception Island, Stephen Pavlidis mentioned cavorting turtles that gathered on the inside of Conception Island. We decided that we would absolutely have to see these creatures. As the day progressed, several other boats came in, among them were Puffin, Wyvern and Lady Simco. We were invited over to Puffin for cocktails along with the other boats and had a great time! February 28 started with a great laugh! One of the other boats did a 'Conception Island Cruiser's Net for those in withdrawel from George Town. We had the thought for the day, and activities which included Toe nail painting at 2:00 PM, Nose Picking at 3:00 PM and Hair Pulling at 5:00 PM. Of course, for those that needed instruction and demonstrations, those would be provided at midnight! After that, we dropped Spot, and headed inland looking for the cavorting turtles. Unfortunately, we only saw one. They can certainly move fast in the water! As we headed back out, we passed over a patch of coral where a turtle was enjoying the reef. We stopped, donned our snorkel gear and viewed the turtle and the surrounding reef. I grabbed the camera, and I either got a picture of a piece of coral that looked like a turtle, or I got a picture of the turtle. We will find out when we take the film in to get developed. Next we explored the reef at the north end of the island before returning to the boat for lunch and a relaxing afternoon. Lady Simco and Wyvern stopped by to compare notes on what everyone did. Wyvern had circumnavigated Conception Island and discovered that the water depths in the northern reef went from 20 feet to about 2 inches in numerous places! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves!