Part 32: Jack's Cay No - Glover's Reef Si

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</div> <script type="text/javascript"> if (typeof lycos_ad !== "undefined" && "slider" in lycos_ad) { document.write(lycos_ad['slider']); } </script>  <div id="FooterAd" style="background:#DFDCCF; border-top:1px solid #393939; clear:both; display:none; width:100%!important; position:relative; z-index:999999!important; height:90px!important"> <div class="adCenterClass" style="display:block!important; overflow:hidden; width:916px;"> <div id="footerAd_container" style="display:block!important; float:left; width:728px"> <iframe id="lycosFooterAdiFrame" style="border:0; display:block; float:left; height:96px; overflow:hidden; padding:0; width:750px"></iframe> </div> </div> </div> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="09c8e8e3.jpg"> <div> <IMG SRC="09e95810.gif" border=0 width="149" height="129" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div>  </div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFCC80" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="09d00c82eoxkoh.jpg"> <div> <B>The Cruising Adventures of Joan & Ben Schuetz aboard  </b></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Lucida Handwriting" ><B>Francesca</b></FONT> </div> <div>   |     <FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Cruising Adventures of Joan Ben Sch"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 1: Caribbean Bound"><U>      Part 1:  Caribbean Bound</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 2: Southern ICW"><U>      Part 2: Southern ICW</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 2A: Preparing to cross the s"><U>      Part 2A:  Preparing to cross the stream</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 3: Cuban Delights"><U>      Part 3: Cuban Delights</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 4: Great Hospitality, Awful B"><U>      Part 4: Great Hospitality, Awful Beaurocracy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 4a: Interesting weather"><U>      Part 4a: Interesting weather</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 5: Lo siento (Im sorry) no lo"><U>      Part 5: Lo siento (I'm sorry) no lobsters</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id33.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 6: If you make plans, dont te"><U>      Part 6: If you make plans, don't tell anyone</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id34.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 7: At the western tip of Cuba"><U>      Part 7: At the western tip of Cuba</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 8: War Stories"><U>      Part 8:  War Stories</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 9: Hanging out at Isla Mujer"><U>      Part 9:  Hanging out at Isla Mujeres, Mexico</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 10: Isla Mujeres to Puerto Av"><U>      Part 10: Isla Mujeres to Puerto Aventuras</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 11: Bahia Ascension y Bahia d"><U>      Part 11: Bahia Ascension y Bahia del Espiritos Santos</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 12: Oooh, the weather is so e"><U>      Part 12: Oooh, the weather is so exciting. . . .</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 13: The illegal aliens beat "><U>      Part 13:  The illegal aliens beat it over the border</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 14: San Pedro and Caye Caulke"><U>      Part 14: San Pedro and Caye Caulker, Belize</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 15: Bluefield Range (Belize)"><U>      Part 15: Bluefield Range (Belize)</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 15A: Waiting for good weather"><U>      Part 15A: Waiting for good weather at Bluefield Range</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 16: Rio Dulce Bound"><U>      Part 16: Rio Dulce Bound</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 17: On the Rio"><U>      Part 17:  On the Rio</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 18: A Spectacular Couple of D"><U>      Part 18: A Spectacular Couple of Days</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 19: On to Lago Izabal"><U>      Part 19:  On to Lago Izabal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 20: More on Lago Izabal"><U>      Part 20: More on Lago Izabal</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 21: Rainbow on a full moon"><U>      Part 21: Rainbow on a full moon</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 22: At the dock "><U>      Part 22: At the dock         </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 23: It gets better better "><U>      Part 23:  It gets better & better & . . . .</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 24: Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Ch"><U>      Part 24: Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Chichicastenango</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 25: Panajacel and Chichi"><U>      Part 25: Panajacel and Chichi</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 26: Heide heads home"><U>      Part 26: Heide heads home</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 27: Leaving river city for a "><U>      Part 27: Leaving river city for a while</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 28: Back to Belize"><U>      Part 28: Back to Belize</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 29: Time out for paradise"><U>      Part 29: Time out for paradise</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 30: Natures way"><U>      Part 30: Natures way</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 31: Best of the best"><U>      Part 31: Best of the best</U></A>   |         Part 32: Jack's Cay No - Glover's Reef Si   |   <A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 33: A few days of ambling"><U>      Part 33:  A few days of ambling</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 34: Treasures of a Lifetime"><U>      Part 34: Treasures of a Lifetime</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 35: Its a better day today"><U>      Part 35:  It's a better day today</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 36: The loss of a friend"><U>      Part 36:  The loss of a friend</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id83.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 37: Rite of passage"><U>      Part 37:  Rite of passage</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id84.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 38: The last bit of open wat"><U>      Part 38:  The last bit of open water</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id85.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 39: 1000 miles and counting"><U>      Part 39: 1000 miles and counting</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id86.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE=" Part 40: Shoes, me?"><U>     Part 40:  Shoes-, me?</U></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>      Part 32: Jack's Cay No - Glover's Reef Si</b></div> <div> Sunday, 23 April 2000 </div> <bR> <div> Jack's Cay, although a pretty nice anchorage, was a bust for diving.  Mark did shoot a really nice 15 pound hogfish, but the scenery was pretty sparse and the water clarity below our now high standards.  So, yesterday morning, we up and left Jack's and headed for Glover's Reef about 25 miles away.  Glover's is an atoll (completely enclosed reef structure) located about 15 miles outside of the Belizean barrier reef.   It  is the southernmost of three such atolls and is roughly 18 miles long, 8 miles wide and shaped kind of like an egg.   We had heard that the diving was excellent at Glover's.</div> <bR> <div> The cruise out to the reef belied an ideal weather report.  Seas were choppy and the wind was NE 15 to 20.  But, it was only a 15 mile passage so we slogged through it arriving at Glover's around 1:00 PM.   Glover's reef was named after a British buccaneer John Glover, who based his operations here in the 1700s.  We entered the reef through a cut on the south end near a couple of islands that have been set up for US diving tourist packages.  There are cabinas and a restaurant /bar.  Just imagine they want 25 US bucks for a meal.  We bought a beer and enjoyed the view.  They also said not to bring Maggie back next time (imagine).  There were no other cruisers visiting the restaurant.  Word gets around fast.  And on the VHF, a cruiser let his feelings be known to anyone who would listen.   But I don't think that the Manta Resort and Dive Center could have cared less.</div> <bR> <div> As long as the wind doesn't switch to the north or south, you can anchor almost anywhere behind the reef for 15 miles.  So there is no need for crowding.  Still, boats tend to congregate and in one area there were six sailboats including a couple that we were familiar with.  Delphys and Francesca found a nice quiet and private spot in a shallow area behind the reef and settled down for the night with visions of groupers dancing in our heads.</div> <bR> <div> In the morning, Saturday the 22<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >nd</FONT>, Mark and I set out to reconnoiter the area.  First we checked inside the atoll where there are over 600 large and distinct coral structures.  The waters are typically 40 to 60 feet deep, but the coral structures are set on tops of mounds which depths range from zero to 20 feet.  We visited several of them, and were visited in turn by several sharks, one about 9 feet long.  It was not a docile old nurse shark.  At the time, Mark was chasing a 15 lb. grouper and I had to yell to him on the surface not to shoot anything.  The visibility inside the atoll was kind of poor, only about 25 feet, and we felt it might be prudent to look elsewhere.</div> <bR> <div> We decided to try snorkeling on the outside of the main reef.   To get to it, we ran the dinghy up close on the inside of the eastern reef, anchored, then walked with our gear across the rocks to the ocean side and entered the water.   There the bottom slopes to about 60 feet with lots of canyons and caves and crevices.  Beyond the 60 foot depth it drops vertically to 2000 feet and more.  The sharp drop off insured that the visibility was good, 100 feet or better, and the fish large.  On our first dive we were just checking out the area and Mark did not take his spear gun.  Within a minute or two we saw 20 lb. snapper and in the next few minutes a 15 lb. grouper followed by a 35  to 45 lb. grouper.   Then a 5 or 6 foot black tip reef shark, and later a 5 foot tarpon.  The fish didn't even mind when we swam up to within a couple of feet of them.</div> <bR> <div> After a couple of hours, we went back to our boats for lunch and to get the girls for an afternoon dive.  Returning to the same area around 1:00 PM, it was just as impressive and fun to snorkel, but the big fish had vanished.  I think it may have something to do with the tide or time of day, but we promised ourselves that we would return early the next morning.</div> <bR> <div> At around 8:30 AM we went back to the outside reef.   We found several medium size grouper, but held off shooting anything while looking for Mr. Big.  With the reef sharks around we wanted only one good fish and then we would leave the water.  Mark got a shot at a 25 lb. grouper but missed.   A few minutes later a 6 to 7 foot black tip shark swam back and forth 10 feet below us.  It seemed agitated and we didn't crowd it.</div> <bR> <div> The wind had blown 20 knots most of the night and with the surf up some.  Our two hour search in the moderate surf pretty well pooped us out.  We returned to our boats - skunked, but happy tired. </div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="14614760.jpg" border=0 width="532" height="374" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> Tomorrow morning Delphys is leaving for the States.  We plan to stay here at Glovers for a day or two more then go to Placencia to get a Vet. to look at Maggie's on-again, off-again sore toe.</div> <bR> <div> More.</div> <bR> <div> Joan, Ben & Maggie</div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>