Category Archives: Scuba Diving

December 20, 2013 · 6:33 am

Underwater Assaults Mar Holiday Diving

A security camera photo of the man believed to be responsible for the attacks.

Island police are investigating a series of assaults on scuba enthusiasts diving off Blacktip Island during the past two days.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” Island Police Constable Rafe Marquette said. “All I can say is in the past day and a half, 12 divers have reported being accosted while diving on area reefs.”

“It’s shocking,” Eagle Ray Cove owner Rich Skerritt said. “We pride ourselves on being one of the most crime-free places in the Caribbean, then something like this happens.”

One victim, who asked to remain anonymous, said the attack happened without warning.

“One minute I’m looking at a green moray, the next someone snatches my mask off my face and jams a brand new mask on in its place,” she said. “He was gone before I could react.”

Another victim described a more harrowing experience.

“It was horrible. This old dude just popped out of a barrel sponge as I swam past,” the man said. “I saw him out of the corner of my eye, split-second, and Wham! He pinned me against the coral, jammed a new dive light down my wet suit, then disappeared up one of those coral chimneys. It’s great light, LED and all, but . . . it’s not right.”

Island police are still unsure of the assailant’s motive.

“He’s not physically harming divers, or taking anything of value,” IPC Marquette said. “On the contrary, all the victims report ending up with better scuba gear than they started out with.

“A do-gooder gone rogue, maybe. Or a thief with a guilty conscience, giving away his ill-gotten booty.”

“We won’t stand for it,” Skerritt said. “We’ve issued spears to all our divemasters, and they’ll do whatever’s necessary to protect our guests.”

Island authorities are asking for the public’s help in apprehending the man. The assailant is described as a heavy-set, elderly, with a white beard and wearing a red wetsuit. Several witnesses noted the man using a DPV or underwater sled of some sort to make his escapes. There are also unconfirmed reports of him being accompanied by eight or nine large Nassau grouper, one of which had inflamed, red nostrils.

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Tagged as Blacktip Island, Christmas, Santa, Tim W. Jackson, Underwater

December 13, 2013 · 7:22 am

Blacktip Island Gets Artificial Reef

A model aircraft carrier used in the film “Tomcats of Fury” is one of the ships slated to be sunk as an artificial reef.

In keeping with the trend of sinking retired ships to create artificial reefs, model warships used in numerous Hollywood films will be sunk off Blacktip Island’s west coast this week to create the island’s first artificial reef.

“They’re small, sure, but there’s a lot of them,” Director of Tourism Val Schrader said. “It may not be as dramatic as the artificial reefs in, say, Florida or the Cayman Islands, where they used full-sized ships, but we’re tickled pink nonetheless. Some islands larger than us don’t have an artificial reef at all.”

The plan has drawn protests from veterans groups, environmental organizations and cinematic professionals.

“If these craft aren’t properly cleaned, they could wreak havoc on incredibly fragile reef systems,” Harry Pickett of the Pelagic Society said. “One drop of airplane glue can wipe out a 1,000-year-old coral head. And they’re talking about dropping dozens of these things out there.”

Minnie Bilder, head of the Screen Propmakers Guild, voiced concern as well.

“These vessels have had long, dignified careers,” Bilder said. “They’re stars. They deserve better than to be chucked off a dive boat by a bunch of Jacques Cousteau wannabes building an amusement park.”

Schrader countered both objections.

“These models have been cleaned according to the highest international standards,” she said. “And we’re not going to just toss them overboard to settle willy-nilly on the coral. They’ll be taken down individually, with full honors, and placed on the sand in a dignified manner.

“This is win-win-win. The wrecks will attract divers to the island’s resorts, and the underwater structures will provide homes for fish and other marine creatures. It’s a boon for the economy and the ecosystem, and also allows the movie studios to free up warehouse storage space.

“We’re especially excited at the prospect of these ships providing homes for juvenile Goliath grouper,” Schrader said.”

Dives done on the miniature wrecks will count toward NAUI and PADI Miniature Wreck Diving specialty certifications.

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December 6, 2013 · 7:17 am

Blacktip Island To Get Traffic Signals

A motorcycle speeds past one of Blacktip Island’s intersections at rush hour Thursday.

Citing growing safety concerns, the Department of Public Works will install traffic lights at both of Blacktip Island’s intersections this week.

“This has been a critical situation for a while,” Public Works director Dusty Rhodes said. “There’s the road around the island, and there’s the one across it. Where they come together, you’ve got disaster waiting to happen.”

Not all locals are happy with the decision.

“We hardly use the existing stop signs,” long-time resident Frank Maples said. “There’s what, 20 motor vehicles on island? I don’t recall any of them smashing into one another. If these lights go up, the next thing you know the government will be paving the roads, then painting stripes on them, then giving them names. It’s a slippery slope. People come to Blacktip to get away from that sort of rubbish.”

Rhodes disagreed.

“The stop signs aren’t working. Last year alone we had three near-misses . . . that we know of. We don’t want that to escalate, especially with the holiday season on us. These roads may not have names, but I assure you they’ll have traffic signals. We’re installing cameras, too, so we can keep an eye on things.

“Our job is to bring this island into the 21^st Century, kicking and screaming if necessary. If we step on a few toes in the process, well, so be it.”

Police officials confirmed the Caribbean island has seen an uptick in the number of vehicle accidents in recent months.

“All have been one-car affairs, usually on Friday and Saturday nights, but you can’t argue with the statistics,” Island Police Constable Rafe Marquette said. “The trees and power poles are taking a terrible beating.”

The most recent incident involved a lone scooter rider who ran a stop sign and sped into Eagle Ray Sound, IPC Marquette said.

“He blew through the intersection full tilt. Zoom! Splash! We had to call scuba rescue to pull him out. He nearly drowned.”

Rhodes would not comment on rumors his department would also be erecting nets beyond each intersection to contain other wayward motorists before they reached the water.

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November 29, 2013 · 8:02 am

Booby Trot A Rousing Success

Blacktip Island’s red-footed boobies were the beneficiaries of Thursday’s Booby Trot.

In conjunction with American Thanksgiving, the Blacktip Booby Bird Benevolence League staged Blacktip Island’s 13^th annual 5K Booby Trot Thursday, with entry fees going to preservation of red-footed booby habitat on the island.

The foot race followed its usual course from Sandy Bottoms’ Beach Resort to Eagle Ray Cove.

“It’s not quite 5K, but our attorneys advised us not to ask anyone on this island to run five kilometers,” event organizer Sula Beakins said. “Blacktip doesn’t have enough medical staff or infrastructure to handle anything like that. Nowhere in the Caribbean does.

“It’s a delicate business picking a starting time, as well. It has to be late enough for last night’s partiers to participate, but not so late in the morning to interfere with the next day’s parties.”

Running in costume was optional, but strongly encouraged. Only one of the 24 contestants arrived at the starting line dressed as a booby, but was unable to compete due to an unidentified woman dressed as a frigate bird pouncing on him and forcing him to disgorge his breakfast.

As ever, all participants were required to wear red sneakers, boots or flip-flops. Barefoot runners were required to dye their feet red.

The top finishers were:

1^st Place Reg Gurnard
2^nd Place Christina Mojarra
3^rd Place Edwin Chub

Special Mention went to Billy and Lucille Ray, who completed the run in three-legged race fashion – with Mr. Ray’s right leg tied to Mrs. Ray’s left leg – in full scuba gear.

“I’m proud to run for the boobies,” Reg Gurnard said after winning. “This island’s boobies need all the support we can give them.”

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November 22, 2013 · 9:03 am

Island Holiday Lights Resurrected

Blacktip Island’s religious factions have put aside their quarrels in time to resurrect the community’s traditional holiday light display.

“We’ve been working on a compromise for months, but the devil’s been in the details,” said the former-Reverend Jerrod Ephesians, head of the island’s Interfaith Committee.

The display historically has been a source of friction among the Caribbean island’s diverse religious groups. Formerly referred to as Christmas lights, the name was changed in hopes of avoiding a repeat of 2012’s holiday riots, Ephesians said.

“Last year the Raëlians set the tree on fire the second night it was up,” Ephesians said. “When the Catholic Defense League retaliated, things went to hell right quick.

“This year, in the spirit of ecumenical good will, we’ve done away with the physical tree completely. But we all agreed the lights by themselves were quite lovely, so we kept those.”

In the absence of a tree, the light strands have been suspended from a small remote-controlled helicopter, donated by island scuba operators, at Diddley’s Landing public pier.

“We’ll light one strand at a time, an additional strand each night, during Hanukkah, after which people will be free to view them as non-denominational Christmas lights,” Ephesians said.

The display will also serve as site of the Winter Solstice celebration December 21 and Kwanzaa December 26 through January 1.

“Atheists are welcome to view the lights however they see fit, or to ignore them altogether,” Ephesians said.

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Tagged as Christmas, Christmas lights, Decorations and Props, Hanukkah, Holiday, Kwanzaa, Light, Tim W. Jackson, Winter Solstice

November 11, 2013 · 5:12 pm

Island Resorts Brace for Busy Winter

With hurricane season coming to a close, Blacktip Island resorts are ramping up for the coming high season.

New to the island are Eagle Ray Cove’s new managers, Mickey and Kitty Smarr.

“We’re excited to be part of one of the premier Caribbean vacation destinations,” Mickey Smarr said. “The beaches are phenomenal, and the coral reefs make the scuba diving world-class.”

“We’ll be working to ensure the best island vacation experience possible,” Kitty Smarr added. “No matter what it takes, we’ll do it.”

Sandy Bottoms’ Beach Resort has a new look thanks to an off-season refurbishment project.

“We’d had complaints about the aqua paint and reef fish trim in the rooms looking too 1990s,” resort owner Sandy Bottoms said. “So we’ve redone them all in a fresh teal, with coral baseboards and molding to give it a more modern look. We’ve put teal lights in the pool, too, to accentuate the effect.”

Not to be outdone, Blacktip Haven will host a harvest cook-off the last weekend in November.

“To ensure a true harvest theme, we ask all participants to make their dishes from ingredients locally sourced here on Blacktip Island,” resort owner Elena Havens said. “Whether sourced in a garden, beside the road, or even on the road, we want to be certain all entries are organic and gluten-free.”

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