LBR
Registered
We decided to take a trip on Blackbeard's Morning Star 65 foot boat on Memorial Day weekend:
Day1 We flew into an overcast Freeport from Atlanta and arrived around 11am. Got a cab to the Blackbeard house and dropped off our luggage. A quick word about the Blackbeard house. This place is on a dead-end street and off the beaten track. I’d advise bringing detailed directions for your cab driver to follow. The house is somewhat of a dump. We had the cab driver wait for us and then take us to Port Lucaya. We killed some time in the touristy Lucaya Marketplace where you can find the usual assortment of restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. Around 6pm we returned to Blackbeard’s and May, a young Dutch woman, showed us our sleeping quarters. Now I knew the space would be small and cramped from reading previous reports on scubaboard but you really need to see them to believe it! It is small, small, small! We met the other couple from Florida that would be sharing our cabin (they had the bunk above us) and attempted to organize our gear on the tiny shelf above our pillows.
Around 8pm, the crew introduced themselves and gave a briefing (a lot of importance was placed on the correct use of the marine heads!) As this was a 4-day trip, we would be leaving around 3am. The jokester captain showed up in foul-weather gear and announced he was dressed like that for good reason. Visions of 6-foot seas appeared in my head but then it was clear he was joking. The weather was actually ideal for the remainder of the trip once we left the drizzling rain in Freeport. We grabbed our rental gear from the Blackbeard house and traded diving stories with the rest of the passengers until it was time for bed. The man above us was a loud snorer but I had anticipated this and brought my Ipod and dozed off with the ear buds blocking out the noise. Around 3am I was conscious of the bunk gently swaying as we headed to sea but soon drifted off again.
Day2 Woke around 7am and had some breakfast. Watch the crew put up the sail, never to be used again for the remainder of the trip. Dive #1 We soon arrived at our first dive spot called Shark’s Teeth. We went down to about 40 feet, vis is around 80 feet, see barracuda, lobster, angelfish. This dive as well as all others was self guided dives although the Dive Master indicated he would dive with you if requested. The water temp is 83 F and my wife and I are quite comfortable in our full piece 3mils. Surface and dry using the tiny thin camping towels we had purchased from REI for the trip and came in quite handy. We had also purchased some spring clips from Lowes to secure our wetsuits and towels to the safety line securely for drying. I brought 2 bathing suits and let one dry while diving in the other, this system worked quite well. The bell rang for lunch and we had some sandwiches and chips. We are vegetarians and chef Shiloh made a great effort to accommodate us, her food was always quite good. Our next dive, dive #2 was called Dreams. We went down to 39 feet and spotted a small hawksbill turtle, barracuda, and a hogfish. Relax on board after the dive, the passengers make small bets on who sings certain songs on the satellite radio, sending the crew down the galley to confirm the name on the LCD screen down there. Phil Collins vs. Genesis can be tricky to discern!
Dive #3 is the shallow Sugar Wreck. This wreck is located off the West End of Grand Bahamas and is the remains of an old sailing ship that grounded many years ago. This would be one of our favorite dive spots of the trip. Tons of fish down here, see trigger fish, porcupine fish, lots of barracuda, a shy eel. A nice dive. During dinner we watch with trepidation as the ship engineer goes to work on the head near our cabin armed with a head light, rubber gloves, and several garbage bags. I don’t envy his job!
Dive #4 is a night dive at Sugar Wreck. This will be the best dive of the trip. We follow 2 Canadian divers, Wolfgang and Craig. Gliding in between us comes a 6-foot reef shark out of the shadows. It is the first time I have seen a shark while diving and it is a magnificent sight! We follow Craig and Wolfgang as they wiggle their lights at a very large rock. But it is not a rock but rather the biggest Leatherback turtle I have ever seen. We guessed it weighed around 1000 pounds. As I am watching it slowly swim away, I spot two eels entwined in each other swimming out in the open. One makes a beeline for Wolfgang and swims up his leg before he discourages it. We see other eels swimming in open; a ray slowing moving across the floor and the reef shark makes a few more appearances. What a great dive!
Later Wolfgang tells me he has dove over 300 dives and this one is in his top 5. Back on board we all trade stories about what we saw over rum punch and the keg beer they have on tap. Retire around 10pm and boy does 4 dives make you sleep like a log!
Day 3. Dive #5 and #6. The dive master Mike attempts to set up a drift dive at a deep wall called Mount Olympus that turns into a disaster. First they have everyone go down together and wait for the Divemaster. We get down fine but then one of the women on the crew starts to lead the dive and we head over sand into the blue! The wall is nowhere to be seen and the DM Mike is never spotted. We surface and try and again after the SIT but the results are the same. One of the woman crew again can’t find the wall and leads the passengers over sand. Several passengers complain that the divemaster should go in first and wait for everyone instead of jumping in last and I agree. These two dives were a waste of time.
Around 5:30 we do Dive #7at Sherwood Forests. This is great dive, we see another large reef shark cruise by quite close a few times, some huge grouper getting cleaned, and some nice coral channels. Get a bit lost going back to the boat and surface quite faraway. I really need to improve my navigation skills! Dive #8 is an uneventful twilight dive at Sherwood Forests again. We have a few beers in the galley and discuss quarry diving with the Canadians. I try the infamous saltwater shower and find it is not as bad as it’s reputation. Honestly on a 4-day trip when you are in and out of the water constantly, a shower might not even be necessary. Watch the gorgeous display of stars from the deck for a bit before sleep.
Day 4. Oversleep and am woken by Shiloh calling for breakfast! Dive #9 is a fun dive at Theo’s Wreck, a ship intentionally sunk in about 100 feet of water. We do a short 29 min dive to 96 feet and have fun exploring the cargo holds. We spot 2 bearded fireworms and a social Violet Featherduster. Dive #10 is close to Freeport at Shark Junction. My wife laughs when she sees a 50-year-old passenger mooning the tourists on the nearby Glass Bottom boat. See large grouper and painted truncate. Dive # 11 is our last dive of the trip and fairly uneventful. The ship heads to port (not the Blackbeard house but Port Lucaya). We have the rest of the afternoon to rinse our gear, take real showers at a nearby hotel that has a deal with Blackbeard, and wander around the town. We have a nice meal at La Mez (an open air Mediterranean restaurant) and then join the crew for a somewhat rowdy night of drinking on the town square. We spent one last night on the boat and then head back to the Blackbeard house the next morning to pack up our luggage and catch a cab to the airport.
In summary, it was really fun trip for 4 days. The passengers were all easy to get along with. I wish the drift dives had been better organized and it would be great if the Blackbeard boat could be docked at Port Lucaya instead of a house in the middle of near where. The “camping at sea” cliché is true but if you can handle that I would recommend these cruises for the great diving and good value. I brought a book but never had time to read it. I would suggest bringing some of those quick drying bicycle t-shirts you can buy at REI and similar pants. Sunglasses, a hat, and sunscreen are essential. Two bathing suits also comes in handy. I wore sandals or went barefoot. No need for dress up clothes on the 4 day trip. We kept two camping towels on the deck and one normal towel in our cabin.
Day1 We flew into an overcast Freeport from Atlanta and arrived around 11am. Got a cab to the Blackbeard house and dropped off our luggage. A quick word about the Blackbeard house. This place is on a dead-end street and off the beaten track. I’d advise bringing detailed directions for your cab driver to follow. The house is somewhat of a dump. We had the cab driver wait for us and then take us to Port Lucaya. We killed some time in the touristy Lucaya Marketplace where you can find the usual assortment of restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. Around 6pm we returned to Blackbeard’s and May, a young Dutch woman, showed us our sleeping quarters. Now I knew the space would be small and cramped from reading previous reports on scubaboard but you really need to see them to believe it! It is small, small, small! We met the other couple from Florida that would be sharing our cabin (they had the bunk above us) and attempted to organize our gear on the tiny shelf above our pillows.
Around 8pm, the crew introduced themselves and gave a briefing (a lot of importance was placed on the correct use of the marine heads!) As this was a 4-day trip, we would be leaving around 3am. The jokester captain showed up in foul-weather gear and announced he was dressed like that for good reason. Visions of 6-foot seas appeared in my head but then it was clear he was joking. The weather was actually ideal for the remainder of the trip once we left the drizzling rain in Freeport. We grabbed our rental gear from the Blackbeard house and traded diving stories with the rest of the passengers until it was time for bed. The man above us was a loud snorer but I had anticipated this and brought my Ipod and dozed off with the ear buds blocking out the noise. Around 3am I was conscious of the bunk gently swaying as we headed to sea but soon drifted off again.
Day2 Woke around 7am and had some breakfast. Watch the crew put up the sail, never to be used again for the remainder of the trip. Dive #1 We soon arrived at our first dive spot called Shark’s Teeth. We went down to about 40 feet, vis is around 80 feet, see barracuda, lobster, angelfish. This dive as well as all others was self guided dives although the Dive Master indicated he would dive with you if requested. The water temp is 83 F and my wife and I are quite comfortable in our full piece 3mils. Surface and dry using the tiny thin camping towels we had purchased from REI for the trip and came in quite handy. We had also purchased some spring clips from Lowes to secure our wetsuits and towels to the safety line securely for drying. I brought 2 bathing suits and let one dry while diving in the other, this system worked quite well. The bell rang for lunch and we had some sandwiches and chips. We are vegetarians and chef Shiloh made a great effort to accommodate us, her food was always quite good. Our next dive, dive #2 was called Dreams. We went down to 39 feet and spotted a small hawksbill turtle, barracuda, and a hogfish. Relax on board after the dive, the passengers make small bets on who sings certain songs on the satellite radio, sending the crew down the galley to confirm the name on the LCD screen down there. Phil Collins vs. Genesis can be tricky to discern!
Dive #3 is the shallow Sugar Wreck. This wreck is located off the West End of Grand Bahamas and is the remains of an old sailing ship that grounded many years ago. This would be one of our favorite dive spots of the trip. Tons of fish down here, see trigger fish, porcupine fish, lots of barracuda, a shy eel. A nice dive. During dinner we watch with trepidation as the ship engineer goes to work on the head near our cabin armed with a head light, rubber gloves, and several garbage bags. I don’t envy his job!
Dive #4 is a night dive at Sugar Wreck. This will be the best dive of the trip. We follow 2 Canadian divers, Wolfgang and Craig. Gliding in between us comes a 6-foot reef shark out of the shadows. It is the first time I have seen a shark while diving and it is a magnificent sight! We follow Craig and Wolfgang as they wiggle their lights at a very large rock. But it is not a rock but rather the biggest Leatherback turtle I have ever seen. We guessed it weighed around 1000 pounds. As I am watching it slowly swim away, I spot two eels entwined in each other swimming out in the open. One makes a beeline for Wolfgang and swims up his leg before he discourages it. We see other eels swimming in open; a ray slowing moving across the floor and the reef shark makes a few more appearances. What a great dive!
Later Wolfgang tells me he has dove over 300 dives and this one is in his top 5. Back on board we all trade stories about what we saw over rum punch and the keg beer they have on tap. Retire around 10pm and boy does 4 dives make you sleep like a log!
Day 3. Dive #5 and #6. The dive master Mike attempts to set up a drift dive at a deep wall called Mount Olympus that turns into a disaster. First they have everyone go down together and wait for the Divemaster. We get down fine but then one of the women on the crew starts to lead the dive and we head over sand into the blue! The wall is nowhere to be seen and the DM Mike is never spotted. We surface and try and again after the SIT but the results are the same. One of the woman crew again can’t find the wall and leads the passengers over sand. Several passengers complain that the divemaster should go in first and wait for everyone instead of jumping in last and I agree. These two dives were a waste of time.
Around 5:30 we do Dive #7at Sherwood Forests. This is great dive, we see another large reef shark cruise by quite close a few times, some huge grouper getting cleaned, and some nice coral channels. Get a bit lost going back to the boat and surface quite faraway. I really need to improve my navigation skills! Dive #8 is an uneventful twilight dive at Sherwood Forests again. We have a few beers in the galley and discuss quarry diving with the Canadians. I try the infamous saltwater shower and find it is not as bad as it’s reputation. Honestly on a 4-day trip when you are in and out of the water constantly, a shower might not even be necessary. Watch the gorgeous display of stars from the deck for a bit before sleep.
Day 4. Oversleep and am woken by Shiloh calling for breakfast! Dive #9 is a fun dive at Theo’s Wreck, a ship intentionally sunk in about 100 feet of water. We do a short 29 min dive to 96 feet and have fun exploring the cargo holds. We spot 2 bearded fireworms and a social Violet Featherduster. Dive #10 is close to Freeport at Shark Junction. My wife laughs when she sees a 50-year-old passenger mooning the tourists on the nearby Glass Bottom boat. See large grouper and painted truncate. Dive # 11 is our last dive of the trip and fairly uneventful. The ship heads to port (not the Blackbeard house but Port Lucaya). We have the rest of the afternoon to rinse our gear, take real showers at a nearby hotel that has a deal with Blackbeard, and wander around the town. We have a nice meal at La Mez (an open air Mediterranean restaurant) and then join the crew for a somewhat rowdy night of drinking on the town square. We spent one last night on the boat and then head back to the Blackbeard house the next morning to pack up our luggage and catch a cab to the airport.
In summary, it was really fun trip for 4 days. The passengers were all easy to get along with. I wish the drift dives had been better organized and it would be great if the Blackbeard boat could be docked at Port Lucaya instead of a house in the middle of near where. The “camping at sea” cliché is true but if you can handle that I would recommend these cruises for the great diving and good value. I brought a book but never had time to read it. I would suggest bringing some of those quick drying bicycle t-shirts you can buy at REI and similar pants. Sunglasses, a hat, and sunscreen are essential. Two bathing suits also comes in handy. I wore sandals or went barefoot. No need for dress up clothes on the 4 day trip. We kept two camping towels on the deck and one normal towel in our cabin.
