St. Croix's Cane Bay Crawlers

i’m always looking for subjects to write about or things to photograph for the blog. There is so much material out there i have to put filters on to try and condense my tendency to explain things.

This week i find myself out of photographic material because of a camera that is a sometimes camera. If you don’t know what a sometimes camera is it is one that only works when it feels like it.

Just when i’m all set to chuck it and buy a new one it starts working.

One day it will be dead, i’ll charge the battery, put it in, redo all the date and time settings and take photos with no problem. The next day it will take one picture, skip to some wi-fi connection and need resetting. Then it will turn on all by itself and drain the battery again.

Yesterday i went to take a sunset picture and it turned on just fine but when i tried to change the settings it quit working. This morning it turns on just fine. But i’m sure the minute i see a masterpiece it will revert to a sometime camera. 

i even have a spare camera but that one is just stuck. The lens won’t close and the camera won’t snap any pictures at all. Could be the salt air is getting into my equipment and messing with it. Might be time for yet another camera.

So i have invited a guest photographer to display some of the wonderful pictures she has been taking with her new underwater camera.

She and i and the Cane Bay Crawlers swim a lot. We see the most incredible things underwater and relieve our stress at the same time. If you live on St. Croix and don’t swim you are missing out on a breathtaking activity. It really does sooth the soul. 

Even when things like the Hammerhead in the pic below swim underneath you.

Most of the time we are surrounded with beauty and the scary stuff usually stays down on the bottom. The silly octopus tries to blend in.

Turtles will come up and tease you. 

Stunning tropical fish will pass underneath you.

Flamingo tongues will just call out to be photographed.

And some of the healthy elk horn coral will just look too impressive to pass up.

Swimming in the ocean has so many benefits. Your blood gets a boost in circulation, your skin soaks up the salt helping keep your immune system in check and if you are depressed a dip in the ocean can only help. 

Of course there is the physical side including endurance, lung capacity and overall well being. i suppose it could also be a way to loose weight but that has never worked for me. i always seem to be starving after a long swim.

People with physical disabilities can swim with aids and its kind on the body parts as you age. Meditating is easy when you are swimming and i have been known to tell people that going for a swim in the Caribbean is my church.

If you want to join us we meet at 7:30am by Sprat Net on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

i hope you enjoyed all the underwater pictures by Elizabeth Harding...she is the one kneeling down in the top photo. 

See you next week.