By Lou Lunte, deputy state director
My daughters, wife and I get out often enjoying the
bounty of what Idaho offers; from its legendary rivers and lakes, to its
canyons, mountains and deserts. Even
with all that, we find ourselves drawn to the ocean once a year, which takes us
away from Idaho for a trip to the Oregon or northern California coast.
On these journeys to the coast my daughters love
walking the beach, looking for shells and peering into the tidal pools. Yet invariably, sometime during the trip
comes their request – why can’t we go to the “warm ocean”. My wife’s and my inadequate answer had always
been – maybe someday. Well, that someday
finally came.
A few botched flights, long layovers and a night in
Miami and we were finally on the final flight to St. Thomas in the US Virgin
Islands. With the anti-motion sickness
patch affixed behind my ear, I watched my daughters gaze out the airplane
window at the ocean quickly coming up to the plane. Suddenly we had landed and our two week
adventure with the “warm ocean” had begun.
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Landing in the Virgin Islands © Lou Lunte
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A taxi cab transported us on the narrow, windy roads
to the dock were we met my sister and her husband with whom we’d be spending
the next two weeks. Years ago they
figured out they preferred to winter in the Caribbean. As we loaded our small bags – “swimsuits and
t-shirts is all you’ll need”, my sister had advised – onto their 38’ catamaran
sail boat we began to sense what our life would be like for the next few weeks.
The first night we all slept well on the boat;
thankfully the patch was working for me.
In the morning we launched the catamaran with a warm breeze in our faces
and the sun on our shoulders. A few
hours later we were at another island tied up to a mooring buoy in a small bay
ready to try our first snorkel. Anxious
and excited we sorted and fitted fins, masks and snorkels. It was time to take the dingy ashore and get
our first look at the undersea world.
Wow! It was absolutely
amazing.
A whole new world opened up before our eyes –
creatures and colors we had only seen on screens or pages. My daughters, both good swimmers, were
completely at ease within 10 minutes.
They quickly learned to dive down and clear their snorkel when they
surfaced. We were hooked.
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Snorkeling in the "warm waters"© Lou Lunte
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For the next two weeks we lived on “island time”,
digitally disconnected and with no need to track time. When the winds were good we’d sail from
island to island, first in the US Virgin Islands and then the British Virgin
Islands. Guided by my sister we explored
amazing bays and reefs, spending lots of time in the water, on the white sand
beaches and occasionally visiting the local café/bar.
We saw colorful underwater “Christmas trees” and
beautiful coral; we swam with the spotted rays and sea turtles. We watched in amazement as a four foot
barracuda chased and caught a food fish.
Every day and every snorkel brought something new and spectacular.
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Coral © Lou Lunte
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Mostly we went where the water was blue and the
reefs were alive with color. Yet, even
in paradise it was unavoidable that we also saw reefs that were bleaching or
smoothed in silt from sediment runoff.
We saw anchor scars in broken corals and we witnessed a conch grave yard
– thousands of shells piled on top of each other. It made us realize that whether in the Caribbean
or in Idaho, we must take care of those things we value or they will be lost.
As we flew home to Boise feeling more relaxed and
mellow than we had in ages, we all agreed that we should not wait so long to
make our next visit to the “warm ocean”. And yet, it was still wonderful to
come home to Idaho.
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Sunset © Lou Lunte
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