Under the Sea

What lies beneath those beautiful blue Caribbean waters, just offshore from the warm white sand beaches?  Much, as it turns out, for those willing to venture beyond the sunbathers and the tropical drinks, to venture under the sea.

Cruising through the Caribbean Islands is an adventure every soul should have at least once in their lifetime. Breathing in deeply the clean ocean kissed breezes will restore your spirit, if only for a brief respite from this weary world. But there is an appeal much deeper for those who depart ship and shore. Much deeper. Well, at least a dozen feet or so. So put on your fins, grab your snorkel and let's go!

We started our morning like any back home: grab a cup of hot, black coffee, the newspaper, and discuss what the day had in store for us. Today's conversation took place not in our living room as we readied ourselves for our workdays, but on the veranda of our rented flat in Turks and Caicos. Yes, it would still be a work day as we helped prepare for the commencement exercises of a university with which we are affiliated, but perhaps there was time to take in a morning swim. Perhaps. If we timed it just right.

So quickly grabbing our gear, we headed to a spot off Grace Bay known as Bight and without hesitation, dove right in. Growing up in Hawaii, snorkeling was almost second nature to L, but even spoiled by those beautiful waters, there were pleasant surprises in store this morning. 

Armed with a waterproof camera and with an hour of free time, we swam away from the shore toward a small reef. This is part of a larger system of reefs which protect the bay and the island chain.






We were prepared to see the variety of coral and small fishes that met our gaze as we floated near the surface of the warm waters of the bay, but were struck by the clarity of the water which allowed us to see what we estimated to be more than five fathoms below the surface.

We dove and floated and explored, discovering small schools of tiny silver fish and bigger blue fish. There were purple corals, and purple fish; yellow corals and schools of bright yellow fish.

It was serene and beautiful. Simple, but beautiful and easy to lose track of time.  But the day was warming and we knew we should be jumping out and getting ready for the day. Just five more minutes. Five more minutes...






Then, right below us, casually swimming below us, was a sea turtle. No hurry, no fear, just swimming right up close to nibble a little breakfast and see who had come to visit his neighborhood. We were in awe of the grace and curiosity of this beautiful creature.

And a bit jealous how the turtle seemed to take in the environment so naturally unlike us with fins, mask and snorkel.

Puffer fish, and then whatever this creature looking at me and heading out our direction meant it was time to go home.

The debate of was it an eel or something more sinister, if anything could be more sinister than a lurking eel ready to take a bite of nosy humans.





J concluded that it was merely another fish, while L contended that the creature which gave her such a start was clearly an eel - whatever it was will remain a mystery since it ducked down into the reef not to be seen again.

Swimming in the water with such clarity that sightseeing the undersea world was as easy as stepping onto the warm sands of the Bight. A good start to what would be a very busy day but the thoughts and images of what we saw gave us the determination to carry on with much more mundane duties for the remainder of the day.


Of course, there was always tomorrow and the next - why only work when visiting the Turks and Caicos? There is too much to see and so little time - so we made every hour count.

Sleep? We'd rather explore and sleep later - take advantage of the now! No one knows how many sunsets we are granted. Not a philosophical discussion just reality.

Shiver Me Timbers

Winning the lottery or locating a true pirate treasure is probably as remote a possibility as being struck by lightning. But the idea of capturing the winning numbers or locating a hidden chest of gold and jewels is sometimes too hard to resist.

Which would be more exciting?

That would depend on the person but with the seemingly never ending saga of Captain Jack Sparrow, this writer would venture to say the thrill of digging your hands into a pile of gold doubloons would rank rather high on the excitement scale.

The Code?

 Most people who are able to breathe have heard of such names as Captain William Kidd, Edward Teach (Blackbeard), Sir Henry Morgan, but what about Mary Reid (sometimes Read) and Anne Bonny?

These last two pirates were sailing mates of Calico Jack, both literally and figuratively (Anne was once Calico's mistress). The Englishman John Rackham was known for wearing calico patterned clothing was the origin of his nickname. And it is his personal pirate flag - a skull with crossed swords which has become the internationally accepted symbol of the Pirate Flag.  He was a good pirate, applying that adjective loosely, but not so ambitious when it came to carrying out plans. Calico would much prefer to sit around drinking grog and discussing plans for this raid or that raid rather than actually carrying out the deeds. But Reid and Bonny were totally different. They wanted to sail the Spanish Main and take as many ships as they possibly could with Calico and his crew. These two were truly dangerous and ruthless.

Calico Jack's calling card

 They were a pirate's pirate.

The two ladies, if this term can be used here, started their careers dressed as males since a female pirates did not instill fear at the time. Pirates were macho and in the 18th century to be macho meant to be male. Period.

Of course, that changed as soon as Calico Jack's crew realized two of the fiercest fighters on board were in fact women.

Forget the myth that having a woman on board could doom the ship. These gals were firebrands who only brought riches and plunder to Calico.

Artists rendering of Anne Bonny

 The length of a true piratical career was rather short - generally only a few short years. And that life was harsh and cruel for those brigands roaming the open seas looking to plunder unsuspecting vessels. Not quite the romantised view we often have from Hollywood and Disney.

This was certainly the case for Calico Jack who was hung in1720, and Mary Reid who died in prison in 1721, probably from fever. However, Anne Bonny survived prison stating she was pregnant, and passed away in 1782 at the rip old age of 80. A long life for a pirate.

Before meeting the end of their pirate hunting days, Calico's crew enjoyed quite a bit of wealth stolen from any ship that came near them. They fought hard, lived hard and died hard.

 Now, when a pirate had a lot of gold, precious gems, or other valuables, they could not take them to the bank in Tortuga. So they did what any non-self-respecting person would do - they buried their treasure.

And that's what Calico, Reid and Bonny did with theirs all over the Caribbean where they spent most of their time. Hiding the booty (goods seized by force) was part of the game for a pirate.

Contrary to popular myth, written maps on rolled up parchment would have been extremely rare.  Most pirates could not read or write and in the rough seas anything written parchment could get wet and become useless or go down with the ship with the location of the treasure lost forever.

Nope and Nope

So, how did one jot down directions to their hidden treasure?

Simple really - carve mysterious inscriptions onto stones somewhat near to where the treasure was hidden.

A cryptic carving such as:

1718 JB . . . . . .  .


Easy. So, let's find JB's treasure - nope - not so easy as only JB knows where it is. We know the treasure was buried in 1718 by JB, the rogue, and it was 7 distances away from the map and in the direction of the dots. But only JB knows the true distance to the treasure. Did each dot mean a meter, a kilometer, or an island away.

Actual pirate map in stone

 That's why there is still buried treasure needing to be found. Poor JB may have ended up swinging from the yardarm of a ship before getting back to his chest of riches. Remember dead men tell no tales nor do they reveal the exact location of their treasure.

Pretty ingenious actually and the chance of locating JB's treasure is nearly nil.

Nearly. But that doesn't stop researchers and explorers.

So, as J and L traveled the beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands in the British West Indies during the summer of 2014 they were lucky enough to actually view such pirate markings in stone including some etchings created by the very same Anne Bonny. Anne, along with Mary and Calico and the rest of the crew made these 30 plus islands one of their favorite haunts as it was an easy place to hide from the Royal Navy and also a wonderful locale to spy on treasure ships heading back to Europe. Raids could be planned and executed in a quick fashion.

View from the top, location of the pirate carvings

In fact, Parrot Cay (pronounced key) was originally named Pirate Cay in honor of Anne Bonny but was changed when the small island became a major tourist destination. Some people like parrots more than they like pirates. I suppose pirates aren't as good for business.

Pirate oops - Parrot Cay today

 Over a thousand ships have sunk or forced to sink over the past centuries in this part of the Carribean, leaving behind untolled treasures at the bottom of many cays and bays within the Turks and Caicos. That's not counting the amount of treasure believed buried throughout the region by pirates from the 16th through the early 19th centuries.

And there is always Anne's own buried treasure. Has it been found? Probably not according to a local historian since her pirate career was so short (two years) that she did not have the time to return and collect her stolen goods.

Anne Bonny's treasure map?

Ten days were not enough to locate any treasure except the clear blue waters and white beaches but who knows . . .

There's always next year!

Treasure enough - perhaps - clear water with your loved one!