I started the day slowly with a comfortable breakfast and some reading, then took off for Île Tintamarre and expected to motor but the winds good so I ended up sailing and tacking upwind to get there with average speeds of 7 knots and once there I found a mooring ball but it was close in so I was afraid of shallow water but after circling the mooring field and coming up empty I went ahead and grabbed (I still had 1 foot under the keel, so it was OK). I set up my dive gear and dinghied around the corner to the mooring ball attached to the wreck of an old tugboat and had a nice dive at the site and took many pictures. Afterwards I had to motor back to Grand Case as the winds had died to below 5 knots and at sunset the waters in the anchorage were unusually flat and mirrorlike.
The Ikelite housing opened up and the camera removed (to take this picture) (2012-02-12 14:05:43 NIKON D7000 with a "18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6" lens. [f/7.1, 1/60s] ISO 125 Focus 1.12m)Ikelite underwater housing
Creole Rock seen from the sea side (north) [18°7'10.73"N 63°3'25.49"W (facing S)]Creole Rock in Grand Case
St. Martin seen from the anchorage at Ile Tintamarre [18°6'57.29"N 62°59'20.69"W (facing W)]Tintamarre anchorage
A school of Spade Jacks accompanying me on the way down to the wreck. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Spade Jacks
Jacks hovering on top of the tugboat wreck. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Jacks on the wreck
Bluestriped grunts in the old pilothouse of the sunken tugboat amongst small fry. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Bluestriped Grunts and fry
Bluestriped Grunts in the shade given by the old pilothouse of the tugboat wreck. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Bluestriped Grunts in the shadows
The small fry uses the protection of the old wreck pilothouse. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]School of small fry in the wreck
This was one of the few pictures that I took with a flash on this dive, and it is clear how many more colors do come out when using white light at this depth (60 feet). [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Tugboat wreck topsides
A juvenile rainbow parrotfish over the tugboat. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Juvenile rainbow parrotfish
Rainbow Jacks swimming over the old tugboat wreck. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Rainbow Jacks over the tugboat
Slowly but surely the sea is covering the wreck and making it her own. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Tugboat wreck getting growth
This shy porcupinefish waited in the shadows of the cabin until the coast outside was clear of divers such as myself. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Porcupinefish hiding in the wreck
A spotted goatfish on the wreck. All the colors in this picture come out because it was one of the few I took with a flash. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Spotted Goatfish
All sorts of fish and wildlife use the artificial reef that this sunken tugboat represents for a home. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Fauna using the old tugboat wreck
A school of Sergeant Majors swimming around the tugboat decks. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Sergeant Majors on the wreck
Bluestriped Jacks in a school [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Bluestriped Jacks in a school
A very shy porcupinefish which only ventured out of the wreck when I was elsewhere. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Porcupinefish
This very shy porcupinefish hovered inside the doorway into which it is about to scurry again for ages while I hovered outside waiting to get a photo. [18°7'22.18"N 62°59'12.58"W ]Porcupinefish leaving wreck
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