Nov 18: True Blue Bay...Pepe and the Sea Urchins

We spent yesterday exploring True Blue Bay anchorage by dinghy and snorkels. The reefs are kind of beat up but there are plenty of little reef fish to keep us entertained. We split up to expand the search area for lobsters. Craig, otherwise known as “Mr. Don’t Clutter Up the Boat with Shells”, brings me this fabulous find, quickly named “Pepe” upon our return to the boat. Pepe entertains us for hours, coming in and out of his shell and sliming the cockpit. All the while I am contemplating his murder so that I can immortalize him forever as a treasure of Grenada.
Today, I spent the entire morning very carefully scraping tiny barnacles and coral growth from Pepe’s shell. And then I boiled the dust speck. It was a quick death, and then I pulled him out with a pair of hemostats. Fortunately, all guts came out, followed by a rinse with Clorox and a polish with lemon oil. You know, I have found that Clorox and lemon oil cures a world of troubles...clean-smelling Pepe will get a place of honor in the Kemah condo.
Mom: yes, indeed, I saved the operculum. Pepe is a true specimen.














Beautiful Pepe.....he speaks to me.....















After lunch, I am on to my afternoon assignment. I have noticed a large and diverse population of sea urchins in the area. I have never tried urchin in a sushi restaurant…too many trusted advisors, especially Craig, state that it is “challenging”. Even so, I am intrigued. An internet search last night revealed many cooked urchin recipes. My favorite involved olive oil, garlic and cayenne pepper. I am ready for the hunt after this recipe begins with “go get 20 urchins”. I suit up and hit the water. Craig has got our catch bag on another mission so I am glad to have a back up net bag which is actually a lingerie bag. Every cruiser should have one because you just never know. First, I go after the little ones. I wear a 0.5ml suit and leather-palmed gloves. This turns into an excellent exercise in free-diving skill as one must stabilize body position while digging the buggers out of crevices with a knife and bagging them on one breath of air, which must be quickly exhaled to maintain stability under water. I had read that one could also get the big ones if you first hack off the tips of the 6 inch spines with your knife. I was a little nervous on this one and proceed with all due caution. I am happily swiping at my intended victim when I get nailed right through the leather. Buggers! Glove off to inspect new wound. Bleeding now, my mind filled with images of sharks and barracuda, I return with some haste (read: lung-bursting power swim) to the boat and spend the next 30 minutes digging out the spine in my thumb with a beveled needle and magnifying glass so I don’t have to go to the hospital to pay someone to do it for me. No alcohol involved so it hurt.
In the meantime, Craig is over by a spot where we saw not one or two but a nest of lobster antennae yesterday. Just about the time I am to join him, he comes back to the boat to get a dive tank, snuba hose and the dinghy. Game on. As it turns out, these were tiny babies, about 5 inches long. Unfortunately, there were no mamas around. I grab one more species of urchin, very large but no long spikes. We head back to the boat for urchin madness. I first cracked a small one and there was not enough meat to scoop out, per instructions. Hoping it to be some anomaly, I try another one with the same results. The rest are still alive and so go overboard. Then I cracked the big one and I do not see the orange urchin meat I was expecting. Everything I see looks like urchin poo. Craig concurs. Thankfully, I thawed some chicken breasts as a back- up plan. Sometimes, you envision sauteed urchin over linguini and broiled lobster for dinner, but what you get is chicken.
In retrospect, this was utter stupidity on my part. If the urchins around here were of any food value, then the locals would have fished them all out just like they have everything else. What was I thinking???