Jamming to Jamaica

Trip Start Jun 16, 2007

Trip End Sep 26, 2007

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Flag of Jamaica Port Morant, Jamaica
Sunday, August 26, 2007

Back to the grind, the survey continues as we are finally attempting to make it to Jamaica without any more interruptions. The Island of Jamaica suffered some severe damage from the 145+ MPH sustained winds of hurricane Dean. Without TV or internet on the boat there is no way to tell exactly how bad the damage is but we have cancelled our plans to go ashore and nobody will be getting off the boat. This announcement of canceling the crew change instantly turned the mood on the boat semi-sour. But eliminating the near shore work in Jamaica means that we will all get home earlier so eventually everyone made lemonade out of their lemons and the survey continues. It will be a bit disappointing to be only three miles from Kingston and not be able to see the city first hand.

Upon arriving in Jamaica I realized that my mental image of the Island was not the reality. Towering out of the ocean were gigantic mountains with no foothills. The island on the south side was mostly uninhabited except for a thin strip of houses and development near the shoreline. Our first survey site was in Morant point, there were just houses and low level structures in that area, no real sign of large business or major anything. I expected Jamaica to at least have a historical district with some tall buildings but the tallest building in sight was the radio tower. The mountains were absolutely breathtaking, green and lush all the way to the top, no real signs of roads or development except for a small house here and there halfway up the hill.

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