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Excerpted from St. John Off The
Beaten Track ©
2006 Gerald Singer
The Tektite Project was conducted in 1969 in a cooperative effort
by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Navy, NASA
and the General Electric Co. The purpose of the study was to
investigate the effects on human beings of living and working
underwater for prolonged periods of time.
The name of the project, Tektite, comes from a glassy meteorite
that can be found on the sea bottom.
An underwater habitat, which was built by GE and originally
designed to be the model for the orbiting skylab, was placed
on concrete footings 50 feet below the surface of Beehive Cove.
It consisted of two eighteen-foot high towers joined together
by a passageway.
Inside the towers were four circular rooms twelve feet in diameter.
There was also a room, which served as a galley and a bunkhouse,
a laboratory, and an engine room. The habitat was equipped with
a hot shower, a fully equipped kitchen, blue window curtains,
a radio and a television. A room on the lowest level called the
wet room was where the divers could enter and leave the habitat
through a hatch in the floor that always stayed open.
The four aquanauts, Ed Clifton, Conrad Mahnken, Richard Waller
and John VanDerwalker, who took part in the first Tektite Project
lived under constant surveillance by cameras and microphones
and often slept monitored by electroencephalograms and electrocardiograms
to monitor their heart rates, brain waves and sleep patterns.
The project lasted for 58 days and the men set a world record
for time spent underwater, breaking the old record of 30 days
held by astronaut Scott Carpenter in the Sea Lab II Habitat.
The 0.7-mile trail leads up through dry forest and connects with
the old Tektite Road, which was constructed to support the
Tektite Project. The trail then follows the ridgeline over
three hills and leads to Beehive Cove. Along the way are spur
trails to Cabritte Horn point and to the shoreline of Great
Lameshur Bay. This is not an official Park trail.
view from head of trail
The trail begins 60 feet west of of the top of the steep concrete
road leading down to Lameshur Bay at the beginning of which are
the remains of an old gate.
The trail rises steeply through dry forest vegetation. Beginning
at elevation 193 and rising to 354, there is an ascent of 161
feet over a relatively short distance, so pace yourself accordingly.
At
the top of hill where the trail meets the remains of an old bulldozed
road, you will be rewarded with beautiful views and refreshing
tradewinds to cool you off after the steep, sunny climb.
The trail continues over the ridge of the hill and begins a gentle
decent leading to a grassy area with views to to east, south
and west.
The first fork to the left descends through a grassy area to
Cabritte Horn Point from where you can enjoy spectacular views
of the southeast coast of St. John and, on clear days St. Croix,
to the south. Here, the brisk trade winds carry the smells
of maran and frangipani. Look for barrel cactus with their
edible fruits and wild orchids, which can be found growing
in the grass, on rocks, on cactus branches and in trees.
Cabritte Horn Point is also an excellent place to observe sea
birds - pelicans, frigate birds gulls and boobies.
The trail leads to a deep gorge with sheer rock walls descending
to the sea, so narrow you could easily jump over it. (You don't
have to - the trail leads around it.)
Returning to the main trail, now more obviously a bulldozed
road, you begin a descent with more great views to the west.
From
several vantage points on the trail, you can look down onto Beehive
Cove, the site of the Tektite project, as well as one of the
best snorkeling areas on St. John.
A short spur to the right, marked by an arrow painted on a rock,
leads down to the Lameshur shoreline. From here you can scramble
over the rocks on the coastline to the beach at Donkey Cove and
then on to Great Lameshur Bay and the South Shore Road.
The main trail continues to a knoll overlooking the rocky coast
of Beehive Cove. From the overlook, the trail continues to a
point where you can scramble down to the sea. Near the sea, is
a small cave the interior of which is lined in most part by beautiful
quartz formations.
The Tektite snorkel is one of the absolute best snorkeling spots
on the island of St. John, and, contrary to popular belief,
it can be accessed by land with relative ease. The name, Tektite,
refers to a research project conducted at Beehive Bay a small
cove on the southeastern tip of Great Lameshur Bay.
Getting there is part of the fun. The first step is to get to
Great Lameshur Bay on St. John's south coast. Take Salt Pond
Road (Route 107) past Salt Pond Bay. The road heads west and
goes up and then down a the steep hill. Great Lameshur Bay
lies at the bottom of the hill. Park near the big tamarind
tree at the entrance to this large cobblestone beach.
Walk to the eastern end of the beach. A quarter-mile hike and
rock scramble along the eastern shore of Cabritte Horn Point
will take you to a remote and isolated coral rubble and sand
beach called Donkey Bight. This bay, an inner bay of Great Lameshur,
lies just to the north of Beehive Cove, the bay where the Tektite
project took place.
There are no particularly difficult areas
to negotiate. The hike, even carrying snorkel gear or light packs,
is relatively easy, scenic, and just challenging enough to add
a little excitement to the journey, without putting yourself
in too much danger. Nevertheless, be careful and watch your footing
at all times!
The beach at Donkey Bight can be a destination in itself. It
is an idyllic little cove hardly ever frequented by anyone other
than yachtsmen who may tie up to the single mooring located about
thirty yards offshore.
Put on your gear and enter the water from the sand on the southern
end of the beach. Beehive Cove lies on the other side of the
small rocky point to the south.
You will be snorkeling in a location that is somewhat far away
from a convenient place to get out of the water, and there may
be areas of rough seas. For these reasons, this snorkel is recommended
for experienced snorkelers only. For a full appreciation of this
area, one should also have the ability to free dive in order
to investigate the environments under ledges, beneath coral heads
and within caves and tunnels. The snorkeling is best on calm
days, when there is good visibility underwater.
Between Donkey Bight and Beehive Cove, you will find only scattered
coral heads and small reefs, but there is usually an abundance
of other interesting sea life such as tarpon, small reef fish,
squid and sea cucumbers in this area.
As you approach Beehive Cove, the snorkeling becomes more exciting
and more colorful. On the north side of the point, there is a
small cave with an exit to the surface. The walls and ceiling
of the cave are covered with beautiful cup corals and sponges.
As you snorkel around the point, or headland, which defines Beehive
Bay, you will see a line of large rocks, which seems to attract
a good share of fish.
On the Beehive Cove side of the point, the water gets deeper.
There are two rooms or chambers with rock walls on three sides.
The second room is the most interesting, although both are beautiful.
The eastern wall of the second room is encrusted with sponges
and cup coral. Because there is low light within the room, some
of the coral animals may have their tentacles extended as if
it were night on the reef. The thin yellow tentacles protruding
from the small bright orange cups make the corals look like flowers.
Further along, there is a narrow channel in the rocks. On the
eastern side is a cave with an outlet to the other side. There
is at least one large dog snapper that likes to frequent this
cave, and he is quite an impressive fellow. At the far end of
the narrow channel is an exit to the other side over shallow
coral. It is possible to snorkel over it, but great care must
be taken, as there is usually a surge, which complicates things.
Depending on the roughness of the sea, it may be better to explore
the channel and then turn around and go back the way you came.
Around the next set of rocks is a wall encrusted with fire coral,
sponges, and cup corals that descends to a depth of about twenty
feet. Many small colorful fish can be seen along this wall, so
take the time to look closely. On top of this rock, above the
surface of the water, are concrete footings, which are all that
remains of the Tektite project.
Further from shore, you will see many beautiful coral heads,
which are the basis of fascinating marine communities.
There is a wide diversity of fish in the general area, which
include some of the fast swimming silvery fish such as mackerel,
jack, tarpon and barracuda.
Although you may want to continue along the coast to explore
the rocks around the next point called Cabritte Horn Point, remember
that you are getting quite far from your starting point. A good
time to return is after you pass the fire coral encrusted wall,
where you can utilize the passage on the other side of the wall
between the rocks and the shore as a loop for your U-turn.
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