Bahamian Drive By or Bumper Fish

December 2, 2004
By Various Artists

Friday, November 26, 2004 - Bakers Bay, Great Guana Cay, Abacos

The weather finally passed through last night, leaving us in a clear, high pressure system with winds out of the north at 10 to 15 knots. This is just about perfect for us to continue south, so we upped the anchor right after the 8:15 cruiser's net gave the weather and set out for the Whale Cay Passage.

The Whale Cay cut leads from the Sea of Abaco out into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a man made cut that the Princess Cruise ship people made in order to get there cruise ships into Great Guana. Turns out one of their ships crashed coming through the cut and the Princess people then decided to abandon the entire 50 million dollar complex that they had just built.

Whale Cay cut can be pretty nasty in unsettled weather and it is considered by many to be the worst passage in the Bahamas. We had good weather and sailed the whole way down to Bakers Bay on the north west corner of Great Guana.

About a mile before the anchorage we had a huge strike on our starboard side fish whacker. I abandoned the wheel and grabbed the rod. Amy luffed us up into the wind to slow us down while I battled with the fish. After about ten minutes I managed to board said fish. I got out the fish ID book and a bottle of cheap rum.

After confirming the fish was of the edible type, I quickly mixed him a cocktail and sprayed it into his gills. He looked at me a little funny, licked his lips once or twice, and promptly faded away. Hmm, I guess that alcohol trick really does work. Sweeeeeet.

Our guest turned out to be a 32 inch, 4 pound Cero Mackerel. Our books lists them as excellent eating and I got enough meat out of the fillets to make two or three meals. I expect we will be having a lot of Mackerel over the next few days.

After we got to the anchorage and put the boat to bed, we donned our swim fins and dove over the side to play in the water. Afterwards, I took the dinghy to shore and tried to find a small hole that is allowing water in, but could not find it.

Richard on Kia Vai showed up a little later and we got together on our boat for sun downers and to swap DVD's and digital pictures we had each taken. I made some popcorn and we sat around talking for 2 hours, then Richard went back to his boat and Amy and I watched Casa Blanca. (I had never seen it)

We filled up on popcorn, so there was no dinner on the luxury yacht tonight

Saturday, November 27, 2004 - Bakers Bay, Great Guana Cay, Abacos

About this logs title, I forgot to mention what happened to me the other day. We were getting ready to leave New Plymouth at Green Turtle Cay and before we upped the anchor, I went to take trash to shore as they have one of the few free garbage cans in the Bahamas.

I gathered up the trash and zoomed into town about 3 miles away. I tied up to the government pier and then walked our trash to the conveniently placed receptacle. Two minutes later I was back racing home towards the mother ship. Thats when it happened.

A large school of 4 inch long fish must have gotten spooked by the racing dinghy. A group of twenty or so leapt up out of the water and started racing across the tops of waves on their tails. For those of you have never seen this, it is quite common behavior here.

So there they were racing away from the dinghy even though I'm doing like 15 knots or something. Suddenly, without warning one of them turned 180 degrees around and started racing right back towards me! I didn't know what to do.

100 feet, 75 feet, 50 feet - I was almost on top of him ! I hunkered down and braced for impact. Would I have the nerve not to turn first? Our closure rate was at least 30 knots. I could see the cold steel look in his black, unblinking eyes. I knew he was trying to intimidate me.

Thats when I turned the throttle all the way up to the stops and mowed his little ass down. He bounced off the front of the dinghy like a bird on the windshield. The last I saw of him he was about 15 feet in the air and plummeting back into the clear blue sea. I think he might have been giving me the fin.

On with the show...

Today we woke up early, as is becoming our custom here in the islands. First order of business was the Running of the Ferrets (the plural Ferrets sounds better). Afterwards, we jumped overboard for a short swim. I made half of our Cero Mackerel on the grill for lunch. It was quite tasty.

We lounged about until early afternoon and the piled into the dinghy with our snorkeling gear and headed across the island to the ocean side where we swam out to a small but interesting coral head in about 25 feet of water.

We saw most of the usual suspects, tasty school master snappers, pretty purple Parrot fish, and a host of others. We were minding our own business and enjoying the view when a large 4 or 5 foot barracuda materialized out of the gloom. He never appeared threatening, but we slowly reversed out direction and swam to the other side.

10 minutes later we returned to the dinghies where we had left them on the beach, then the mother ship. We lounged about until 4:30 and then Richard came over for sun downers and pizza crisps. Afterwards we watched the first half of Das Boat and then went to bed.

Sunday, November 28, 2004 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos

The wind kicked up overnight, making Bakers Bay a bit uncomfortable. Fortunately, I had enough gin and tonic the night before to put me out soundly. After breakfast, we decided it was a good day to head to Marsh Harbour. We motored about two nautical miles into the wind but then were able to turn off and sail. The wind continued to build, and as we approached Marsh Harbour, we had to reduce sail. Even so, we were making 7.5 knots. Maggie and I were both nervous, but Thomas promised he wouldn't turn our home on its head.

We are now anchored in Marsh Harbour, which is reportedly the shipping center for the Abacos. That's not necessarily saying much. We've only seen one ship come in. But there is a reasonably well-stocked grocery store and a few other shops, though most are not open on Sundays. The town is not nearly as picturesque as New Plymouth, but there are a lot of cruisers that base out of here, which is kinda cool.

There wasn't a whole lot to do in town, but the weather cleared up enough for an afternoon snorkeling expedition. Mermaid Reef is a small reef just off the shore. Much to Thomas's disappointment, there is no killing allowed. We swam out and talked to various fishies. Afterwards, we cooked the remainder of their friend, the mackerel we caught a couple days ago, and had him for lunch with salad. Mmmm.

Richard joined us for sun downers, along with Mike and Janice off Imagine. Homemade soft pretzels seemed to go over well. Thomas and I watched the rest of Das Boot. It's a shame Richard is leaving soon, because we haven't gotten through all the movies he lent us.

Monday, November 29, 2004 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos

A rather uneventful day in paradise. We were finally able to tune in to the "cruisers net" on the VHF. Our antenna problems continue, but the net is hosted here in Marsh Harbour, making it within our very limited range for reception. For those who don't know, the net is basically a half hour of weather and cruiser news, people swapping spare parts, local restaurant menus, etc., after which all the boats start calling each other to talk. These people are addicted to the radio!

After the net, we went in to sign up for wireless Internet access. The speed is pretty good, so I expect that I won't see too much of Thomas until our week runs out.

In the afternoon, I dominated the computer while Thomas went about town on his own. He decided to revisit his fish friends at Mermaid reefs. Soon, he'll be saying "fish are friends, not food." He also tried to go to the electronics store for an antenna, but this is da islands, mon, and the dude never showed back up in the afternoon. Alas, Thomas had to get a beer at the bar instead. I'm sure he was devastated.

Back on the mother ship, we had sun downers for Richard's last evening at Marsh Harbour. He's gotta head back to Green Turtle Cay to meet his daughter, who is flying in. I guess we'll have to clean ourselves up now and try to meet some other people.

After Richard left, Thomas used his Internet access to organize a mega-online-chat amongst the Gillispie clan to catch up on all the family gossip. Maggie and I were waiting to get filled in, but we fell asleep instead. We are lame

Tuesday, November 30, 2004 - Marsh Harbour, Marsh Harbour, Abacos

Small victories: as I speak, our VHF antenna problems are being fixed! Yay!! Of course, miracles don't come cheap in the Bahamas. We managed to catch the electronics guy while he was in his shop. He was very helpful and we are now the proud owners of an 8-foot antenna, which Thomas is currently installing on the back deck. With the wind generator, solar cells, fish whackers, and other gear sticking up back there, we starting to look like a part of SETI searching for extraterrestrials. (Of course, the big local news yesterday was about a lightning storm that most of the population thought was a UFO, so maybe we're in the right place.)

In order to install this sucker, we also needed a soldering gun. Let's just say that someone around here is making lots of money on mark-up. A tool that might have cost 10 bucks back home was $50 here, plus $7 for the solder. I won't even tell you what the antenna cost.

Oh well. Thomas and I took a break to drown our sorrows in some overpriced drinks at the Jib Room, the bar at the local marina. While walking their docks, we got to see how the other half lives. One guy had hired two locals to wash his boat for him. I wonder if he's paying 20 cents per gallon for the water, too? It's ok, though...his tender was a 20-foot Boston Whaler, so I think he'll survive.

We also bought an ice pick while in town, so we stop bending the tips of all of our knives breaking up our ice chunks. I intend to spend the evening doing my best impression of Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. (The ice pick part, not the leg-crossing scene!)

Wednesday, December 01, 2004 - White Sound, Elbow Cay, Abacos

We got up this morning and went back into Merlin's Electronic Warehouse so I could get 8 more feet of VHF coax. Thus armed, I completed the new VHF "backup" antenna installation while Amy made her second solo flight in the dinghy and took our trash ashore. Both her and the dinghy returned unharmed.

We pulled up anchor from Marsh Harbour and headed south. Marsh Harbour kind of sucked. It just seems a little too rundown for all the hype everyone gives. I definitely could not see spending an entire season here as many ex-pats do.

We motored out onto the Sea of Abaco in almost no wind and zero swells. It was a whopping 8 miles to Hopetown, which as it turned out seemed exceptionally broke. Maybe its hurricane damage, but you cannot anchor there and must pick up a $10 or $15 dollar a night mooring. Remember, we are cheap, consequently, we headed further south to the anchorage just south of White Sound on Elbow Cay.

It is pretty here, but the weather is very overcast. We hung out on the boat this afternoon alternating turns on the computer and I also did a load of hand washed laundry. It's nice to know I have other career options.

Dinner was a steak, french fry and zucchini medley, prepared by grill master flash, me. Maggie supervised and stood watch on my beer.

Tomorrow, we plan on sailing down to Sandy Key and the Pelican Land and Sea Park where there are numerous reefs to be snorkled. I guess we'll see what the weather brings.

Oh, did anyone notice my snow flakes? See, I am festive.

Thursday, December 02, 2004 - Little Harbour, Little Harbour, Abacos

We awoke to calm seas in the anchorage. I was a bit paranoid about making the upcoming crossing to Eleuthra (about 50 miles) without first taking on fuel and water. There aren't facilities in Little Harbour, our next destination, so we popped into White Sound to fill up. The marina and resort there seemed very nice, and the fuel and water was available on the dock...so no humping jerry cans!

The winds remained calm, so we had to motor if we were headed anywhere. The hope was to stop at Sandy Cay where there is a land and sea park with reefs you can snorkel on. When we got to the area, the seas were crashing hard. Spray was going 60-70 feet in the air--so far you could see it above the trees on the little islands. In the cuts where there were only barrier reefs to break the waves, we saw 8-foot waves. Not breakers, but a bit big for my tastes nonetheless. Sandy Cay isn't very protected (2+ footers were rolling through), so we continued another couple miles down to Little Harbour.

This place is absolutely enchanting. There are cliffs out front, and the ocean waves breaking is spectacular to watch. There is a narrow entrance to the harbor, and even inside, it lives up to its name. It's small but pretty, with cliffs ( by Bahamian standards) and beaches encircling on all sides. We even saw two sea turtles!

Apparently, an artist's family set up a foundry here some time ago. Although the original dude died in 1992 (at the age of 88), his son is still here. In addition to doing metal sculpture, some of which is displayed in various U.S. cities, he also runs the only pub here. We hope to venture in to "Pete's Pub and Gallery" in a little while, assuming it's open.