Fish Whacking with the Buddy Fred

February, 14 2006

Wednesday, February 08, 2006 - Kids Cove, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

We woke this morning and took the big boat over to Kidd Cove in anticipation of the arrival of the Buddy Fred and Fran. Amy has been cleaning for the last three days. She is in more need of familiar appreciation than the ferrets and I and so consequently she has been much more busy than me and the fur balls.

One job that I did have to take on was the hauling of 85 gallons of water, by jerry jug, by hand, by dinghy back to the mother ship and dumping it in our main water tank. Suck ass.

Once the boat was settled and my water chores done, I dinghied over for my afternoon volley ball session. We've been having particularly good games of late and today was no exception. I fear my volley ball days may be numbered as Amy wants to take our visitors away from Georgetown and my volley ball. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!

After cleaning up from my afternoon workout, Bryan off of Tonga Time stopped by and invited Amy and I over for happy hour. Bryan is one of my 2 on 2 volley ball buddies.

Since the Buddy Fred and Fran weren't due until 7:30 pm, we accepted. I made some of our home made old bay potato chips and we headed over around 5:30 pm. Bryan's boat is absolutely huge! It's a Catana 47 (catamaran) and you could set our boat on his forward deck sideways. After the obligatory tour, we settled into the cockpit and traded stories and appetizers for an hour and a half.

Bryan and his wife (Charlene) were a lot of fun and we hope to get together with them again. We raced back to the mother ship, grabbed some dollars and headed into the Two Turtles Inn in town where Taxi 16 was scheduled to drop off Amy's parental units.

We had no sooner taken seats at the outdoor bar right next to the only road into town when Taxi 16 went zipping by en route to the dinghy dock. I ran back to meet them and in a short time we had the Buddy Fred and Fran in custody. More importantly (depending on who you ask) we had the suitcase full of goodies that we had requested from the states. The ferrets have been growing restless without their banana chips.

We returned to the Two T's and had a few drinks to welcome the Buddy Fred and Fran to the Bahamas. Afterwards, we took them and their luggage back to the mother ship and sorted them into their cabin.

We gathered in the cockpit for a night cap and some star watching before retiring for the evening. Tomorrow promises to be another busy day.

Thursday, February 09, 2006 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

The crew and guests were up by 7:30; the crew because they are supposed to be, the guests because the ferrets wouldn't let them sleep any longer.

After breakfast we gathered everyone (sans ferrets) into the dinghy and took them into town to get their liquor of choice, last minute munchies and to make phone calls home. The entire process took 2 hours and by the time we returned to the mother ship, the dinghy was so full we were barely floating. Good thing we didn't have far to go.

We stowed all of the recent purchases and then upped anchor and headed over to Volley Ball Beach. At 1 pm I paddled the kayak into shore to play volley ball. Around 2 pm the rest of Team Dream Catcher showed up for conch fritters and cheese burgers. They sat in the stands and offered un-solicited advice on how to improve our games. The thought crossed my mind to send an errant spike into the crowd that might mame my mother-in-law, but a cross look from Amy kept me inline.

After ball, we returned to the big boat and upped anchor again. This time we headed up to the Monument Beach where we anchored in 6 feet of water right off of the Queens Dock at Hamburger Beach. Tonight, on the beach we are holding an A.A.S (pronounced Assssssss) meeting. The Alcohol Appreciation Society meets regularly here every Tuesday and Thursday and as a founding member, I am expected to be in attendance.

About 70 members and guests of members showed up for the A.A.S. meeting. Some guitars showed up and various people entertained us with a variety of musical selections. The Buddy Fred and Fran got to meet several of our friends and reported later to have had a good time.

We got back to mother ship and I made us barbecued ribs and salad for dinner. Bed time was an astonishingly late 11 pm. Mila was so tired she fell asleep in my salad on top of a radish and two cucumber slices.

Friday, February 10, 2006 - Monument Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

I failed to mention that when we moved up to Monument Beach last evening, we suffered a critical failure on board Dream Catcher. It seems our port side engine control cables have finally given up the ghost. I have replaced the starboard ones twice in the six years we have owned this boat, but the port side has always been fine.

Until now. Shitty Death !!

I dutifully dis-assembled the offending parts and quickly determined that they would not be fixable. Mega Shitty Death !!

Somewhat depressed, I headed back into town by dinghy this morning in search of spare shifter and throttle cables. For those of you who have not been here, nine times out of ten you are more likely to find anti matter to power your space ship into the next galaxy than what ever part you are looking for.

You can imagine my surprise when I found not one, but two of the exact cables I needed at the Top to Bottom Marine, Laundry, Souvenir and Scooter Rental Store. I grabbed them up right quick just in case there was some inexplicable mistake as to why they were here sitting on the shelves all by them selves. The best part was they were only three dollars more than what was listed in the West Marine catalog. Go figure.

I returned to the mother ship triumphant and when I told the crew we were in fact going to be able to leave tomorrow, an impromptu celebration erupted. Cable replacement was pushed off til tomorrow morning and instead we celebrated in the cockpit with happy hour drinks followed by Caribbean Jerk Pork Chops, baked potato crisps and a side salad. Dessert was your choice of Hershey Chocolate Miniatures or M&M's.

The ferrets were so happy to have guests that Milo peed all over Fran's pillow. Don't tell her.

After dinner we watched the first half of the movie Team America which Fran and the Buddy Fred haven't seen. Everyone remember the super secret signal.

Saturday, February 11, 2006 - Children's Bay, Children's Bay Cay, Exumas
By Tom

I awoke at first light to listen to Chris Parker's weather broadcast and then Milo and I tackled the control cable installation. He handed me tools while I assembled parts, kind of like I was Dr. McCoy and he was Nurse Chapel only fatter and less blonde.

At some point during the procedure the rest of the crew woke up and began breakfast. Milo and I finished the surgery, pronounced the engine ready for duty and then we split a grilled cheesy that Amy thoughtfully made for us. We both like grilled cheesy's.

With the boat back in top shape, we broke down the dinghy, stowed the kayak, battened down the hatches and sailed out of Conch Cut into the Atlantic Ocean. We were going to be dead down wind for this trip, so we set the full main sail and raised the spinnaker.

Sails set, Buddy Fred and I deployed both fish whackers with high hopes and the crew settled down into their assigned position as we proceeded northward at a stately 4 knots. The seas were around 3 feet just off the aft quarter and the motion wasn't too bad.

About two hours in, the port side fishing whacker started screaming off line. YAHOO !

I cried out "Fish On!" and the melee was joined. Amy took over steering, while Buddy Fred rushed to man the spinnaker sheet. I grabbed the reel, set the hook, then replaced the rod in its holder while we doused the spinnaker. In order to land all but the smallest fish, we have to slow the boat to a near crawl. This is easy to do under motor, not too hard to do under head sail and main, and a big pain in the ass with the spinnaker up.

Up on deck, I pulled in the down hall on the spinnaker sock which causes the sail to collapse while Buddy Fred eased the sheet to allow the sail to gather. The whole operation took less than two minutes. The boat slowed and I returned to the fish whacker to begin the fight.

I wasn't making much headway against the fish for the first two or three minutes, but then the fish just gave up. I could still feel the weight on the line, so I knew he was still there, but all of the fight went of him. Hmmm. A clue perhaps?

I struggled to reel in said fish, but I was definitely making progress. When we got the fish within 30 feet of the boat, I realized something was wrong. Our "fish" was no longer swimming, but rather he was floating on his side on top of the water. Hmmm, another clue?

Fred had readied the gaff to stab our would be dinner companion, but when he got close enough to the boat I realized it wouldn't be necessary. I reached down and picked up our lure as well as the front half of a three to three and a half Skip Jack Tuna. The half I got to keep was the front. Apparently a shark got to keep the rest. See supporting evidence photos at right.

I hate sharks. They are greedy bastards. Based on our calculations the entire Tuna would have been around 20 pounds and about 38 inches in length. Our one fish identification book lists them as only "average" in taste and we were disappointed until we checked the Cruisers Guide to Fishing and learned that this author regards the Skip Jack as one of the best eating fish on the planet.

Amy broke out the fish cleaning equipment and I was able to get enough meat off of our half of fish to make seven or eight tuna steak meals. Sweeet. Looks like fish for dinner.

After the fishing excitement, we re-deployed the fish whacker and re-launched the spinnaker. In another hour and a half we arrived off of the Rat Cay Cut and we left the ocean and re-entered the banks. Two miles later we were off of Children's Bay Cay where we anchored for the night.

After putting the boat to bed I made Key West Tuna Steaks on the grill with Basmati rice and salad for dinner. Mila thoughtfully fell asleep in my lap this time rather than in my salad. She is a learned ferret.

I forgot to mention that after we anchored I threw the skeletal remains of Mr. Skip Jack off the back of the boat and within an hour or so we had three or four sharks swimming around looking for handouts. Fran wanted to toss them a ferret and I warned her that she goes before the ferrets. The ferrets do not like Fran as they say she smells.

Sunday, February 12, 2006 - Big Harbour, Little Farmers Cay, Exumas
By Tom

We were up and at it early. There is a cold front supposed to push through sometime this afternoon and I wanted to get the boat anchored safely at Little Farmers before it hits. We put the main up while still at anchor, but we motored for the first hour as we had to negotiate the twisty and narrow (and shallow) path through the Pimlico Cays.

Once past there, we turned off the engines and sailed our way up to Little Farmers Cay. Along the way we had two fish encounters.

The first was an absolutely HUGE Mutton Snapper that chomped on our four dollar yellow squid. Most excellent. Please note said Snapper shown at right being held by the Buddy Fred. I actually got to use the gaff thing that I have been carrying for four years to stab this guy as he easily weighed 15 pounds. I am happy to report that the gaff works as advertised.

Also of note, our "Fish On" drill went much smoother this time around and we wasted no more than twenty seconds or so getting the boat slowed down. Way to go team. Milo thinks the secret to our success may have been not allowing Fran to do anything at all, but you didn't hear that from me.

Once the fish was secured we rolled out the head sail again and continued on. The Buddy Fred assisted me with the fish filleting operation. I may have failed to mention it, but the Buddy Fred is a retired surgeon. Mostly he passed me implements of destruction and helped hold the patient on the operating table while I performed the meat-removal-otomy.

Hey, if God didn't want us to kill fish he wouldn't have filled them with meat. Right?

We took about 8 pounds of prime fillets off of the Mutton. I figure its enough for 3 meals for each of us, or 12 meals in total. Quite a catch in our book.

We decided that we would deploy the fish whacker again, just in case there was another Snapper around. About an hour later our second fish of the afternoon joined us. This time we reeled in a small thirty inch, 4 pound Barracuda. Being small enough to be safe from the ciguatera poisoning, we opted to keep "Barry" and I took enough meat off of him to make at least one, possibly two meals for all of us.

Counting the Tuna from yesterday we have somewhere in the neighborhood of fifteen pounds of fresh fish in the fridge. Needless to say, we stowed the fish whacker for the rest of the afternoon.

As we closed on Little Farmers, the front closed on us and we had barely put the anchor down and the main sail cover on before the wind shifted to the north west and jumped up to twenty five to thirty knots. The rain started ten minutes later and we all hunkered below to stay warm.

The boat started touching the bottom about thirty minutes before dead low, but just on one side and in a sandy spot so we didn't worry. Hopefully when the wind clocks through, we will blow into deeper water.

Dinner was another fish extravaganza, this time it was Mandarin Blackened Mutton Snapper with baked potatoes and asparagus, preceded by flash fried Tuna bites. Most excellent.

Afterwards, it was a quiet night of reading with a few cocktails before turning in for bed

Monday, February 13, 2006 - Big Harbour, Little Farmers Cay, Exumas
By Tom

The front continued to push through all day today. The wind never dropped below 25 knots out of the north west, so our northerly progression to Staniel Cay was put on hold for the day.

Instead, we hid from the un-seasonable coldness below decks and we read books.

Around noon Amy and I picked up the anchor and moved the boat over about 30 yards to a slightly deeper spot where we don't touch our keels at low tide. Other than that little was accomplished until around 3 pm when we assembled the dinghy and took the Buddy Fred and Fran into Ali's Shack for drinks.

Long time dedicated readers (all two of you) will know from previous logs about Ali's Bar Shack. For those of you who don't know, Ali's is a little bar right off of the government dock. The bar was a tool shed or some storage building in a previous life, but now serves as the islands principle gathering place.

For $3 you get a fifth of rum, access to ice and plastic cups, and $1 mixers. Truthfully, it's a pretty economical way to drink and if you hang around more than thirty minutes, you'll meat every one of the islands inhabitants. And if your female, you will be propositioned by every one of said inhabitants in that same amount of time. Farmers is definitely a target poor environment for guys.

Anyway, you didn't hear it from me, but the Buddy Fred over indulged and we ended up having to forcibly remove him from the shack. It seems he had made good friends with a rather large (~350 lbs) Bahamian woman and was plying her with drinks. I'm not sure what Fran thought of this, but take my word for it, it was not a pretty sight.

The trip back to the boat was a quick and wet affair and after everyone dried off I made pizza for dinner.

After dinner, Fred tried unsuccessfully to steal our dinghy and return to the shack, but he was unable to start the outboard. Unbeknownst to the Buddy Fred, I had foreseen this possibility and had rendered the outboard dead by removing the kill switch. Score one for the good guys.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - Staniel Cay Harbour, Staniel Key, Exumas
By Tom

We got an early jump on the 14 mile trip up to Staniel. We sailed for two hours before the wind came around on the nose and we were forced to motor the remaining hour. The trip was cold and uneventful.

Securely anchored in the harbour off of Staniel Cay, we dinghied into town. Fran, Amy and the Buddy Fred did a little walking around while I retired to the yacht club under the pretense of using their internet facilities.

Three Kalik's (local beer) and an hour and a half of serious web surfing later, the rest of the crew joined me at the bar. After a few more drinks we returned to the dinghy and back to the mother ship.

Some light reading preceded a lemon-pepper Snapper, roasted barbecue potatoes, and fruit cup medley dinner.

Afterwards, we watched the sunset and everyone retired to bed early except myself and Milo. We sat in the salon sharing a 7 and 7 (drink) and devising numerous plots with the sole goal of turning my mother-in-law into shark chum. Milo is a vicious ferret when he has been drinking.

By the way, what's with the weather? It has been down right freezing the last two days. Aren't we in the tropics